New Study Shows Increase In Binge Drinking By Seniors

Watching TV, knitting, playing bingo…there are some activities that most seniors seem to enjoy. One popular pastime among the elderly may surprise you, however. A new study, conducted by the Center for Disease Control, reports that the demographic section that does the most binge drinking is that of seniors over 65 years old.

Never mind the stereotypes of college parties and midlife crises; the elderly are the ones among us who go on drinking binges more often than anyone else. This shocking statistic should be a source of great concern to the adult children of seniors, especially ones who spend a significant amount of time without a family member or personal attendant nearby.

Home care in Solana Beach and elsewhere may help reduce this destructive habit by offering companionship and support to combat the loneliness and depression that can lead to binge drinking in the first place.  When cheerful, professional companion caregivers are with them, Seniors and others don’t have time to be sad and lonely.

Definition of Binge Drinking

First, the specifics of the study: The CDC defined “binge drinking” as having over four (for women) or five (for men) drinks at a time. According to the published results of the study, the average senior over 65 who goes on drinking binges does so five to six times each month. That’s more often than once a week. To be clear, the senior demographic was not the one with the most overall binge drinkers—that dubious award goes to the 18-34 age group. Among all Americans who binge drink, the average was four times per month—one to two times less than the average among seniors.

Dangers of Binge Drinking by Seniors

A senior who drinks frequently exposes himself to a number of dangers, particularly if no personal attendant is at hand to help. Falls, injuries, hazardous mistakes, and errors in judgment are all far more likely if an already-frail elderly person is further impaired by alcohol. Obviously, getting behind the wheel of a car is an unthinkable mistake for a senior who is under the influence of alcohol. Even if a personal attendant is near to help in this situation, the disorienting effect of heavy drinking can cause the senior to react irrationally toward him.

The destructive illnesses that result from excessive alcohol intake are more damaging to elderly bodies than to younger, stronger ones. Also, seniors who take a number of different medications run the risk of suffering a dangerous reaction between drugs and alcohol.

Preventing Binge Drinking by Seniors

Why do some seniors drink so often? It may be that they see it as a way to cope with disappointment, loneliness, and uncertainty about the future. Loving family members and home care in Solana Beach or elsewhere can help elders confront life’s challenges in a more wholesome way with companionship and real encouragement, along with supportive services and assistance that make life more enjoyable.

Original article: http://news.discovery.com/human/senior-citizens-binge-drink-120112.html#mkcpgn=hknws1

Technology has resulted in a number of convenient, easy to use devices that give elderly individuals a quick way to reach help in the case of an emergency. The most familiar of these is a small, lightweight device with a single button that immediately sends an alarm to a help center when pressed.

While a number of reputable companies produce these lifesaving devices, a recent news story reminds us that families with loved ones receiving senior help in Oceanside should always research elderly care products carefully and only buy from established, reliable sources.

Here is the cautionary tale:  Medical Alert Buyers Alliance Corp is a company based in Maryland that produces an emergency alert device for seniors. Customers purchase a one-year service plan along with the device, allowing them to contact a central response center in the event of an emergency.  As with other similar services, a representative would then notify local emergency personnel and give them the location of the senior in need of help.

After receiving several reports of the devices failing to bring help to seniors who had fallen or who needed emergency help, the Maryland attorney general’s office investigated the situation and charged the company and its owner with defrauding its customers. According to the filed paperwork, Medical Alert Buyers Alliance Corp stopped providing services without warning or notification after incurring debts that made continued business impossible. This breach of contract resulted in some very dangerous situations, as elderly people depending on the alert device were forced to wait hours in an injured condition before emergency personnel arrived on the scene through other means.

Worse yet, it appears that the company continued to bill customers and impose unauthorized credit card charges even after the provision of service ended. If these charges are proven, they represent a clear example of preying on elderly customers for profit.

