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ElderCare at Home brings you this newsletter in the spirit of cooperation and education. We hope you find this information useful and informative.
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Now More Than Ever,
Your Home is Your
Sanctuary
We are monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak daily, and the health and safety of our referred caregivers and clients is our top priority. Our infection prevention practices are recommended by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
We have shifted our focus from mitigating risk to proactively preparing to care for clients with COVID-19. Our staff is focused on emergency preparedness, obtaining necessary PPE supplies to keep our caregivers safe, and following CDC recommendations and the latest travel guidelines protocol to safeguard and support our caregivers, clients, and community.
What is Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)?
- It is a new Coronavirus that was recently detected in Wuhan, China.
- Coronaviruses in general are a large family of viruses that typically circulate during cold and flu season and cause mild respiratory illness.
- COVID-19 is spreading from person-to-person in China, and person-to-person spread among close contacts has been detected in several countries outside China, including recently, the United States.
How is COVID-19 spread?
- COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person. Person-to-person spread means:
- Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)
- From respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can possibly land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, be inhaled into the lungs, or land on surfaces that people touch.
- COVID-19 is an emerging disease and there is more to learn about how it is transmitted, the severity of the virus, and what will happen in the United States.
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
Symptoms are similar to other respiratory viruses and may include:
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breathe
How soon after exposure to COVID-19 do signs and symptoms occur?
Symptoms occur anywhere from 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus.
What is the risk to me?
- For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low. However, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to emphasize the importance of community preparedness, anticipating that there is potential for community spread to occur in the United States.
- Clinical staff currently working in hospitals where clients with COVID-19 are receiving care are being provided with education and support to prevent transmission.
- The CDC has placed very tight controls on the entry of people to the United States from China and other areas where person-to-person transmission has occurred.
What is ElderCare at Home doing to keep me safe?
- All referred caregivers follow an Infection Prevention Program that provides the highest standards of infection prevention practices as recommended by the CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
- All employees, independent contractors and staff members follow the infection control procedures found on the CDC website located here.
- ElderCare at Home has issued new procedures for employee travel-related concerns for guidance with managing potentially exposed employees.
If you have any questions, please call ElderCare at
888-585-0093!
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April is National Stress Awareness Month
National Stress Awareness Month
For the past few decades, April has been considered National Stress Awareness Month. Stress is understood as mental and emotional tension resulting from difficult situations and life events. Not all stress is bad. For example, if there are many exciting life events going on, you may feel a "good" kind of stress. Other examples of good stress include playing sports or exercising. Often, stress can be bad when it results from unfortunate and unexpected circumstances, like a death in the family. Bad stress can also accumulate over time when handling a serious role, like family caregiving because a loved one is ill.
As a caregiver, you are often forced to confront extremely difficult realities about a loved one's health, the end of life, and personal finances. Managing this stress can be challenging if you are balancing many other responsibilities like working and raising a family. Fortunately, there are techniques to help you manage things when times get tough.
One of the key methods many counselors suggest is mindfulness. According to the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, "[M]indfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment."
[1] This is a technique that requires you to stop thinking about the past and imagining the future and to focus on the immediate present. For instance, if you find you're worrying about things out of your control, try to recognize that you are having a stressful thought and reorient your thinking to your immediate experiences. Try asking yourself questions like "What am I doing right now?", "How do I feel in this moment?", "What kinds of things do I hear, smell, and feel?"
As Jon Kabat-Zinn writes in his well-known book, Wherever You Go, There You Are, "The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing."[2] It means observing yourself and your behaviors while being fully present in the moment you are currently experiencing, because this moment is the only moment you have any control over. This practice is summarized simply, but it is difficult to master.
A helpful image that Jon Kabat-Zinn uses is to think of your thoughts as a river. Instead of allowing this river to take you wherever it goes, try swimming to the bank and observing the river. You may not always like the thoughts that are flowing through your mind, but being aware of these thoughts is a way to observe your mind's habits and the tendencies you have that take you away from being present.[3]
Many people find it useful to do deep breathing in order to help their mind stay present. Breathe in for four seconds and breathe out for four seconds. Make sure to count the seconds you breath as you go in and out. This technique is a very helpful way to keep your mind from getting distracted. Try doing this for 5 to 10 minutes a day.
Don't let stress control you. Only focus on the things you can control.
[1] Source: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition
[2] Kabat-Zinn, Jon, Wherever You Go, There You Are, (New York: Hyperion, 1993).
[3] Ibid.
If you have any questions, please call ElderCare at
888-585-0093!
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Grappling with Fear as a Caregiver
Caregiving: Emotions and Fears
Becoming a family caregiver can happen suddenly or gradually. It is often a role that life does not prepare you for. Many family caregivers who have an aging or sick loved one are thrown into this role with no experience and with no guidance. As a result, many unfamiliar fears and uncomfortable emotions can surface
[1], leaving you confused, stressed, and exhausted. In today's blog, we will go over common emotions and fears that family caregivers experience and talk about how you can manage them. The thing we hope you take away from this blog is that these experiences are very common and you are not alone. Fortunately, resources exist to help you manage your role as a family caregiver.
These are common fears and emotions that caregivers experience:
Guilt: Guilt can arise because you may feel like you are not performing at your best. Other reasons caregivers feel guilt is because they develop anger or frustration toward those they are caring for. We want to remind you that guilt is a normal emotion to experience as a family caregiver. You can manage this by acknowledging what your limits are and being honest about what is too much. Having an honest conversation with yourself or a trusted friend or mental health counselor can help you identify what your limits are. Respect your limits and remind yourself that is okay if you cannot do everything you wanted to at the start.
