The All Home Care Matters Official Family Caregivers' Guide


Book Description

EMBARK ON A COMPASSIONATE JOURNEY THROUGH YOUR LOVED ONE'S TWILIGHT YEARS At the heart of every family is the profound bond shared with our aging parents, a bond that becomes both clearer and more delicate as the sunset of their lives approaches. "The All Home Care Matters Official Family Caregivers' Guide" is a beacon of wisdom, meant to guide you through the complexities and emotional tides of becoming a caregiver. This pivotal guide is your ally, from witnessing the early signs of your parents needing assistance to managing the crescendo of their medical and emotional needs. Delve into Chapter 1, "Recognizing the Shifts," where you'll learn to spot the early indicators pointing to your parents' need for care, setting the stage to initiate that all-important conversation with empathy and foresight. Transitioning to Chapter 2, "The Basics of Caregiving," equips you with the knowledge to understand your role and set expectations that honor both you and your parents. Legal and financial planning steps appear in Chapter 3, presenting essential documents and benefit navigation as pillars of your caregiving foundation. Discover within Chapter 4 the heart and soul of the caregiver's emotional journey, as you learn to gracefully handle role reversals and resistance. The practical wisdom flows into health and medical needs in Chapter 5, ensuring routine care and emergency response become second nature to you. The valuable At-Home Care Strategies of Chapter 6 offer actionable advice for creating a safe and nurturing home environment. As the pages turn, you'll be methodically prepared for the eventuality of assisted living, home care, and end-of-life considerations, and-most importantly-maintaining your well-being through the chapters dedicated to avoiding burnout, seeking support, and staying connected. With comprehensive resource directories and checklists, this book is not merely a guide but a companion on your journey. Empathetic and empowering, "The All Home Care Matters Official Family Caregivers' Guide" is your transformative guide for honoring your parent's golden years with dignity, love, and unwavering support. Embrace the path ahead with confidence - your odyssey of care awaits.




The Family Caregiver's Guide


Book Description

Caring for a loved one at home. What’s really involved? And what does it mean for your family and future? Tens of millions of Americans have had these questions and more as they prepare for this unsettling yet necessary task. The Family Caregiver’s Guide fills in the gaps, connecting the dots between research and real life. Drawing on the author’s extensive caregiving experience, this book provides strategies to care for your loved one, inside and out, as well as for yourself—including how to use your natural skills in your new role, and which skills you may need to add. You’ll discover how to set up your home for caregiving, including a safety checklist, equipment suggestions, and words you should know. And for those days that are more than a handful, you’ll find positive affirmations, a section on facing and accepting illness, and smart steps at the end of each chapter, in case you need guidance in a hurry. Caregiving has both rewards and challenges. But through it all, you’ll discover what’s most important—that caregiving is love in action.




Families Caring for an Aging America


Book Description

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.




The Family Caregiver's Manual


Book Description

A complete, step-by-step guide offering problem-solving and coping skills applicable to every caregiver’s unique circumstances. Drawing from over twenty-five years of experience, Levy provides caregivers with a model for effective planning and problem-solving, focusing on the nonclinical aspects of caregiving, which are often neglected by medical professionals: Caring for young and old victims of disability, illness, and chronic disorders Finding ways to make our healthcare system work Assembling core information about a loved one's life Developing a realistic view of how much care a loved one needs today and may need tomorrow, and understanding that continuum of care Locating resources that can make a difference in making sure a loved one's care-needs are met Finding a good family caregiver support group Overcoming the roadblocks the caregiver's feelings of distress and failure can create Taking a practical approach to that overused phrase "Take care of yourself." David Levy, JD is a gerontologist and a recognized family caregiver expert. Levy holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence and is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator in family caregiving and a certified Family Conflict Dynamics Profiler. He facilitates weekly family caregiver support groups and counsels family caregivers, both pro bono and privately.




