Caring for Elderly With Terminal Illness

By: http://www.skybluecross.com/

Caring for Terminal Elders

Caregiving for elderly people is difficult in itself, but it proves to be more of a challenge when emotional hurdles become involved. This case is often true when family members or relatives of the elderly individual are assigned to nurse or care for them at home instead of entering them in adult care or nursing facilities. Emotional difficulties are further enhanced when the elderly you are nursing for has a terminal illness. It is really easy to be swept with emotion from both ends that could intervene with your effort to provide quality care.

Daily Care

Caring for terminally ill elders are often left at the responsibility of their children. However, with their own day jobs to take care of, it often requires proper daily schedule to ensure that their daily needs are properly taken care of. If their diseases are considered to be terminal, you can only do so much with the treatment procedure. However, you have control over providing an efficient daily care and nursing for them to suffice for their needs.

Coping with Depression

In a clinical and research study, experts have concluded that 25 percent of patients suffering from a terminal disease tend to exhibit symptoms of depression caused by multiple factors relating to their condition. Even without terminal illness, depression is a common occurrence among elderly individuals. This is a natural emotional result of their aging process, which leaves them with the impression of dependence, inability to become productive, and becoming a burden to their family or children. Therefore, despite the difficulty of in-home elderly care, several families opt for it instead of leaving their elderly loved ones to the care of sheltered accommodations or nursing homes. This reduces the level of depression on the older person's part and reinforces the family's genuine concern for them. But still, that does not solve the problem of depression associated with terminal illness.

One way to deal with depression is to provide any health or therapeutic services required for their condition. Although the chances of healing are limited, given that it has been diagnosed as terminal illness, seeing that you are extending all efforts to cure their condition combats minimize the feeling of depression in an elderly person. Why? This is achieved through their knowledge that all efforts are exerted in an effort to find cure. Normally, it isn't the ability to find cure that relieves feeling of depression but the effort to try to.

Keeping Emotional Balance

With elderly care for those who have terminal illness, two forms of emotion often overcome the carer: pity and compassion. It is important, however, to balance those emotions to ensure that you are able to provide the best quality service to the terminally ill elder you are nursing. Pity will make you feel sorry for the elder, while compassion will allow you to become more sensitive of their needs and work your hardest in addressing them.

Here are important factors to keep your emotions in check and ensure that you provide quality elderly care and nursing:

• Focus your attention on providing for the needs of the elderly you are caring instead of becoming too engrossed with your emotions.

• Instead of dwelling on what you cannot change, focus on what you can do to help enrich their lives as of the moment.

• Let them experience the best of their remaining days.

Caring for Elderly With Terminal Illness

By: http://www.skybluecross.org/
 Home-based Care For Elders

 Despite the increase of health care and elder care professionals or institutions, most people still opt for home-based care for elders. One of the most important consideration if you were to opt for in-home elderly care is to have family caregivers willing to provide assistance and attend to the needs of their elderly loved ones. Although the quality of service is not the same as the ones provided by medical professionals who train exactly for this type of care; however, your genuine concern and knowledge of their needs are essential to knowing how to fulfill those needs.

 Home Care Essentials

 Home-based care for the elderly is never an easy undertaking. However, it has its distinct advantage of being able to spend quality time with your elderly loved ones while caring for their daily needs. With a familiar surrounding, your elders do not have to adapt to changes in the environment and their communication patterns with whoever it is assigned to care for them. Caring for elderly at home is a major step that you can take to ensure that their non-medical needs are also met.

 If you are not hiring a senior care professional, then members of the family must come up with a schedule that will determine a shifting as to who is responsible for taking care of the elder during given times within a day. An in-home elder care requires 24 hour care, thus one person cannot perform the task alone. Moreover, there are other areas to look into aside from the physical care and assistance provided to the elder, such as housekeeping, shopping, assistance in grooming or bathing, paying the bills, and others.

 Pro's and Con's of Home Care

 When it comes to caring for elderly, certain choices have to be made. When coming up with those decisions, you need to take into account several factors since they could impact not just the life of the elder, but yours (as the carer) as well. When you opt to care for the elderly at home, there are certain advantages involved, although some disadvantages are to be expected too. To determine whether you are suited to care for your elderly family member at home, here are some sets of pro's and con's you might want to consider:

 Pro's:

 • You have more privacy when it comes to employing elderly caring methods that you and the elderly individual prefers. This also allows more independence in providing for their essential needs and demands.

 • Even though are you caring for elderly at home, you can always have easy access to social service support whenever you want.

 Con's:

 • It can be difficult to cope with the difficulties of caring for an elderly individual if you live away from relatives or other family members that can provide assistance in the care.

