Oh What a Night...Fun Night That Is!

Right at Home, In Home Care and Assistance had our first Fun Night for our local elder care network here on the North Shore. Jay and I were thrilled at the turnout. It was such a great event because almost 30 of us were able to mingle and leave work behind. It was a so much fun for all of us at Right at Home. Our invited guests have already sent us emails telling us it was the best networking event they were ever at!

We held the evening at Eurostoves in Beverly, who sells high end appliances and runs a large commercial kitchen. The theme was a summer Tuscan Dinner. The invited guests worked in different teams to create the most delicious dinner. The menu consisted of grilled California pizza appetizers, bruchetta, grilled sirloin, summer tilapia with vegetables, vegitarian risotto, and grilled summer vegetables. The dessert was a berry creme brulee that ended up to be the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

We can see here that Mary Niemi from Hospice of the North Shore is really having FUN! We also had people join us from Brooksby Village, Renaissance Gardens, Rosewood, Woodbridge Assisted Living, New England Rehab in Danvers, Stephen and Francine from The Law Offices Spano and Dawicki, the John Bertram House in Salem, the Marblehead Council on Aging and Sharyn Russell Geriatric Care Management.

Stephen Spano, Joan Tobin and Marta Sturm look like they are enjoying the food and drinks!

Lynne Nieman from Right at Home and Cyndi Chapper are having a great time learning how to cook all those wonderful dishes!



Chef Lars was a real task manager! He showed the ladies how to pan roast the sirloin and fillet the fish! Here he is demonstrating his stovetop skills!

We will add more pictures in a day or so! Save the date for September 18th 2008 for our next FUN NIGHT~

Haven't heard from me in a while...

I have no excuse...busy I guess. The North Shore Alzheimer's Partnership met and we are working on the Caregiver Connections Conference on November 1st. We have confirmed that Dr. Peter Morin from the BU Center for Alzheimer's will be the keynote speaking about Managing Challenging Behaviors. He is also on staff at the Bedford VA Hospital. We are very excited about him being with us. The conference looks like it will be shaping up pretty well.

It is HOT out there! If you are taking care of an elder, please make sure that they stay out of the heat of the day and that they stay hydrated. I love the heat, but I know that many of our seniors are in older homes that heat up terribly and they may not have air conditioners. Stay cool!

POP's Concert In Marblehead this Weekend

I wanted people to know that the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor is sponsoring a POP's concert at Abbott Hall in Marblehead to salute our Veterans on Saturday May 17th. This is going to be a great night and tickets are on sale for $25 and $35 at the Marblehead Reporter office and the Arnould Gallery. Proceeds from the evening will benefit Rotary International and Veteran's charities.

Sandra Day O'Connor talks about Alzheimer's

In today's Boston Globe, ex-justice O'Connor told the Special Committee on Aging in the Senate that more attention needs to be focused on research for this disease. She has become one of the most prominent Alzheimer's caregivers in today's world, next to Nancy Reagan. She states the statistics that we have 5 million Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer's and it is poised to skyrocket to 16 million. The statistics show that one of the fastest growing age groups in America is those over the age of 80, yet one in every two people over the age of 85 are diagnosed with this disease! This is a health crisis that we cannot ignore, yet we don't seem to have the inclination to really bring Alzheimer's to the front burner.

She talked about the 10 million people who are taking care of relatives or friends with dementia. The loss of income and the added stress to these caregivers is intense. The article says that the Alzheimer's Association values this unpaid care at $89 billion.

Whenever I talk to someone about Alzheimer's- they have a loved one or someone close who is living with the disease. I have a relative living with Alzheimer's- DO YOU?

Falls Killing as Many Seniors as Vehicular Accidents!

Fall prevention, fall prevention, fall prevention......that is something that we stress over and over with our home care aides at Right at Home. I was forwarded an article from The Boston Globe yesterday titled

Fatal falls soar among the elderly in Mass.

In 2006, there was a drastic rise in the number of deaths that the Department of Public Health saw among the elderly in Massachusetts. It has been said that almost 25% of all elders that take a fall will die as a direct result of that fall. We have had two former clients that fell (not when we were working) and died from the fall. It is heartbreaking for the families, because they really did not understand the full impact a fall could have on their loved one, outside of broken bones or a stint in rehab. It is happening in long term care facilities, at home, outside....anywhere. Because of various conditions, including mascular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, blood pressure changes and many, many others elders are falling because they are attempting to do their normal activities, but they do not sometimes understand how limiting their physical condition can be. Please keep your elder safe. Have someone come to the house to do a safety evaluation, get rid of throw rugs, keep an elder's glasses by their bed, etc.

Having in home supportive care can help, because when an elder needs to move, an aide who is trained in ambulation assistance and fall prevention may be there for the moment that an elder feels weak. And even if an elder does fall, in long term care or at home, it is imperative that someone is there to get them up. I have heard of cases where people have been alone at home, and they couldn't get up. They were cold and suffering for hours. This is not a well repeated Lifeline commercial (I've fallen and I can't get up!). This is very serious and it is a VERY good idea for someone to have Lifeline. The only downside is that the elder needs to be aware to press the button or have the short term memory to remember.

If there is a fall, Right at Home aides are trained to call 911 to have EMT's come and help them. An aide should NEVER pick up an elder by themselves. This could lead to both of them falling.

Fall prevention is the one of the keys to elder safety.

Merrimack Valley Alzheimer's Conference

The 20th Annual Merrimack Valley Alzheimer’s Conference is slated for Saturday, April 26, at the Wyndham Andover Hotel in Andover, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The educational conference, designed for family members and professionals caring for people afflicted with Alzheimer's or dementia, is co-sponsored by Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley and Merrimack Valley Azheimer's Partnership. The conference will also feature vendor displays of products and services that help and support Alzheimer's patients and caregivers. To register or for more information call 978-946-1321. (believe it or not there is no web link that I can send you to).

Please visit Lynne Nieman at the Right at Home table to learn about our Alzheimer's support services in the Merrimack Valley.

Interesting Alzheimer's Article

I was forwarded a link to a the New York Times website for an article that they did regarding Alzheimer's called Zen and the Art of Coping with Alzheimer's. It is very concise, and sometimes depressing, but what it talks about the current thinking on the attitude of the adult caregiver. It talks to the technique of being "OK" with seemingly irrational behavior and jumbled conversation. It also speaks to the technique of redirecting an Alzheimer's person when they are following a tangent that could be disagreeable or potentially dangerous.

The depressing piece was about the drug companies and how the Alzheimer's drugs have a very marginal effect on the disease, but desperate families will try anything to slow down the progression of the disease. It also noted, that the current political climate is not showing any commitment to bringing more resources to the Alzheimer's and dementia table. With the aging of the baby boomers and the continued growth in the Alzheimer's population, this is a train that the politicians will not be able to avoid for long.

My father once said that he did not want to outlive his mind after seeing the effect of the Alzheimer's on a close family member. Our bodies are more healthy than any generation of people has ever experienced. How do we keep our minds healthy? There are suggestions, but there is no silver bullet. There is no supplement or drug that can help us avoid Alzheimer's. All we can do as a society, right now, is to love the Alzheimer's people we know, and meet them where they are at- because they have lost the ability to meet us.