Caring for a Person with Alzheimer's Disease: Your Easy -to-Use- Guide from the National Institute on Aging (Revised January 2019)


Book Description

The guide tells you how to: Understand how AD changes a person Learn how to cope with these changes Help family and friends understand AD Plan for the future Make your home safe for the person with AD Manage everyday activities like eating, bathing, dressing, and grooming Take care of yourself Get help with caregiving Find out about helpful resources, such as websites, support groups, government agencies, and adult day care programs Choose a full-time care facility for the person with AD if needed Learn about common behavior and medical problems of people with AD and some medicines that may help Cope with late-stage AD




Patient Safety and Quality


Book Description

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/




Dancing with Memories


Book Description

Dancing with Memories is a children's picture book about living well with dementia. Lucy lives with dementia - she wishes she didn't, but she does. S She is full of life and determination and although less competent than before, Lucy but can still do a lot. "My brain has changed", she says, "but I am still Lucy." Lucy knows her brain doesn't work like it used to, but doesn't always understand the implications. This leads to adventures and challenges. One adventure happens the day of her granddaughter's wedding. Lucy is to be picked up for the wedding by her daughter but decides to make her own way on the bus. Lucy becomes lost and confused on her way to the wedding. She is in danger of missing the wedding altogether! After a frustrating few hours, she finds her way home through the kindness and attentiveness of people in her community, including ten-year-old Reuben and his kelpie, Rejy. Lucy does make it to her granddaughter's wedding. Dancing with Memories focuses on wellbeing rather than deficit. It re-envisions what's possible by enjoying people living with dementia, more than fixating on what is lost. It is generative, not despairing; it informs and empowers. It centres on a community aware of the respectful support people living with dementia need and deserve - a dementia-friendly community, where people take time to notice, listen and act. Supported by Professor Ralph Martins' Q&A and Maggie Beer's healthy lunchboxes, Dancing with Memories provides a platform to raise awareness, alleviate fears and facilitate conversation with children around brain health. It highlights the importance of a life-long healthy diet and lifestyle, and empowers children to engage with hope and intent in the growing social challenge of dementia.




The Resourceful Caregiver


Book Description

A comprehensive "yellow pages" guide for consumers caring or planning to care for a family member with a chronic condition or illness in a home setting. This helpful book lists local and national assistive organizations, respite care options, pertinent books, tapes, and videos, hotlines and help lines, and appropriate products.




Home Health Care Provider


Book Description

This book is designed to foster quality care to home care recipients. It is written for companions, home health aides, and other care givers who deliver non-medical home care. Prieto provides information, tips, and techniques on personal care routines as well as additional responsibilities that are often necessary in this work, including home safety and maintenance, meal planning, errand running, caring for couples, and making use of recreational time. Going beyond standard nurses' aide training manuals, the book focuses on the psycho-social needs of home care recipients, stressing the need to maintain the house as a home and sustaining the recipient's way of life throughout caregiving situations. Prieto stresses interpersonal skills that benefit recipient and caregiver, creating a systematic, easy-to-follow plan for delivering quality service and maintaining, or improving, quality of life.




The Common Sense Guide to Dementia For Clinicians and Caregivers


Book Description

The Common Sense Guide to Dementia for Clinicians and Caregivers provides an easy-to-read, practical, and thoughtful approach to dementia care. Written by two specialists who have cared for thousands of patients with dementia and their families, this ground-breaking title unifies the perspectives of neurology and psychiatry to meet a variety of caregiver needs. It spotlights many real-world concerns not typically covered in standard textbooks, while simultaneously presenting a more detailed medical perspective than typical caregiver manuals. This handy title offers expert guidance for the clinical management of dementia and compassionate support of patients and families. Designed to enhance the physician-caregiver interaction and liberally illustrated with case examples, The Common Sense Guide espouses general principles of dementia care that apply across the stages and spectrum of this illness, including non-Alzheimer's types of dementia, in addition to Alzheimer's disease. Clinicians, family members, and other caregivers will find this volume useful from the moment that symptoms of dementia emerge. The authors place an emphasis on caring for the caregiver as well as the patient. Essential topics include how to find the right clinician, make the most of a doctor's visit, and avert a crisis - or manage one that can't be avoided. Sometimes difficult considerations, such as driving, financial management, legal matters, long-term placement, and end-of-life care, are faced head-on. Tried, true, and time-saving tips are explained in terms of what works - and what doesn't - with regard to clinical evaluation, medications, behavioral measures, and alternate therapies. Medical, nursing, and allied health care professionals will undoubtedly turn to this unique overview as a vital resource and mainstay of clinical dementia care, as well as a valuable recommendation for family caregivers.