 • You might need to modify the features and arrangements within the house in order to make it more convenient for you to provide care for the elderly.

 Pro's and Con's of Professional Caregiving

 Choosing to enroll your elderly loved ones in a sheltered or nursing accommodation has its own sets of benefits and pitfalls. Here are some for you to consider:

 Pro's:

 • The physical arrangement and living condition is designed primarily to make it convenient for the elder and to easily provide for their needs.

 • There is always someone to keep an eye over the elders and provide for their needs.

 • Caring duties of your elderly loved ones are handed over to professionals who know exactly how to provide for their needs.

 Con's:

 • You have to combat the emotional guilt involved with not having to personally look after the needs of your elderly loved ones.

 • Finding the most reliable and trusted professional caregiving home can be a lot of work.

Adult Day Care Center

By: http://www.skybluecross.org
 What is an Adult Day Care Center?

When your elderly parents or loved ones retire, you need to provide proper care and settlement for them. There are various institutions and elderly care programs available to those who wish to provide quality senior care for their loved ones, in case you are unable to attend to them personally. Adult day care is just one of your many options. Why should it be any special?

Also known as Adult Day Services, these facilities offer respite for elderly individuals who need rehabilitation and long-term care. It also provides services such as health services, therapeutic, or encourage social activities to provide a fulfilling retired life for elderly individuals. In fact, most adult day care centers even have programs and services dedicated for elderly individuals who are suffering from certain health conditions, whether cognitive or physical.

Benefits of Adult Day Care Center

Anyone whose had a hand in elderly care realize the difficulty of this responsibility. The inability of elderly individuals to perform daily duties themselves increase their dependency on family members or anyone assigned to care for them at home. But when there is lack of people to dedicate their time in caring for elderly parents or loved ones at home, adult day care centers make a valid option. In fact, here are some benefits you can derive:

• Your elderly loved ones will have a safe and secure respite when you lack caregivers or required to work outside the home during the day.

• Elderly individuals will benefit from the quality of service provided at adult day care centers. They can stay at home where they are most comfortable in and still have access to elderly care provided by trained caregivers.

• Adults enrolled in adult day care center has the potential to meet other elders who are participant in an adult day care center where they can socialize and interact with one another.

• There are also options for therapeutic services for elders who are suffering from specific cognitive or physical conditions.

• Counseling are provided not just for adult day care center participants but to their families as well, to ensure quality elderly care when at home.

Types of Adult Day Care Center

As of today, there are three types of adult day care center available. Choosing one over the other is critical since they are designed to suit the different needs and preferences of elderly individuals or their families.

1. Adult day social care: Among the services included are social activities, recreation, meals for the entire day, and health-related services according to the elderly individual's needs.

2. Adult day health care: This one incorporates more intensive therapeutic, health, and social services for those with more serious medical problems and those who need more thorough care instead of home nursing services.

3. Adult day care specific for Alzheimer's patients: Combines health and social services for aging individuals who exhibit symptoms for dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Choosing an Adult Day Care Center

If you plan on entering your elderly parents into an adult day care center, you and your family must conduct thorough research first on your possible options. Take into consideration the needs of your elderly loved ones and compare that to the services offered within a given adult day care center. Also, you must consider the specific type of adult day care center since their services have been specified. Here are components you need to factor in when choosing:

• It must have individual needs assessment for the participants.

• Must have an active program available for elders whether it be social, recreational, health-related, or rehabilitative.

• Treatment plan must be specified towards an individual's specific needs.

• Must have proper criteria and guidelines for standard of services.

• Must include amenities or facilities that allow for quality elderly care services.

• Volunteers or caregivers must have proper qualification and training.

Coping Techniques For People Suffering From Multiple Sclerosis

By: http://www.skybluecross.com

Having a chronic disease brings a host of changes in one's life and those of others who depend on you or interact with you on a regular basis. Once you receive a diagnosis, you would find that the symptoms are increasingly becoming more difficult. People are getting affected; you progress into something less able to function normally. And the condition gets worst. Your relationship with people, most of whom you love and care for, gets injured. On top of this, there are no known cures, only treatments that you hope will relieve the unpredictable symptoms. There may not be a lot you can do about it but there are some things that could ease your distress. One way of taking charge of multiple sclerosis is by knowing and practicing appropriate coping techniques.

Have a positive disposition – It is hard to be hopeful knowing that there is a huge wall between you being sick and you having a normal life. But, it always pays to look at the brighter side of your condition. It is not a terminal disease and it's not contagious. That's a good start, isn’t it? Also, having a positive outlook lifts up huge chunks of burden from your breast – it makes you a lot more happy, a bit more hopeful and, in fact, a bit less sick.

