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Getting a restful night of sleep
Getting a good night sleep is important for your health, but for millions of people with chronic sleep problems, along with their partners or spouse, getting a good night sleep is only a dream. If you are kept awake by a partner who snores, or you wake up feeling tired every morning, you or your loved one may be at risk for a sleep disorder.
According to The National Sleep Foundation, sleep-related studies reveal that the impact of snoring, daytime fatigue, insomnia, and other sleep disorders can be a sign of a serious health condition and put a person at risk heart attack and stroke and affect one’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.
Snoring, especially heavy snoring that disturbs a bed partner’s sleep, is often associated with a condition known as sleep apnea, which may increase one’s risk of hypertension, arrhythmias, and sudden death during sleep.
Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing is frequently interrupted during sleep. Although the person may go to “sleep” for 6-8 hours a night, because their breathing is interrupted during sleep, the individual is not able to achieve a deep sleep. As a result, the person is sleep deprived and may wake up feeling tired, have difficulty concentrating, fall asleep at work or fall asleep while driving. The good news is that sleep apnea is a condition that can be easily diagnosed and treated.
Contributed by:
Dr. Mangala Nadkarni
The Center for Sleep Disorders at Saint Banabas Medical Center
Livingston, NJ
Phone: 973-322-6600
E-mail: mnadkarni@sbhcs.com
Tips for caregivers
- Talk with your loved ones ahead of time. This can be a difficult thing to do especially with parents that are guarded about their finances or very private lives. However, it is vital to have a talk with them prior to illness or mental decline. Take the approach with your loved one that you want to ensure that their wishes are known to the whole family and therefore will be upheld. If you meet resistance with this approach, then you may consider getting the assistance of a trusted friend of your loved one or clergy person.
- Plan both legally and financially. Consult an Eldercare Attorney to help your loved one to execute a Will, Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Surrogate, and/or Living Will. In addition, discuss future needs such as Medicaid planning and other financial and care issues.
- Become educated. Learn about the available resources in the community to help your loved one meet his or her needs. Find information from your doctor or on the internet about your loved one’s disease process in order to learn what to expect over time. Also, enroll in caregiver educational programs, support groups and seminars.
- Take care of yourself. Watch your diet, exercise and get plenty of rest. Make time for shopping, lunch with friends or even getting a hair cut and/or manicure. Again having knowledge of the community services such as companion or adult day care services can allow you to have a break to do things for yourself.
- Ask for help. It is not failure as a caregiver to ask for help. Support can come from family, friends, Geriatric Care Managers, and community resources. Geriatric Care Managers can provide advocacy to loved ones and help caregivers navigate through the complexities of the health care system. Also, caregiver support groups can be a great source of comfort and reassurance by others in similar situations.
- Manage your stress level. Stress can cause both physical and mental problems. If you experience symptoms of caregiver stress, use relaxation techniques that work for you, seek professional mental help, and consult your doctor.
- Accept changes as they occur. As your family member ages so do their needs. At some point in time they may require care beyond what you can provide on your own. When that time comes if you have gained knowledge of local resources, you will already be aware of the community services such as in-home caregiver services, adult day care, senior community care, etc.
- Be realistic. Grieve your losses related to yourself & family member, but also focus on the positive moments. Think of good times with your loved one and/or create new ones.
- Give yourself credit, not guilt. Feel good about yourself! Do not feel guilty because you feel you can do more. You are doing the best you can and you are only human. You cannot possibly devote every minute of every day to your loved one as you too have a life of your own that you must tend to.
Contributed by:
Genevieve Griffin Faulk
Bayshore Geriatric Solutions
Tampa, FL
Phone: 813-246-4120
E-mail: info@bgstampa.com
Long-term care planning
LONG TERM CARE DOES NOT MEAN NURSING HOME CARE
Most of us assume that long term care simply means care in a nursing home. But that’s not the case. The easiest way to understand long term care is to remember that it is not defined by the setting in which it takes place, but by the type of care that is actually needed. Long term care is the type of help you need when you’re not able to perform daily activities such as eating, bathing and dressing by yourself. Typically, it’s not provided by doctors or skilled nursing professionals and its goal isn’t to cure an illness.
Some people do receive long term care in a nursing home, but the overwhelming majority receive care in home and community based settings. Family members, adult day care centers and assisted living facilities are among the most common care providers.
WHO’S MOST LIKELY TO NEED LONG TERM CARE?
Long term care is most often associated with the elderly. And statistics show that Americans currently turning age 65 will need at some point in the future long term care for three years on average. However, long term care is not limited to people over age 65. Many working age adults require long term care due to accidents, injuries or chronic conditions. A lot of these people receive care from family members who must continue to work and meet other obligations in addition to caregiving.
WHERE IS LONG TERM CARE PROVIDED?
Remember, it’s the type of care and not the setting that matters most. Long term care can be provided in a variety of settings: at home, in assisted living facilities, in a community setting such as an adult day care center, in hospice home-care programs or facilities, in nursing homes and more.
WHAT DOES LONG TERM CARE COST?
Long term care services can be very expensive. The average cost for a year in a nursing home is $74,095, with that figure being twice as high in some parts of the country. Home care can be less expensive, but it still adds up. Bringing a full time aide into your home to help with bathing, dressing and transferring averages $3,040 a month and $36,480 a year. With baby boomers coming of age, and Medicare and Medicaid already burdened by high costs, the price of long term care costs is likely to rise significantly in the years ahead. In fact, it has risen an average of 6% every year for the last four years.
THE NEED FOR LONG TERM CARE AFFECTS EVERYONE INVOLVED
Whether you need care, or find yourself in the position of caregiver, the impact of long term care can affect your entire family. Many seniors want to age in place, or stay in their homes, which results in families feeling responsible for caregiving activities. Demographic trends that make this difficult include more women in the workforce and children living at a distance from their families. When family does step up to the plate to help, they often have to balance caregiving with their other responsibilities as a parent, spouse and employee. This can result in increased levels of stress that make it hard to maintain a happy and healthy environment. Caregivers, or those in need of long term care, often must sacrifice savings earmarked for college tuition, retirement or nest eggs they have planned to leave behind for family members. When funds are exhausted, many in need of long term care may require entrance into a nursing home because that’s the primary type of care funded by Medicaid. A long term care need can happen to anyone. Most associate long term care with the elderly, however people of all ages can have the same type of need as a result of auto or sports accidents or a debilitating disease. Consider the lifestyle changes working-aged individuals and their families may face:
- annual nursing home costs averaging $74,095 (depending on where the individual lives)
- liquidation of valuable family assets
- decisions about where care can/will be received
- the possibility of a family member assuming some caregiving responsibilities
Contributed by:
Schragaj Frisch
Lee-Nolan
New York, NY
Phone: 212-213-5151
E-mail: sfrisch@finsvcs.com
Speak out
Sound off about your concerns, issues, compliments, opinions, that you would like to share with government officials and news media editors. Whether it be a letter to the President of the United States or the editor of a major newapaper, you can easily just click on the person you want to contact and easily write your message in your e-mail editor. Speak your mind by e-mail
Shop from home
From the convenience of sitting at your computer at any time of the day or night, you can easily send greeting cards, shop for gifts or shop for yourself. We have provided links to shop for almost any type of gift for children, grandchildren, family and friends or caregivers. There are links you can use to shop for yourself for clothes, food, books, sports equipment as well as a multitude of other items. Shop for anything by computer