When helping my parents through the aging process, my sisters and I had a difficult time ciphering through all the information on the Internet. And that was 6 years ago, so I can imagine how difficult it must be today… with all the information that is at your fingertips!

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• Everyone loves the Internet! (shannonturlington.com)

I would like to find out from a few family caregivers who read our posts.. how do you keep up with all this handy information and how do you know which are reliable and have solutions that meet your aging relative’s need? Our caregiving world has changed.. as you can see this tool that I’m using helps me “brighten” up my posts.. making it more meaningful to you and hopefully, becoming an enlightened resource that will help you, the family caregiver, as you wander through the elder care puzzle.

Some considerations when doing your research on helping Mom and Dad at home for services. Since I lived at a distance from my parents, it was difficult to interview, visit the potential provider, and contact their referrals. Here are a few tactics my family used to get the best services for our parents:

1. Made a list of what Mom and Dad were having trouble doing at home

2. Talked with them on how best we can help them get these done - usually it was, “well, Carol, you could just drive here on the weekends to help us.. you know we want to see you more.”

3. Before going home for the weekend or for a day or two; I completed my search online of all local resources with phone numbers, addresses, contact names, and email address

4. Before presenting to my Mom and Dad, I personally made contact with each of them and an appointment.. preferably at their location first.

5. At home (my parent’s) together we’d look through the list and made a priority of which services we needed first and foremost.

6. I personally visited the “provider’s facility” and talked with a few of their current clients.

7. My parents and I selected one from the list - their first priority and hired one that I felt most comfortable with - after Mom and Dad had an opportunity to visit with them and tried them out on a contingency basis.

8. From my home in Austin, I continued to stay in touch with the provider.. initially receiving daily updates until I felt reassured that Mom and Dad were okay accepting their help.

Tell me how you handle your Mom and Dad’s care - at a distance or from across the street.. other families will learn from your experience.

Did you know that normal age related cognitive decline effects the speed but not the quality of our thinking? Memory, reasoning and reaction time usually show the greatest decline; and verbal expression and social knowledge show little or no decline as we age.

Today was my first day of training. CogniFit first assessed my brain fitness that you can read here on Brain Fitness Assessment Part 1 and Brain Fitness Assessment Part 2.

After the assessment, you start the training - and today was on Match the Time, Name the Picture and Simon Says.. the three tests that I completed today are on Time Estimation, Naming, and Divided Attention. As you know the assessment showed high results in Time Estimation and Naming but Divided Attention.. well, let’s just say I was WAY below normal..

The good news… my training results showed that the Divided Attention was elevated.. resulting in very good results after the training. Nice.

What i like about CogniFit - it’s online and provides a variety of activities which keep my brain challenged. The differences between CogniFit and doing activities like crossword puzzles - the latter becomes routine and the brain is no longer getting the stimulation that is required and benefits can gradually decline. Therefore an effective brain fitness program will constantly monitor your performance and adapt to optimize the challenge.

CogniFit just showed me that I am NOT a multitasking genius… I am honestly quite surprised. I’ve been duped! All these 58 years I’ve been under the wrong impression… multitasking is not a skill that I excel in… I’m disappointed.

Another good news… I fail miserably in the skill of “focus”.. well, this is not something I don’t know.. I DO know that one. What is so exciting to me.. hopefully, CogniFit will help me learn to improve that skill.

My overall cognitive rating is Above Normal when comparing me to other old farts like me!

Here are the skills that I excel in:

Memory

Motor

Perception

Need help with:

Attention!!! Shifting and Divided Attention!

Okay, I am ready to take on attention.. follow me along as I improve to NORMAL on these two skills… especially divided attention… that is what I need help with most! I am out to prove to myself that I am not ADHD.

Thank you for following me along.

Carebuzz offers CogniFit!

Get brain fit with Carebuzz!  This is an exciting time. Carebuzz will begin to sell top quality products and services that help aging seniors stay home safely and remain independent and productive.

Our first partner is CogniFit, a brain fitness and training company offering online programs, like Personal Coach and Senior Driver. CogniFit invited me to personally use the product so that I can have a first hand experience of their programs. Great idea! I jumped on this opportunity.. what could it hurt? During my assessment, I thought.. why not share these results with my blog readers! You can follow along as my brain (hopefully) improves over time! And then you could make the decision or assess if this is something that might help you or your aging relative.

I do know how important it is to say fit. I exercise regularly (5 times weekly) and now that I am 58, it is important for me to exercise my brain too! So, here we go:

Personal Coach Program Benefits

Improve your well being and slow down cognitive decline (now who would resist this?)
* Improve your memory
* Think faster, stay sharp and focused
* Absorb more data and process it faster

January 21, 2010 - Personal Coach Assessment Test Results (part I)

drum roll please… actually I am very pleased.. well, almost…

CogniFit tests the following areas: (and more will be added later, so return often to read my progress)

Time Estimation - ability to estimate the duration of an event without the assistance of timers - My Result: Excellent

Awareness - ability to evaluate cognitive functioning, realization, perception or knowledge - My Result: Excellent

Response Time - ability to perceive a simple stimulus and respond to it - My Result: Excellent

Naming - ability to recall and retrieve a word - My Result: Higher than Normal

Working Memory - the span of information that can be manipulated while performing a task - My Result: Higher than Normal

Eye-hand coordination - degree to which the hand and eye are synchronized - My Result: Higher than Normal

Spatial Perception - ability to perceive how things are arranged in space and investigate their relation to the environment - My Result: Higher than Normal

Shifting - ability to redirect your attention from one channel of information to another - My Result: Below Normal (hey, we can’t be perfect)

I will report back to you on January 24 for part 2 assessment.

I plan to start the Senior Driver’s Program in a couple of days… I hope they don’t take the keys!

Strong Online Presence for Senior Market

When reaching buyers of senior care products, a strong online presence is of high importance. In a recent article published by Entrepreneur.com, writer Mark Willaman outlines the importance of providing online content that clearly states who the company is and that addresses their unique selling points. However, traditional marketing tactics, such as print advertisements, sponsorships, or trade show exhibitions, are still crucial methods when attracting the senior care market.

Research illustrates how these marketing approaches are still useful when targeting seniors, as well as online sources such as webinars, search marketing campaigns, white papers, and byline articles. Yet, acquiring a strong online presence proves to be more effective when reaching the elder care market. Not only does the Web provide customer with product information and services, but gives the opportunity for the company to position its culture, standards, and expertise.

Carebuzz delivers online marketing services to the providers of the in home care industry. For more information send an email to Carol Marak, Founder - carol@carebuzz.com.

Source: Entreprenur.com