Educate your family about multiple sclerosis – Or, encourage them to befriend the sickness. Much of the problem comes from your family's inability to cope with your disease. However, this can be remedied by enlightening them about the nature of your condition, what should be their expectations, what should be their attitudes about your symptoms. This way, they will know where you are coming from and they would be able to understand you better, if not, help you suffer less.

Be like the children who have multiple sclerosis themselves – In the face of a chronic illness or disability, children seem to handle it much better than their adult counterparts. This is because they have great expectations about their future, they do not easily lose their grip on their hopes of becoming better. This attitude tends to protect them from the debilitation they are or will be experiencing. If an adult sufferer can take hold of this attitude or develop it, it would surely be beneficial.

Don’t bother too much about the future – Do not live in the future. By doing so, you will not have to be overpowered by fear of the future. This is the winning attitude of people who are triumphant against the disease. Just try to prepare and think about it but do not act like you have to control it.

Live one day at a time - Treat everyday like you a perfectly normal human being. This would not prevent the relapse of symptoms for sure but it could help you get through the day without it being too overwhelming for you.

Don’t nurse your pain – Because the symptoms are unpredictable and because they are often life-inhibiting, your best course of action against them is not to focus on them, though without compromising your needs for rehabilitation, therapy and treatment.

A patient's attitude often defines how well he can live through his sickness and the disabilities it causes. So get that positive attitude.

Tips On Handling Multiple Sclerosis

By: http://www.skybluecross.com

 With Multiple Sclerosis, there will be days when you are feeling quite well and there are days when you are not feeling okay. There will be bouts of symptoms which may occur at anytime of the day, several days at a time during when these symptoms may not feel the same as they were yesterday. They may be much worse or they may be totally different. To help you cope with the irregular changes in the symptoms and their severity, we have prepared the following tips:

 Practice deep breathing – Sometimes the only relief you will get is the ability to control your breathing. So try doing deep breathing. Fill in your lungs with as much air as you could and slowly exhale.

 Improve your strength – If your body allows it, do some strength training. Though the fatigue you are experiencing roots from neural dysfunction, it would still help to augment your sometimes incapacitated body with building some lean muscles.

 Avail some counseling – Whether it's over the phone or face-to-face, counseling still works well in providing emotional and psychological assistance to the patient. Sometimes, these are the only things that can relieve the sufferer from the physiological and psychological tolls of multiple sclerosis.

 Do some creative visualization – A number of MS patients do this and many of them agree that it can help. Creative visualization is the process of creating mental images that may elicit various sensations. A good exercise is to imagine that you are bound by something, say rubber bands. One by one, try to mentally visualize that you are removing these bands from yourself. Be sure to incorporate and be sensitive to the sensations associated with this exercise.

 Address your physical problems with physical therapy – Try improving your balance, the pain you experience, your body's lack of coordination, the weakness of your limbs, and your muscular spasms through the help of a physical therapist.

 Don’t rely on a wheelchair – As much as possible, refrain from using aids such as crutches and wheelchairs. For most patients, these are unnecessary; it should be the same for you. Instead, allow your legs, hips and lower back to develop strength.

 Inquire about steroids – If your symptoms include blurriness or pain in the eyes, ask your doctor about steroids. These should help relieve the discomforts.

 Try the alternatives – Consider alternative medicines and treatments. These may not be backed by scientific studies, nonetheless, there are anecdotal evidences that they work in the management of this condition and its symptoms.

 Seek the help of your counselor concerning your home/place of work – There should be no second guessing on this. Your home or workplace must be safe for you at all times. Seek a counselor to give you guidance.

 Seek help- There are pharmaceutical companies, support groups and organizations that can help you with respect to your treatments. There are also organizations that provide financial help. Do not hesitate to approach them.

 Frustrated and stressed out? – There are stress management techniques and stress therapies available at your disposal. Sometimes, they do not cost a penny. Try to incorporate them in your treatment options.

 Exercise – Keeping an active body may divert your attention from the pain.

 There is so much you can do with your condition so there is no reason for you to give in to suffering. Seek your options, now.
 

Ways to Better Your Brain, Cognitively and Physiologically

By: http://www.skybluecross.com

When you start forgetting things, you blame your brain. When you don't feel so good since you stayed up late and drank till 3am, you won't be working in the office like a sharp instrument. When you don't even notice what doesn't work among the solutions you come up with and argue for during meetings, you have to do something about this. When you can relate to all these, you need to better your brain, both in sharpening your perceptions, in improving how you approach problems, in analyzing information, and in adjusting your health, sleeping, eating, and work out regimen.

Your brain is not only like a muscle. It's also like a 10 year old. It could have started out curious and as you nourish that curiosity and savor the habit of learning more, of seeing relationships among things, of solving problems, you tend to improve the cognitive aspect of your brain.

Problem solving is a good way to keep your brain sharp. Once you get familiar with how your biases clog and impede your way of seeing things, and get some training on problem solving techniques, not only will your stress level go down, you will start to feel empowered. Most people try to avoid problems, but if you're curious on how to generate solutions to things and to try them out, then problems become opportunities to make things better. The more empowered and capable you feel about your problem solving skills, the better you feel about yourself, the more you become capable of dealing with stress. Consequently, the more capable your observational and analytic skills become, the healthier your brain gets.

So it's recommended to start researching on problem solving techniques, and see how the many strategies may apply to your various domestic, academic, and work scenarios.

On the other hand, your brain is like a muscle. It atrophies or welts when you don't use it. Like a plant, It doesn't grow well when it doesn't receive the right nutrients. Like a dog underfed and eating trash, it limps and gets sick easily.

There is also a social and self-affirming positive outlook about trying to better your brain. It involves spending time enjoying the company of your friends and family, when you can be yourself, and just let it all hang. There's something spiritually relieving about being yourself, and around the people you're comfortable with, and whose company you enjoy. This kind of rest is good for your brain, too.

Get some sleep, a lot of sleep. The brain works better when your synapses are healthily firing and your subconscious has had time to sort itself out. This means rest physically and mentally. The more time away from a problem you get the more your mind has time to work on it, subconsciously. It's always better to approach work problems after a long night's sleep.

Work out, too, on a regular basis. The more your heart gets pumped and often the more blood circulates throughout your body, and to your brain, bringing fresh supplies of oxygen and nutrients to it. Also, working out brings about increased levels of release of endorphins that make you feel good. It's no wonder some people become addicted to exercise. Your brain will like it, too. These are just some of the ways to better your brain.

Tips to Better Your Brain Performance

By: http://www.skybluecross.com
 
 It may be true that as you get older, your memory also deteriorates. But this does not mean that if you are younger, your brain is not capable of memory deterioration. Aging is just one cause of memory loss, but there are other factors. Thus, if you want to prevent this, you may want to read these tips to a better your brain performance.

 1) More Relaxation Period, Better Thinking

 If you want to protect your recent memories, you should stay away from stress. Stress can trigger the release of cortisol, a neuro drug which can interfere with the brain’s performance, especially with handling recent memories. Furthermore, with chronic stress, the part of the brain which handles recent memories may even shrink. If you want to prevent this from happening, you should learn to relax a little and release the tension from your body. You should never let stress overwhelm you.

 2) Refrain From Cigarette Smoking

 Cigarettes affect the flow of blood in your veins. Because of this, there may be a chance of reduced blood flow to your brain; and reduced blood flow means reduced oxygen. With lesser oxygen to consume, the brain may not function well as expected, hence the memory may be prejudiced.

 3) Stay Away from Brain Toxins

 As you may know, illegal drugs may cause harm to your brain’s functioning. However, you should also know that prescription drugs, if misused, may also have the same toxic effect to your brain. Thus, you should always follow the prescription given to you be your doctor, and never self-medicate. This may affect your brain’s normal performance. Prolonged use of drugs may cause memory loss.

 4) Eat Healthy

 Your brain functions according to the nutrients that it receives from the food that you eat. Thus, if you are deprived of certain nutrients, then it may have an adverse effect on the functioning of your brain. You most certainly would not want this to happen. Thus, as prevention, you should eat a healthy and balanced diet so that you will absorb all the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs. Also, you should stay away from junk foods.

 5) Exercise Your Brain

 Find ways to use and improve your thinking skills. Some mentalists propose techniques which are designed to improve mental skills. We all have the potential to possess a good functioning memory, thus it should be something that we can all improve. All we have to do is to find ways and try techniques that can effectively help us develop our potentials.

 Most people believe that by engaging themselves into educational activities, they are improving their mental faculties. This is true, and you can try this even at home. Simple activities like crossword puzzles can exercise your brain. This may help your brain functioning to get better, if not, to prevent it from deteriorating easily.

 6) Shield Your Brain

 There is no point of improving the brain if you cannot protect it physically. You should always protect your head from injuries because trauma may affect the functioning of your brain. Even simple injuries should be avoided, because repeated minor injuries, if accumulated, may cause damage to your brain. Thus, you should try simple prevention, like putting helmets when bicycling, in order for you to avoid situations that may damage your brain functioning.

 If you want to be able to think better, your brain’s health is the key. Thus, you should keep it as healthy as possible and avoid all those factors which may expose you to mental deterioration.