Connected for Caring

The eighteen year period from 1946 to 1964 produced the highest number of U.S. births in history resulting in this group now being over 20% of the U.S. population.  Baby boomers are between the ages of 48 and 66 and will make a major impact on U.S. society, culture, and the economy.  A term for the all encompassing impact of the aging boomers is “Agenomics”!   

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age in the U.S. has risen from 29.5 in 1960 to 37.2 in 2010 and will continue to rise over the next decade as this population moves through the spectrum.  The over 65 age group is now 13% of the population, up from 9% in 1960.  This generation has been given a lot by their families and society, including a depression free expanding economy, quality public education and healthcare, freedom and flexibility to travel, live where they wish, and for the most part get what they want.  They followed professional and business opportunities across the country and the world and enjoyed a relatively good life.  They are a mobile lot.

But, there is an issue the boomers have not counted on, specifically, assuming the responsibility and burden of care for an elderly parent or other family member.  Further complicating this responsibility is the fact that many family members are spread across the country and no longer live in close proximity to other family members.  The typical result is for the one sibling who is closest to the parent to assume the major responsibility for caregiving while the other siblings check in now and again.  Alternatively, it may be that no adult children live near the aging parent and management of care is done remotely through paid caregivers.  Under any circumstances, caregiving becomes complicated and burdensome to people with busy lives and studies have shown that caregiving responsibilities takes its toll on the health and wellbeing of the caregiver, in addition to the financial toll.

Fortunately, opportunities to address these issues with innovation and technology are coming to the fore.  As the old saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention”.  A few these innovations include:

• Greater use of home care in lieu of nursing home care.  People are staying in their homes longer with the assistance of home modifications, in-home services from private duty and home care agencies, and mobile technology.
• Enhanced community based support systems such as community villages to further enable home based living for the elderly.  One such village is the Beacon Hill Village.  Information from the website describes it as “a member-driven organization for Boston residents 50 and over that provides programs and services so members can lead vibrant, active and healthy lives, while living in their own homes and neighborhoods”.
• Use of new web-based technology that supports coordinating care among family members and professional care providers.  This
  technology fits nicely with the disruptive transformation going on in the health care system that is becoming more focused on prevention, wellness, population management, and care coordination. Making Care Easier (www.makingcareeasier.com) is an example the tools and services available to families and professional caregivers.

While many things in life are uncertain, the aging population is not one of them.  The over 65 segment of the population will continue to grow for many years to come, as will their need for family support.  The application of innovative approaches and technology will ease, but never eliminate the stress involved.  “Agenomics” is upon us, but we can take action to moderate and even capitalize on it. Just don’t put your head in the sand and hope for the best.

Three years ago, I purchased a medical alert device for my grandfather and grandmother.  Given their track record--both had fallen previously--it was a small, but potentially powerful action that I could take to help care from far away.  While Gramps never had the need to use it, Granny did yesterday.

Like so many tools and aids for the elderly, user compliance is a major issue.  Granny lives alone in an apartment building for seniors.  She "knows" that she should wear her alert pendent, yet she always tends to forget.  Yesterday morning while she was dressing, she passed out and hit the floor.  Her alert pendent was hanging on the dresser.  Thankfully, she was able to eventually reach it which sent help right away.  She was lucky yesterday, but the entire family fears to think of what could happen the next time.

You can give all the tools available to someone, but unless they buy into it, even the best tools won't be of use.  There has been a great deal of talk about user engagement in healthcare recently.  Getting patients to be actively involved in their own care has proven to increase compliance and reduce costs.  With up to an estimated 75% of seniors non-compliant with physician related directives, getting seniors to participate in their own care is critical.

 The first step is to set up a plan.  Making Care Easier offers sample daily care plans and medicine tracking tools.  Make sure that the senior understands and agrees to their daily routine.  Walk through each step where they are expected to take ownership (taking meds, wearing alert pendants, calling the right people for help, etc).  Create a written plan together.  Be sure to have them fill in sections or write down their preferences so they share ownership. 

Review the plan regularly as medicines, routines and capabilities may change.  Reach out to your care team to help you monitor problem areas such as forgetting to take medicines, refill prescriptions or even eating regularly.  MCE offers care updates and tasks to help you create reminders for your team so everyone helps keep your loved ones on track.

Thankfully, Granny was able to come home the same day and is recovering from a drop in her blood pressure.  This scare was enough to convince her that she really does need to wear her monitor, but we're taking nothing to chance.  We have alerted everyone of her fall and will all be watching to make sure that she's wearing her medical alert pendent.  Watching out for her own safety is something she has to participate in and there is an entire care team helping the process along.

Our father has had diabetes for over ten years now.  Up until last week, he was always able to control it with diet, exercise and medication.  But, mom got a scary awakening last week when at 2 am he started wandering around the house, urinating uncontrollably and incoherent. (We have a very wonderful father to let us say that in public).

When she asked who the president was, his response was, "Thomas Jefferson".  At that, she rushed him to the hospital.  After a day of tests, it was diagnosed as a, "diabetic related incident" with a slight case of pneumonia.  We live a ten hour drive away as we felt helpless.  Thankfully, we had all been using Making Care Easier, so we were able to quickly connect to one another, access his health information and give regular updates.  In an emergency, the preventative measures you take ahead of time offer you reassurance, direction and offered us a sense of some control in an uncontrollable situation.

We developed Making Care Easier based on our work in the industry and our own collective experiences caring for elderly family members.  This was our first experience using MCE in an emergency situation and we were able to successfully utilize the tools and see the potential it can have for helping families.  Thankfully, Dad is at home recovering nicely under the care of Mom.  We continue to use MCE for his care and have one place where we can track the care for Grandma, Renee and now Dad.  We continue to track his care updates, find and share articles on care for diabetics and help find Mom helpful products that would make his daily insulin injections easier.

Making Care Easier is helping families caring for elderly parents and it's working for us.  We would like to hear about your experiences.  Please send your stories or suggestions to me at Julie@MakingCareEasier.com.

We introduced Making Care Easier to professional caregivers at the recent 2011 National Association for Home Care & Hospice 30th Annual Meeting & Exposition held in Las Vegas, NV.  We were thrilled with the overwhelming positive response we got from attendees.  A big thank you to all who signed up to join us when we formally launch our services in the next few weeks!

Our professional tools are free for both the caregivers and their customers.  The firms we met liked that we can co-brand our website with their brand, offer their customers on-line family tracking and communication tools, access to helpful products, actionable how-to's and
resources so that the entire family can engage in the caring process.  Many agreed with us that this would help retain clients and attract new ones. 

And, attendees loved the idea that they now have a free on-line marketing tool that keeps a daily relationship going with their clients and expands their reach within the care group to the entire family.  This unique feature helps maintain and strengthen client relationships.  All and all, everyone agreed that MCE's customer tools help family members connect, communicate and take action to support their loved ones.

For those of you who haven't heard of MCE, MCE is an on-line tool connecting all family members and friends to:

• Share care updates
• Keep everyone up-to-date (shared calendars, e-mail, research center)
• Get articles and advice
• Find products
• Request appointments and communicate with professional caregivers

MCE is free for care providers and clients.  We'll be going live shortly and hope you will join our beta community so we can get your feedback and make the product the best we can for all of you!  We come from the industry, have personally lived care giving experiences of our own, and know that being Connected for Caring can make a huge difference!  For more information, please contact info@makingcareeasier.com.

Like a child, it “takes a village” to care for an elderly parent. Providing care for your parents can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. But, it can also be a job filled with taxing, and sometimes thankless work that can be physically and emotionally overwhelming--a perfect time to reach out for help.

Take the Help, Leave the Guilt

Asking for help can be hard. But, giving yourself a break will ultimately make you a better caregiver. Asking for help does not mean you are not an adequate caregiver rather that you acknowledge and know your limits. Although it may seem like you are imposing on friends and family, most appreciate the work that you do and would most likely be happy to help but just need to know how to help. Empower yourself to ask for help and not feel guilty about it.

Be Specific

Looking for ways people can help? MCE is developing actionable how-to lists so friends and family know exactly what needs to be done and can be an active part of caring. The more specific that you can be--the better. "Take Mom to the doctor's" should turn into "Take Mom to Dr. Smith's for her 3 pm appointment. They are located at 123 Main Street and it usually takes 15 minutes to get there. The appointment should only take about 20 minutes. Thanks!"  MCE has found that a note like this increases the chances that your care team will help and complete all tasks and look for more to do since they know what the task will involve.

Be Open to Alternatives

When caregiving overwhelms you, be open and honest with your care team and find ways that they can help. If no one can pick up Mom for her doctor's appointment, maybe they would be willing to help out other ways. If they offer to help, thank them and ask for their suggestions. Keep a list of what needs to be done and suggest alternatives when care team members offer to help.

You Get More Flies with Honey

Even though you are probably the one doing most of the work and it feels like a thankless job, try making asking for help as positive of an experience as possible. Ask people for help rather than demanding it. Be assertive, but kind. Most importantly, thank your care team. If you thank them enough, they may even thank you in return.

Caring for elderly parents is a massive job made up of many tasks. But it doesn't have to be a task that you tackle alone. Reaching out to your care team when you can't be there or just to give yourself a break will help you be a better caregiver and will ultimately be better for your parents as well.