What is the difference between all these care facilities? When you are ill, or recovering from being ill, chances are you will spend time in what healthcare terms “A Care Facility”. The highest level of care is found in an Acute Care Hospital. If your health issues are resolved, you are discharged to home with no additional care needed. If you do need additional care, the … [Read more...]
Deaf and Aging in America
“Blindness cuts us off from things. Deafness cuts us off from other people.” Helen Keller Our very sense of self-worth, our identity, is dependent on relationships, and healthy relationships are dependent on being free to share our thoughts and feelings, as well as to listen to those of others. Barriers to communication, therefore, create barriers to relationship. For people … [Read more...]
Caregiving Tips: When Your Elder Is Hard-Of-Hearing
And won’t wear hearing aids “For those of us who are gradually losing our hearing, it is often too much effort to keep up with a conversation, so we self-isolate. I find that most people mumble, speak too rapidly and use words without consonants. If people spoke with clarity, they would not feel like they had to shout – which makes what they are shouting distracting and even … [Read more...]
Don’t underestimate your elder’s ability to grow and change.
But you must be willing to grow and change as well. Can I tell you how proud I am of my mother? At 86, she is still learning and growing. Early one day I got a call from my cousin inviting us to an impromptu birthday celebration that night. The family was meeting at a restaurant right by mom (I live an hour away), so she offered to pick up my mother. I immediately went into … [Read more...]
Tips on Caregiving for Survivors – Flexibility and knowing their story is key.
Once again, we can learn from our Holocaust Survivors. Fay Ross, Holocaust Survivor Services Coordinator for Jewish Family Services of Middlesex County NJ, helped me understand the caregiving needs of Holocaust survivors. That got me thinking about the vast number of veterans and survivors of other traumatic events, who at some point will need caregiving. Yes, every person … [Read more...]