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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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.

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!

It is the season when our hearts are drawn together to experience Christmas, and many of us across this nation gather with family and friends to celebrate the birth of Christ among us. Some traditions start celebrating this eve by attending church and then having a special home cooked meal prepared for them as they await Santa Claus’s arrival for the children and young at heart. Others celebrate the Festival of Lights or the Winter Solaces. As we each celebrate, something stirs deep within us that I call an awakening of the Spirit that often creates a new season of hope in our lives.

Our traditions have been passed down from our family or religions. We can find solace in knowing, that there in lies a deep mystical truth for each of us to rediscover from one generation to another.

This Christmas, like many other people around the world, I will be celebrating the holiday season without someone I love. Many of our loved ones have passed into the Glorious Light of Heaven. It can be a very raw and painful experience. Personally, I am helped through this process by warm memories of Christmas past, a time of pure love and joy in my life. Sometimes I would trade anything for one more embrace, one special word, a glance or kiss. When the holiday songs begin to play I can’t help but recall childhood memories of family gatherings with grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins who helped create more beautiful memories of my life time.

Merry Christmas from Celebrating Life Ministries - by Rev Paul Funfsinn

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!

Like Rev Paul Funfsinn and many of you, I too am celebrating this special season of joy and hope with my loved ones… even the loved ones who are in heaven. I miss them terribly; my Mom, Dad, and sweet Hanna. Merry Christmas to you! May you be safe, warm, happy and loved well. Know that you remain in my heart forever and are sorely missed.

Like you, I must live and be happy with my loved ones who share my side. Together we celebrate peace on earth.

Happy Holidays to you!

Carol

Are you going home for the holidays this season? Has it been several months since your last visit? Are you nervous about what you might find?

If you are an adult child or baby boomer and have an older relative that lives in another city or state, you may be going home for the holidays. This is an exciting time… maybe. You may also be a little leery of what you’ll find.. like a messy house, unkempt aging relative, food less refrigerator, disorganized meds, or maybe a very cold home.

That’s what happened to me several years ago when visiting my Dad. It was 33 degrees outside and Dad’s home must have been down to 50! burrrr.., I thought! “Dad, why is it so cold in here?” His answer was that he couldn’t get the pilot light to come on. I think he just couldn’t get down on the floor any longer to light it. Well, thank goodness that I came home. We quickly remedied that situation. And made additional plans to have someone check in on him regularly.

But if you are going home for the holidays consider taking this list along, it is very simple but a good place to start and may help you determine if your aging relative needs some help at home. Besides, it will help you find a bit of peace of mind too.

Senior Home Checklist

Happy Holidays!

Carol