The company is no longer allowed to sell devices, and it will remain closed for business until the case is brought to court. While justice will hopefully be served in this instance and no further damage will be done, it is critical for family members and providers of senior help in Oceanside to protect the elderly from predatory schemes and unreliable help in the first place. When making a decision about a safety devices, always read plenty of customer reviews, investigate the history and reputation of the company, and never place cost considerations above the safety of your loved ones.

See: Medical alert company accused of taking advantage of elderly

Chances are, your aging parents in San Marcos have some prized recipes that make holiday meals special. But as seniors begin facing the difficulties of arthritis, rheumatism, and other weakening conditions, preparing those beloved dishes becomes very challenging. In order to help your elderly loved ones continue their holiday cooking traditions in a safe, rewarding way, we have compiled a short list of simple but helpful cooking tools. The items featured in this article can all be found at www.seniorssuperstores.com.

Utensils and Accessories

 Using sharp knives is one of the most concerning kitchen hazards for aging parents in San Marcos. With these cool tools, cutting and slicing is made much safer:

• Finger protector: This guard easily slides over the fingertips of the non-cutting hand to protect them from any knife slips while cutting vegetables. Price: $5.95
• Rocking T knife: Provides more stability and leverage than a traditional knife, and is easier to grip. Price: $28.95
• OXO Good Grip knives: This complete line of knives and other cooking utensils is made safer by a large, soft, ergonomically designed hand grip. Price: about $7.95
• Foam handle tubes. These textured grips slip onto your existing utensil handles to instantly make them much easier to hold and use. Price: $13.95

Stability Products

 It is important for aging parents in San Marcos to avoid dropping and spilling things in the kitchen; hot food and broken glass are very common causes of injury. These tools help things stay securely in place during cooking:

• Grip mat: Simply place this mat on any countertop and it provides a non-slip surface for a container while stirring, cutting, or mixing. Price: $9.95
• Pot/Pan Holder: This frame fits over a pot or pan on the stove, holding it in one place and allowing the cook to use just one hand to stir. Price: $18.95
• Hot Hand: There are many jar openers available, but this one adds the feature of heat protection to its solid grip. Removing a hot plate from the microwave, picking up slippery dishes from the sink, and opening stuck jar lids are all made much easier with this versatile tool. Price: $17.95

Other Cooking Tools

 For wheelchair-bound aging parents in San Marcos, there are reach extenders specifically designed to turn stove knobs. If you are uncomfortable with a senior carrying a sharp knife around the kitchen, a cutting board with an attached knife eliminates the chance of danger. All these and more kitchen tools for seniors can be found at www.seniorssuperstore.com.

We see multiple billboards and TV commercials every day advertising the latest groundbreaking technology in cell phone capability. Surfing the Internet, listening to music, taking pictures and video, and even watching movies is now possible on the most advanced models. But what if you are simply looking for a simple cell phone to provide senior help in Encinitas or another California city? Seniors generally are not interested in advanced phone features; rather, the simpler and easier to use the better.

 Many cell phone companies now provide cell phone models that are specially designed for ease of use and customized to provide senior help in Encinitas. Consumer Cellular and Just5 are two lesser-known companies that offer phones with oversized buttons, extra-bright displays, and simple menus. In addition, you can preset emergency phone numbers that can later be called by hitting a single button on the keypad.

The Jitterbug, another cell phone maker that concentrates on simplicity and usability, now includes a single-button operated urgent response system for an additional fee. On many phones from these companies, the volume can also be turned up louder than on most other models, in order to accommodate hearing issues. If your loved one uses a hearing aid, you should inquire to find out if the phone you are considering is designed to be compatible with it.

In addition to these phones customized for senior help in Encinitas and other areas, some phone companies regularly use simple designs that seniors can easily manage. Nokia has a reputation for simple keypads and easy to read displays, and Motorola has a few simple models as well. These phones can be useful if you are adding a senior to an existing family plan that already uses a certain cell phone service provider.

