Tag Archives: Assisted living alternative NJ

How to Talk to Your Elderly Loved One

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NJ Senior Living & Lifestyle

In general, there is a difference between seniors in their 80s and older, and those who are now in their 70s.  For example:

Seniors in Their 80s

Seniors in their 80s, who lived through the Depression, have often spent frugally and saved as much as possible. They focus on wanting to leave a legacy to their children, are less willing to spend money on themselves, and less inclined to talk about future plans.

Seniors in Their 70s

Seniors now in their 70s are more questioning, more discerning and less amenable to institutional, assisted living alternatives. This new wave of “young” seniors is beginning to ponder difficult questions that do not have easy answers, such as, “Where do I want to live if I’m no longer able to stay at home? Who do I want to take care of me in the event I become ill? What are my wishes regarding end of life care?”

Align the Conversation to Your Senior’s Values

Knowing the seniors’ priorities can help their loved ones know what to say to convince them to get the help they need. For someone in his 80s, who doesn’t want to spend money on services for himself, having his children (and grandchildren) tell him they prefer that he spend it on his own needs and not gift it to the kids, might really free the parent up to take care of his own needs.

For someone in his 70s, having the children (and grandchildren) talk with him about his different options and help him identify the ones that best fit his needs and financial situation, might be helpful. This can be complicated due to the fact that seniors are often reluctant to discuss their finances with their children. Nevertheless, having an outline of your senior’s assets so you can know which options are available, is important.

When children have conversations with their parents about the future, they must first reassure the senior that they will be in control and have the final say and that the children just want to help them think about future possibilities and understand their preferences.

Posted by: Frank Esposito, Vice President of Expert Home Care.  New Jersey’s Expert Home Care provides professional and reliable home health care and companion care for NJ elderly, helping them with their daily living activities since 1984. Please call us toll free at 800-848-2336 when you have home care related questions or need assistance for a loved one. Get a Free Home Care Assessment (a $375 value!) when you mention this post.

Elder Care at Home NJ

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Nursing Homes – Five-Star Rating System delivered to you by Elder Law Answers!
 
Elders and Seniors in NJ can eat at a five star restaurant or stay at a five star hotel. By year’s end, you’ll also be able to select a five star nursing home.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced plans to implement a one  to five star rating system for nursing homes to help consumers in New Jersey evaluate a nursing home’s quality when selecting a facility. The ratings would appear on the agency’s Nursing Home Compare Web site.

CMS will base the ratings on government inspection results and the staff data and quality measures. It is yet to be determined – if the ratings will include patients with dementia or those on ventilators.

CMS Administrator Kerry Weems believes the public is hungry for this type of information. And he adds, “lower ratings will likely put nursing homes on the path to improvement . . . I don’t think we’re going to see many people who are very anxious to put a loved one in a one star home.”

But the new rating system was criticized both by consumer advocates and the nursing home industry, for different reasons.

A senior policy attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Toby Edelman, said that two of three criteria CMS plans to use for the ratings like staffing data and quality measures are “self reported by nursing facilities and are inaccurate.” Edelman said, “Relying on nursing homes to describe accurately how well they are doing . . . just doesn’t make sense”

The president of the American Health Care Association, Bruce Yarwood, a long term care industry trade group, criticized CMS’s use of government inspection results as criteria for the ratings and said CMS should consider consumer and staff satisfaction.

If you want your elder or senior living in New Jersey to continue living at home go to Expert Home Care and call us at 800-848-2336.

Manage Elder’s Medications – Assisted Living Home Care – New Jersey

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Expert Home Care offers free van transportation for our caregivers directly to our client’s doors in the counties of Bergen, Morris, Hunterdon, Warren, Sussex, Essex, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, Passaic, Union and Hudson.

Expert Home Care is a good alternative to Assisted Living & Nursing Homes.. keeping seniors and elders safe and healthy in their homes. Call us today at 800-848-2336.

Medications Need to Be Carefully Managed

Consider the following common myths about medication use:

  • If one dose makes me feel good, a larger dose will make me feel even better
  • If one drug does not work, take two or three
  • If I can buy it over the counter, it must be safe
  • If my physician has not stopped the medication, I can still use it
  • If it helped my friend, it will help me

Many seniors and elders living in New Jersey buy into these myths. Since seniors take on average as many as six prescription drugs and three to four over-the-counter medications, problems with medications are common.

The biggest medication problems for New Jersey elders:

  • Not taking medicine correctly – either forgetting to take it or failing to follow instructions
  • Allergic reactions
  • Drug side effects
  • Drug interactions
  • Duplication
  • Wrong dosage
  • Unnecessary or inappropriate usage

Those with chronic conditions that take multiple medications may find one drug interacts or interferes with the effectiveness of another drug, or can cause unexpected side effects that can result in such symptoms as nausea, dizziness, heartburn, faintness, fatigue, drop in blood pressure, or blurred vision.

Common drug-to-drug interactions include aspirin with a blood thinner, like Coumadin, or certain diabetic medications; antacids with heart and blood pressure medications; and antihistamines with antidepressants.

There can also be problems when certain medications are taken with such common foods as dairy products, caffeine, grapefruit and orange juices, and alcohol, or with certain herbal supplements like gingko biloba or kava kava.

Let us help your loved ones live safely in their home. We are one of the best alternatives to Assisted Living and Nursing Home facilities – Expert Home Care New Jersey. Call for assistance 800-848-2336.