July 12, 2010 |
Posted By Jim Reynolds | Comments (2)
 "A difficult but doable challenge" On Saturday, July 24, Caring Companion Connections will join hundreds of others at the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Ride, as we work toward our commitment to a world without Alzheimer’s disease. The Memory Ride generates awareness and raises money for Alzheimer’s research. We hope you will join the fight with a pledge. Any amount helps. Don’t think it doesn’t matter; individually, none of us can cure Alzheimer’s disease – but together, we will. Click here to donate.
CCC will sponsor a rider (that’s me!) for the 100-mile ride. It will be a difficult but doable challenge, just as curing Alzheimer’s is a difficult but doable effort. We hope that you will also rise to the challenge and join with us and others by donating now so that the later years of our large aging population can be ever richer.
90% of money raised by Memory Ride participants funds grants awarded through the Alzheimer’s Association’s research grants program. 10% of the proceeds stay in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to help fund programs and services that assist families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
As a home care agency on the front lines of elder care, CCC focuses on wellness and on improving the lives of our clients and their families. We daily see first-hand how many of our clients and their families have been affected by Alzheimer’s disease. We are committed to helping our clients live each day to its fullest, and to improving the lives of their families. Please join us in this important effort.
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July 9, 2010 |
Posted By Blog Admin | Comments (1)
Here are recent some recent comments we’ve received — all spontaneous and unsolicited. We are grateful that our work is hitting such high levels of satisfaction! We have been sending out postcards to many people with these (click on the image of the postcard above and you can download a printable/emailable version of it)
“I was amazed at the improvement in our client. The service you are delivering is clearly a cut above what other agencies offer!” Local elder protective services social worker
“You have no idea what a relief it is that your people are there. I can breathe again! Best of all, Mom’s become happier than she’s been in years!“ Daughter, Concord, MA
“I definitely notice that the Caring Companion system can provide a higher level of care than the typical home care company.” One of our experienced caregivers
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July 6, 2010 |
Posted By Jim Reynolds | Comments (0)
 AIST, Japan I was planning my next technology post to focus on currently-available products that can help reduce the overall cost of home care by reducing the hours required to pay a home care agency for data collection and monitoring. There is a range of products – from medication dispensers to home systems with motion sensors and cameras – that can provide security without invading privacy, and that do so at a fraction of the cost of in-home care. These products are mature, available, and they can be valuable tools to families, but I’ll have to write about them later because the attached it just too much fun to discuss. 
A recent New York Times article describes a lab project that is NOT yet widely available. Used with dementia patients, it is modeled after a baby harp seal, and it “trills and paddles when petted, blinks when the lights go up, opens its eyes at loud noises and yelps when handled roughly or held upside down.” It’s a pet without the mess! It is well-known that many dementia sufferers improved and find it very soothing to devote care-giving to pets or to plants; according to the Times article, many of these benefits can be derived by interacting with “Paro,” whose name is derived from conflating the words “personal robot.”
(more…)
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July 5, 2010 |
Posted By Dr. Deborah Bier | Comments (0)
 Here is an article a social worker friend sent me about a dozen years ago. Every so often, I come across it among my papers, taking the opportunity to re-read it… and learn from it anew. It’s a beautiful formulation of the profound difference between helping, fixing, and serving by Rachel Naomi Ramen, MD called In the Service of Life: http://www.rachelremen.com/service.html.
Remen is one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body holistic health movement and the first to recognize the role of the spirit in health and the recovery from illness. She’s also the author of the best-selling books My Grandfather’s Blessings and Kitchen Table Wisdom
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July 2, 2010 |
Posted By Dr. Deborah Bier | Comments (0)
 “Creativity is a new paradigm for aging that articulates the idea of seeing older people for their potential rather than their problems. In later life, creativity strengthens morale, enhances physical health and enriches relationships. Creative engagement also constitutes the greatest legacy older people can leave their children, grandchildren, and society as a whole.
“Older people have functioned historically as keepers of culture who pass on the history and values of a community to the next generation. Therefore, creativity develops culture; and, culture builds and sustains community life through the positive engagement of older people in the arts.
(more…)
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July 1, 2010 |
Posted By Dr. Deborah Bier | Comments (0)
 Continuing our recent series on food and aging, I want to turn this time to the use of good quality herbs and spices in cooking. Our caregivers are often the main dietary gateway for our clients, and I heartily encourage their use of fragrant, colorful herbs and spices whenever possible in foods. There are three main reasons:
1) Use of seasonings makes food more flavorful, enjoyable and interesting; I’ve already written about why I think our mainstream food sources have become lacking in flavor… and savor. Where appetites are low or nutrition has been poor, the more yummy, healthy food we can offer, the greater the benefits (including pleasure) to the client. (more…)
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June 30, 2010 |
Posted By Jim Reynolds | Comments (0)
 Hats off to the New York Times for shining a light on the growing importance of caregivers and the role they play in keeping people safe and comfortable in their homes (see A Graying Population, a Graying Work Force). In particular, we would highlight a specific point in this article: caregiving’s ability to provide a sense of purpose for both the caregiver and the client.
At its best, professional caregiving enhances the lives of all involved. It is not uncommon for a caregiver to come to feel almost like part of the family, and when the client lives alone, a team of professional caregivers may be the primary social contact in that person’s life. (more…)
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June 29, 2010 |
Posted By Jim Reynolds | Comments (2)
 A recent New York Times article entitled A Health Insurer Pays More to Save pointed out that regular monitoring of even simple health measures led to a drop in hospital re-admissions and overall costs. They are giving primary care doctors more help to try to keep patients, especially elderly patients, in their homes by improving monitoring and reporting to head off serious health problems.
This points to an area where the home care industry could contribute far more than we do today in reducing the costs of health care and improving quality of life for our clients: providing real-time information and reporting to health care professionals and families to confirm that plans of treatment are followed, and to report any changes in status as early as possible for follow up.
(more…)
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June 26, 2010 |
Posted By Dr. Deborah Bier | Comments (1)
 We recently met with Natasha Heimrath of Caregiver Homes, a community-based model of care for frail seniors and disabled people 16 and older to be cared for at home and in their community. The state-funded program pays caregivers – typically, but not always, a family member – who provide full-time care at home, and it supports each client and caregiver with a case management team. In some instances, this stipend allows families to bring an outside caregiver into the home for respite (relief) for the main caregiver.
Our experience suggests that many families are eligible for this program and don’t realize it. We encourage our clients to make use of this program, and have contacted those who we think may be eligible to put them in touch with Natasha. We are happy to facilitate this relationship and will work cooperatively with Caregiver Homes any time we serve clients concurrently.
To be covered by the Caregiver Homes program, clients must be eligible for Medicare/MassHealth or be eligible for a “Frail Elder Waiver” (which has a higher income allowance than does Medicare). The caregiver to receive the stipend may not be a legal guardian or spouse, and does not need to be related to the client.
(more…)
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June 25, 2010 |
Posted By Dr. Deborah Bier | Comments (0)
 Many wellness practices and activities are designed to increase positive affect (among other results), and as such we feel our wellness focus here at CCC is therefore crucial to our clients’ and caregivers’ health on all levels. While some folks think that wellness is just a “nice extra”, studies such as the one below show how absolutely vital wellness is for creating, improving and maintaining our health.
“Optimistic Expectancies and Cell-Mediated Immunity: The Role of Positive Affect,” published by the Association for Psychological Science, is just the latest article showing the connection between attitude and health. In short: increases in positive cellular immune factors were shown to correlate directly with increased levels of optimism. (more…)
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