Anger: This emotion can develop as you come to terms with the reality of your loved one's situation. It is normal to experience anger as a result of seeing your loved one live with a debilitating condition. It is common to want an explanation as to why something like this would happen. Unfortunately, we may not get that answer. It is important to work through these difficult emotions and toward accepting things as they are currently. While this is not easy, it can help you manage developing anger in the future.
Anxiety: This occurs when we are uncertain of the future or out of control at the present moment. Anxiety can take many forms, such as impaired concentration, fatigue, racing heartbeat, uncontrollable thoughts, emotional outbursts, and so on. The way to get a grip on these emotions is to work on staying present and focusing on what you can control. If your anxiety is overwhelming and impacting your daily life, then it may be a good idea to see a mental health professional.
Sadness: Sadness or feeling down can sometimes be one symptom of depression. Unfortunately, high stress, lack of sleep, and increased anxiety are all risk factors for developing depression. Ways to counter depression include seeing a mental health professional, finding a support group, socializing with friends and family, and exercising.
Feeling Unappreciated: Feeling this way can be a result of your loved one being able to communicate to you how much they appreciate what you are doing for them. This can often be a result of underlying health conditions. Feeling this way can also result from being isolated and being unable to relate your experiences to others around you. One way to counteract this is to join a caregiver support group and talk to people who have the appropriate frame of reference to relate to you. Additionally, try taking a moment to appreciate yourself, and acknowledge what you have accomplished. Reward yourself by doing something you love!
If you have any other questions, then please call ElderCare at Home at 888-285-0093 or visit our
website.
If you are interested in ElderCare at Home
and learning more about what we can do to help,
call 888-285-0093 or visit our
website.
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The Importance of Getting Good Sleep
A Video for Family Caregivers
There are many reasons why we need good sleep. Unfortunately, there are as many reasons why we do not get good sleep. Here are some helpful hints to fix your sleeping schedule to get a good 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.
Subscribe to ElderCare at Home's
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Leaving Your Loved One at Home: When It Becomes Dangerous
An Ar
ticle from the ElderCare at Home Blog
If you are caring for an aging loved one who has developed a degenerative neurological disorder, then you are confronted with many unknowns. How fast will the condition develop? How expensive is treatment and care? How do you schedule your time around caring for your loved one with other responsibilities at hand? Becoming a family caregiver for a loved one with a degenerative neurological disorder is life changing, and can dramatically alter your daily responsibilities, social relationships, and career.[. . .]
For more information regarding Alzheimer's
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Professionally Trained Caregivers
F i n d t h e R i g h t T y p e o f C a r e
Find the Right Caregiver
Get Professional Help for Your Loved One
ElderCare at Home recognizes that finding time to balance all of your responsibilities is a challenge. If you have an aging loved one, then you might feel like you're at wit's end trying to keep everything in order. That is why we are here to help.
Our certified nursing assistants and home health aides are screened to ensure that your loved one is receiving the care they deserve. A component of the care they might receive is help with meal preparation. As we mentioned above, ensuring that your loved one is well-nourished and fed is crucial for their continued care.
The aides we refer to you all have expertise in providing care for seniors who have degenerative neurological disorders. So, they will know the appropriate strategies and techniques to practice during challenging situations.
ElderCare at Home also promises to match you with the caregiver who can meet your or your loved one's needs to the fullest. Visit our webpage and read about our
Caregiver Match Guarantee. If you have questions, do not hesitate to call us at
561-585-0400!
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We're More Than Just Private Duty Home Care
Specialty Home Care Programs
 In addition to our Alzheimer's/dementia specific private duty referral services, ElderCare at Home, a licensed nurse registry, has referred caregivers who have provided exceptional care to thousands of patients through a number of specialty home care programs and our vast network of referred, independent contractors.
Each referral program allows the patient to recuperate in the place they most want to be... their own home! Most patients experience positive outcomes and are able to enjoy an improved quality of life.
ElderCare at Home is always here for you!
To learn more, reach out to us at anytime (561)585-0400.
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"Be Gentle with Yourself
"
Photos from the ElderCare at Home's Facebook Page
For more great posts like this, follow
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Caregiver Support Groups
Open Support Groups for Family Caregivers
Caring for someone that has Alzheimer's disease, dementia or other cognitive impairment is hard. These support groups are attended by caregivers who are struggling with all kinds of different challenges and emotions.
ElderCare at Home in cooperation with the Alzheimer's Care Resource Center, facilitates more than 14 Caregiver Support Groups throughout the Palm Beach County area (Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth, Delray Beach and Boca Raton)
Our Alzheimer's caregiver support groups are different! Our caregivers are able to come together and share in a warm, relaxed and nurturing environment.
We also offer a monthly telephone support group for all Alzheimer's caregivers who are either unable to attend in person, or live out of state.
Call (561) 588-4545 to RSVP
for any of the support groups listed.
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Career Opportunities
Accepting New CNA and HHA Registrations
We are currently recruiting independent contractors who not
only enjoy working with the memory impaired, but who have an interest in making a difference in the lives of the patients and families they serve.
Do you have these qualities?
- Experience
- Compassion
- Loyalty
- Commitment
- Kindness
- Professionalism
Referral opportunities are available throughout South Florida.We've been helping
caregivers like you
find employment for over 17 years. As an Independent Contractor, you tell us exactly where you want to
work; how many hours you can devote to your clients; and the type of caregiving situations you are looking for!
Call us Today (561) 585-0400 or Apply Online
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The Best Compliment
Refer Your Friends and Family
The best compliment you can give us is the referral of your friends and family! We always appreciate referrals from our satisfied clients to friends and family members or professional resources. To send us a referral, simply call (561) 585-0400. Thank you! We welcome the opportunity to serve the people you care about. |
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