In addition to the phone itself, many service providers understand that an elderly citizen is usually not going to use his or her cell phone in the volume that most users do. Rather than charging standard rates for a monthly plan offering hundreds of minutes in talk and data, they offer prepaid or pay-as-you-go plans that only charge for actual phone use.

When combined with regular checkups by geriatric care partners, a simple, easy to use cell phone with a flexible plan can be a great tool to provide safety and a quick emergency response for Seniors living alone. Senior help in Encinitas and San Diego County is only a button click away.

The population in the United States is growing older, and with the older population comes a wide variety of health problems, mobility issues, or other needs. Rather than spending time in an impersonal nursing or assisted living home, senior citizens that suffer from debilitating diseases or disorders that hinder their ability to function as they used to be able to, the elderly can have benefit from private home health care in Carlsbad. Private home health care has a wide variety of benefits, and can help keep patients comfortable and close by their family

The Best Care

Private home health care in Carlsbad can be provided by certified experts that have years of expertise in their field. These health care providers are able to provide the same care that nursing homes or assisted living homes could provide, but from the comfort of one’s own home. By having your loved one’s health care delivered directly to their home, you can keep them near you and your family, and you can continue to provide for your loved one while ensuring that he or she is still getting the necessary care from a qualified professional. When searching for private home health care in Carlsbad, finding a certified agency to provide a health care provider is the most important thing that you can do for your loved one when finding a home nurse or caregiver.

By finding a certified provider, you can ensure that the caregiver has the knowledge and skills necessary to take care of an elderly person while maintaining a level of comfort that is not possible in a hospital or living center. This can help ensure that your loved one is getting personalized care, rather than being just another number or patient, your loved one will get the sole attention and care of the health care provider, and the efficient planning and care will be tailored specifically to your loved one’s needs.

When you find excellent home health care in Carlsbad, you can also help your loved one maintain his independence and postpone the reliance on 24/7 care and attention. This type of environment and care is helpful for providing an easy environment for recovery, and it often helps slow down chronic or progressive diseases. Private home health care in Carlsbad is a unique option in which affordable health care is merged with an efficient and personal style of keeping elderly patients comfortable in a familiar environment.

Caring for aging parents isn’t easy. And as your parents get older and more delicate, each fall becomes a more serious issue. Falls lead to many of the health problems that elderly people experience, and a bad fall can even cause death. You can help to reduce elderly falls in Del Mar with these tips.

Safe Living Spaces

One of the easiest ways to keep aging parents from falling is to make sure that they have a safe home. Hazards in an elderly person’s living space will increase their risks of falling and hurting themselves. Make your parent’s home in Del Mar safe by eliminating clutter and spreading out the furniture. Elderly falls are often caused by crowded furniture, sharp angles, and anything that could cause tripping.

Physical Activity

Another important factor in reducing elderly falls is making sure your parents are active. Aging parents in Del Mar should get involved in different physical activities. Even low-impact exercises such as walking and swimming can help. Regular physical exercise has been shown to have many physical and mental benefits. Elderly people who exercise regularly will have better balance and stronger joints. The elderly should also stretch every day and make sure to move around, even if they don’t actually exercise that day. Even the little things that get the blood pumping can help to reduce falls.

Assistive Devices

As people age, they have a harder time with various daily tasks. A home that used to work for them might not work with their new lifestyle. But you don’t need to help your aging parents in Del Mar find a new home that better fits their needs, because you can modify their current home. Many assistive devices are available to help the elderly with the tasks that get harder with age. Simple modifications, such as adding a rail next to the toilet, bathtub, and shower or placing rubber skid pads in the bathtub or shower, will make life easier for your aging parents and help keep them stable.

Home Care

If you don’t feel comfortable leaving your parents in Del Mar alone, because you are afraid of them falling, you should consider finding in-home helpers in Del Mar. Having someone to help monitor elderly parents can help to reduce falls. And the knowledge that someone will be there to care for your aging parent when you cannot be will give you peace of mind that your parent will experience far fewer falls.

This four tips are just a few of the ways that you can help reduce elderly falls. If you have aging parents in Del Mar, encourage them to get involved in various physical activities, examine their living space, and install assistive devices, and consider home care in Del Mar for your aging parents.

Over at AgeWiseLiving, Barbara Friesner has written a great article on how we can make Seniors’ laundry rooms and routine more “elder friendly”!

Making the Laundry Room Elder-Friendly

“Friends have told me that the only way to make doing laundry any kind of friendly is to hire someone else to do it!  I suppose that’s true – although I happen to like to do the laundry.  (Yes. . . I know . . . weird!)  But the point is, as people get older, there are things they can do to make doing some of the every day stuff easy enough to continue doing – thus staying active and engaged.  (Also something to think about when you’re creating your retirement home.)  Here are some suggestions:”

Barbara’s article makes 14 suggestions, including these great examples:

The basement of the home may not be the best place to do laundry any more (especially if they’re lugging laundry).   It may be time to move the washer/dryer to either the main floor or the bedroom level (which would cut down even more schlepping up and down stairs).

I love the huge bottles of laundry products (although I have to plan ahead to carry them home from the grocery store!) but make sure you also have a small, refillable bottle so they’re easy to pour.

Professional Geriatric Care Managers can help assess the safety of Seniors’ laundry rooms and procedures as part of a comprehensive geriatric care assessment.

For the complete article, see:  Making the Laundry Room Elder-Friendly

In-home caregivers provide a sense of security not only to your elderly relative, but to you as well. Just knowing someone is on hand in the event of an emergency makes living apart less stressful for everyone. Most seniors don’t have access to 24-hour care, however, which leaves them alone and vulnerable after dark.

One concern is fire, especially for elders who don’t hear well. A typical home smoke detector just isn’t loud enough to alert a sleeping senior to a fire, but Gentex offers a solution. Designed specifically for the hearing impaired, the Gentex 90dB Strobe Smoke Alarm emits a louder tone than most other devices. In addition, it features a 177-candela strobe to provide a visual warning. The combined alert power of these two systems gives your loved one a greater chance of escaping a fire than does a standard smoke detector. The Gentex 90dB Strobe Smoke Alarm is hard wired for maximum reliability and comes with a one-year warrantee.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, only about 25% of fires occur between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., but late-night fires are responsible for nearly 50% of all fire deaths. Having a reliable smoke alarm that’s able to wake your hearing-impaired loved one is the best way to prevent disaster, and it’s critical for those times when in-home caregivers can’t be there.

See: Gentex 90dB Strobe Smoke Alarm for the hearing impaired

In March 2011, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a startling report.  Their conclusion was:

Almost all nursing facilities employed one or more individuals with at least one criminal conviction. Our analysis of FBI-maintained criminal history records revealed that 92 percent of nursing facilities employed at least one individual with at least one criminal conviction. Nearly half of nursing facilities employed five or more individuals with at least one conviction.

That’s amazing and sobering.  The report goes on to say:

Forty-four percent of employees with convictions were convicted of crimes against property (e.g., burglary, shoplifting, writing bad checks), making it the most common type of crime committed. Overall, 5 percent of nursing facility employees had at least one conviction in FBI-maintained criminal history records. Most convictions occurred prior to employment. Eighty-four percent of employees with convictions had their most recent conviction prior to their beginning date of employment.

In California, this could also happen with in-home care companies because California does not currently regulate the in-home care industry.

However, in-home care companies that are certified by ABHC or CAHSAH are required to perform criminal background checks on prospective new employees.  In a future article we’ll talk more about this certification requirement and what protections it does, and does not, provide.

A Servant’s Heart Care Solutions is certified by ABHC and by CAHSAH.  We conduct background checks on all employees using the California Department of Justice “LiveScan” system and we never hire individuals who have had any prior criminal convictions.

To read the entire OIG report, see: NURSING FACILITIES’ EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS