Minding Our Elders®

In-home agencies need cell phone regulations for staff

Cell phones have become as much a part of our culture as cars. While cell phones are a wonderful convenience and occasionally a life saver, they can also be a toy and a distraction. Excessive cell phone usage has become a frequent complaint by families who hire in-home agencies to care for their elders. Every in-home agency should have a strictly enforced policy for cell phone use by their employees.

Read more about how cell phones can be used properly by in-home care staff:

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Technology and elder care: the good, the bad and the robots?

The wide world of technology has dug many inroads into elder care. Signals to alert caregivers of a wondering elder, personal alarm systems that allow many elders to stay at home longer, even cameras to track whether or not elders have fallen, eaten or taken medications, are available. I'm all for most of it. However, there are ethical considerations in all of this. When are we, in the name of good care, being more invasive than we need to be? And when are we, out of selfishness, replacing loving hands with cold technology?

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Support a caregiver or jump start discussion in support groups with real stories - for bulk orders e-mail Carol:

How do your elders view new technology that monitors their home life?

During my busiest elder care years, I convinced several of my elders to wear personal medial alarms. With personal medical alarms, the person wearing the alarm is in control. If there’s a fall or other emergency, the person pushes a button on the bracelet or necklace style alarm, and help is summoned. Once they agreed to wear the devices, my elders did feel more peace of mind.

Read more about technology and elder care:

Find care agencies to help you care for your loved one:

Support a caregiver or jump start discussion in support groups with real stories - for bulk orders e-mail Carol:

Gold Alert for missing seniors making headway

According to an article on the Wall Street Journal website titled Lawmakers pass bill to help missing elderly, New York has joined other states including Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas in this effort that gives searching for missing seniors with disabilities the same urgency as searching for missing children.

Read more about the Gold alert:

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Support a caregiver or jump start discussion in support groups with real stories - for bulk orders e-mail Carol:

 

Take part in a university study about Alzheimer's monitoring and get gift card

An Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis student needs people to participate in a study. If you care for someone with Alzheimer's, you may want to check this out. The flyer states that you will get a $10 gift certificate for taking the survey. The survey is titled, "The Perception of Alzheimer’s Caregivers about Monitoring Alert Interventions."

In part, the survey states: You as Alzheimer’s caregivers facing overwhelming challenges as you provide daily monitoring for your loved ones. We understand that these challenges have a negative impact on you as caregivers in terms of stress, depression and anxiety and sometimes even physical distress. By recognizing the unique needs of you as Alzheimer’s caregivers, past research has attempted to assist you with this obstacles by providing varies of technology-based monitoring alert intervention such as video, audio and GPS, and monitoring systems etc.  This study aims to explore your perceptions of and experiences associated with these monitoring alert technologies.

If you are interested, here's the survey: Download Survey  Paste the links into your browser, fill it out and get your gift certificate. 

Find care agencies to help your loved one - and you - thrive:

Support a caregiver or jump start discussion in support groups with real stories - for bulk orders e-mail Carol:

How do your elders view new technology that monitors their home life?

During my busiest elder care years, I convinced several of my elders to wear person medial alarms. With personal medical alarms, the person wearing the alarm is in control. If there’s a fall or other emergency, the person pushes a button on the bracelet or necklace style alarm, and help is summoned. Once they agreed to wear the devices, my elders did feel more peace of mind.

Read more about technology for monitoring elders:

Find care agencies to help you help your loved ones:

 Support a caregiver or jump start discussion in support groups with real stories - for bulk orders e-mail Carol: