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

Introduction

In an earlier article on the topic of Long-Term Care Insurance (“LTCI”) claims, we said there were a number of important things to know about filing LTCI claims in San Diego County.  In this four-part series of articles, we’ll talk about filing the claim right away and making sure that it’s complete the first time you submit the claim.

The List:  The Top Six Things To Know and Do When Filing New Long Term Care Claims In San Diego County

Here are the six most important things to know and do when filing new LTCI claims inSan DiegoCounty:

1. Decide Who Is Going To Be In Charge Of Filing The Claim.
2. The Insurance Company’s Goal is NOT To Pay Claims
3. How Do Insurance Companies Delay Paying Claims?
4. How Do Insurance Companies Delay Paying Claims?
5. You Need To Have A Complete Copy Of The LTCI Policy.
6. Ask Your In-Home Care Agency To Complete the Provider Information Form in the LTCI claim forms package.

Decide Who Is Going To Be In Charge Of Filing The Claim

In situations where there are multiple family members who are helping another family member, typically an older parent or relative, it’s a good idea to decide on one family member to be the “project manager” in charge of filing the claim.  That project manager should be the one who then talks with the insurance company on behalf of the insured and rest of the family, and who actually carries out the initial claims process described here.

The Insurance Company’s Goal is NOT To Pay Claims

The insurance companies will only honor their policy terms.  Those terms normally do not require them to help you file claims and qualify for benefits.

Some insurance companies are worse in this regard than others, but all of them basically make you do the work of filing the claim and proving that you are eligible to receive benefits under the policy.  They’ll send you the forms you need (sometimes not all at once, leading to delays) but that’s about all they do.  If they want to send out a nurse to make an assessment, that’s just to make sure that your claim is legitimate, not to help you with any aspect of filing the claim.

What happens when you have to do the work and they don’t help you?  The main result is that it takes longer to complete the process and delays the start of their claims payments to you.  The insurance companies benefit from delaying the payment of claims because it gives them longer to keep the insured’s money and earn more investment income and interest with it.

Summary

So, remember to decide which one specific family member is going to be responsible for managing the claims filing process for the family, and make sure that when you do file the claim, you do everything you can to make certain that the claim information and forms that you send are complete and sufficient for the LTCI company to decide upon the policyholder’s eligibility without further delay.

In Part Two of this series we’ll look at how LTCI companies delay and even, in some cases, avoid paying LTCI claims by making the process so slow and lengthy that some people just give up, and how to prevent that from happening.

Call 1-800-777-4750 Today For Assistance With
Filing Your LTCI Claim and Your In-Home Care Needs!

A Servant’s Heart Care Solutions has assisted many clients and their families file their LTCI insurance claims since 2003.  It would be a privilege for us to have the opportunity to help your family as well!

This article was written by Craig Falk.  Craig is the President of Craig Cares, a premier provider of In-Home Caregivers In Sacramento that serves the area in and around Sacramento, California.   Craig was the founder of Craig Cares and has been helping elderly clients remain in their homes since 2002 with in-home care workers so they don’t have to move to nursing homes.  Craig is widely respected as an expert in the In-Home Care industry and his company is accredited as a Certified Home Care Aide Organization by CAHSAH, the California Association for Health Services at Home.

Introduction

There are proposed new regulations and laws which, if they take effect, will significantly impact the private-sector non-medical in-home caregiver industry in California  and hurt the workers who perform this very important and valuable work.  The proposed new burdens for the industry include a Federal Department of Labor regulation change that has been ordered by President Obama (currently in a public comment period) and a California Assembly Bill (AB 889) authored by California Assembly Member Tom Amiano (D-San Francisco), currently being considered by the state legislature.

Both of these propose to require that in-home care workers that work as employees of in-home care companies (1) be paid at least minimum wage, and (2) be paid overtime.  They only apply to caregivers who work as employees of home care companies but not to workers hired privately by clients and their families.

There’s No Question That In-Home Caregivers Should Be Paid At Least Minimum Wage

Caregivers should be paid at least minimum wage, and they are.  The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and the California minimum wage is $8.00 an hour.  In my agency,  and most agencies, the beginning caregiver wage is $10.00 an hour.  That’s 38% above the federal minimum wage and 25% above the California minimum wage.

So the more significant issue is overtime, not the minimum wage.

Should Non-Medical In-Home Caregivers Be Paid Overtime?

The Federal proposed change would require that non-medical in-home caregivers who work for home care companies be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.  The proposed state change (AB 889) would require that non-medical in-home caregivers who work for home care companies be paid overtime if they work more than eight hours per day or more than 40 hours per week.

In much of the debate I’ve heard, proponents of eliminating the Companion Exemption refer to caregivers as “home health care” workers.  By the labor code’s own definition, caregivers provide only “non-medial” care giving services.  I believe it is only fair to be clear there is a distinction between “non-medical” caregivers and “home health care” workers who are RN’s, LVN’s, Physical Therapists, and Social Workers.  These positions require a much higher level of education and are governed my entirely different labor codes.

Should non-medical in-home caregivers be paid OT?  This is a more complicated question.  At first glance it seems obvious they should be paid OT.  I certainly thought so when I first heard about the issue over ten years ago.  However, the premise of the OT exemption is that there is routinely a significant amount of downtime for shifts that are greater than four hours.

For example, during a 12 hour shift the caregiver may be actively working less than 50% of the time.  Remember, nearly all in-home caregivers work for only one client at a time.  They have vastly different working conditions than employees in retail environments or caregivers working in nursing homes who care for at least 8 residents at a time.

After ten years in this business, I now believe the OT exemption is fair.  I do know that 12 hour shifts, without OT, are far more popular with caregivers than 4, or even 8 hour shifts.  I also know that if the OT exemption is removed we will rarely schedule caregivers for more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week as is the case in any industry where OT is required.

Should Non-Medical In-Home Caregivers Be Paid For Sleeping?

Is it reasonable to deduct sleep time for a caregiver?  Live in caregivers stay at the home of their client for three to four days straight.  They have their own room, bed, and their food is supplied.

It is true the caregiver is required to stay in the house, including at night, in case the client needs their help.  Currently sleep time can be deducted for caregivers in the same way as ambulance drivers or apartment complex managers.  The federal government has provided clear guidelines as to when sleep time can be deducted from paid time.  The caregiver must get 8 hours of sleep, of which five hours must be continuous, and not be awakened to assist the client more than one to two times a night on a regular basis.

Live In shifts are not for everyone.  For some in-home caregivers, family responsibilities prevent them from working Live In shifts.  For many in-home caregivers,  Live In shifts are preferred as they can make $30,000 a year working four days a week.

The proposed changes in AB 889 would eliminate Live In shifts.  The only option would be to staff round the clock care with three 8 hour shifts daily.  A client would have three different caregivers every day and at least six over the course of a week.  Maximum yearly pay for one of these caregivers would be less than $17,000.

Why Should Overtime Be Required For Caregivers Working For In-Home Care Companies, But Not For Caregivers Working Privately?

While the current proposal to remove the Companion Exemption applies to caregivers working for agencies, caregivers working privately for individual families remain exempt from OT.  That is not fair.  The working conditions are the same.  The caregiver already has more protection when working for an agency.  It makes no sense to create even greater protections for caregivers working for agencies, but none for those working privately.

Agencies like mine exist to keep seniors safe and comfortable in their own homes.  The proposed federal and state changes would increase the costs to some clients, including those requiring 24 hour care, by 100%.  A Live In caregiver’s potential wages drop by 43%.  Neither clients nor caregivers can afford this.  They would have little choice but to make private employment arrangements.  Not only would both parties lose the protections they enjoy using an agency, but federal and state governments would lose payroll and income taxes.  How can that be fair for anyone?

For professional non-medical in-home caregiver service in the Sacramento area, call Craig Cares at (916) 782-7121!

Hardly anyone enjoys filling out income tax returns. This time of year, however, all of us must either engage a professional to do it for us or camp out at the dining room table in a dangerous jungle of forms, receipts, statements, and strong coffee. As unpleasant as the task is, people who handle the financial affairs of elderly loved ones are responsible to do all they can to make sure that records are kept accurately and reported on time. A recent case in the U.S. tax court illustrates the danger of letting financial records sit on the back burner for those receiving companion care in Carlsbad or anywhere else.

 During 2007, a New Yorkresident, Lillian Baral, paid $49,580 for the round-the-clock companion care that she needed. Her brother took care of all her financial bookkeeping, since Ms. Baral suffered from dementia. In a wise move, the two had established a power of attorney for Ms. Baral’s brother some time earlier, so that he could legally handle her finances. In most cases, if a person has documentation showing that he or she is chronically ill and needs constant supervision, expenses paid for companion care are tax deductible. Unfortunately, the brother neglected to send the IRS a return for Ms. Baral’s 2007 income taxes, and nearly two years later, the IRS took hold of the situation and notified him that Ms. Baral owed $17,681 in back taxes, according to their estimation.

Complicating the situation was the fact that Ms. Baral had already passed away, so her brother was handling the dispute from her estate. The problems could have been easily avoided, if the brother had correctly filed the return with her companion care expenses clearly stated. Instead, he ended up having to fight to prove that Ms. Baral actually met the qualifications for the tax deduction while she was still living. In addition, in court he can not claim a deduction for any expenses that are not accompanied by receipts proving that they were paid for qualifying medical services and products—a tall order, given the fact that the transactions are several years old.

How can you avoid this nightmare for a loved one receiving companion care in Carlsbad or elsewhere? Keep careful records, don’t throw out any receipts, and make sure that you can document exactly how your loved one’s money is being spent on companion care. Even though it may seem like yet another burden right now, you could save yourself from an exhausting and expensive argument with the government later on.

Original article: http://issues.flemingandcurti.com/tag/estate-of-baral-v-commissioner/

Client Privately Hired A Housekeeper From Her Nursing Home

Tonya Antionette Lloyd

85-year-old Patricia Gipe spent a long year at a nursing home before she was finally discharged to home.  In order to be able to stay at home, though, she needed in-home care.

Instead of getting help from professional in-home care agencies in North County, she hired a housekeeper named Tonya Antionette Lloyd who worked at the nursing home to help her at home and run errands for her.

Everything seemed fine for a while, until one day Mrs. Gipe learned that the housekeeper had systematically stolen $150,000 from her bank account,

Police allege that the caregiver used Gipe’s debit card to withdraw money from the bank, make personal purchases and pay for airfare for a vacation to the Bahamas.

The victim’s family fired Lloyd when they found out, but the theft already had left the victim nearly completely broke.

Unethical and Illegal

This is a scenario that we see all too often. Many times elderly patients at hospitals or nursing homes are befriended by caregivers or housekeepers at those facilities, who manipulate those elderly patients and their families into hiring them to provide private care after the patient is discharged.

First of all, when the facility’s employee does that, they are probably violating the federal HIPPA law, which states that using patients’ confidential health information for personal gain is a HIPPA violation.  Besides that, it is unethical for the facilities’ employees to take advantage of frail and elderly persons who have been entrusted to them for care in the facility by scheming to get them to hire them privately outside the facility.

Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish

At first it can seem expensive to get help from professional in-home care agencies, compared to the cost of privately-hiring caregivers on your own like the victim in this case did. However, most people who aren’t in the in-home care business don’t know how to conduct criminal background checks, run reference checks, check on driving records, car registration and insurance, bonding and other concerns when hiring caregivers on their own. They may think that they know how, or that they “get around” to learning how to do it later, but then they don’t do it.

The result can be sad outcomes like the one in this case. The victim has no chance of recovering her money and the result is that almost all of her money is gone with no hope of recovery.

When you are going to trust your safety and security, or that of a loved one, in the hands of a caregiver who you can’t check out on your own, and when you don’t know how to do that in the first place, you should consider whether it isn’t in fact time to use professional in-home care agencies in North County to protect you or your loved one and their assets and physical well-being.

See the newspaper coverage about this case, with additional details.

If you are a member of the sandwich generation, you already know that caring for a growing family as well as aging parents who need increasingly expensive care is financially difficult. Paying for companion care in Escondido or elsewhere, transportation, equipment, and other services not covered under elderly parents’ Medicare or traditional health insurance plans can strain the finances of the adult children of aging parents.

Given this situation, there is always the real concern that after taking money from important retirement and college funds, the next generation will suffer in turn with additional financial pressures of their own. A helpful article* that appeared a while back on the website Businessweek.com offers useful tips to help sandwich generation members reduce the financial strain.

Insurance can provide funding for companion care costs

If they are managed intelligently, elderly parents’ insurance policies can cover a significant portion of their expenses as they age. Even companion care at home is usually included in some (but not all) long-term care insurance policies, and the earlier you buy a policy, the less expensive it is overall. These policies are a great way to make sure that unexpected  needs are already planned for and do not require an emergency withdrawal from other funds. In addition, a great policy could even give aging parents the ability to enjoy companion care in Escondido or elsewhere in their own home rather than move into a nursing home.  However, filing claims under long-term care insurance policies can be time-consuming and tricky, and you may want to work with agencies providing companion care in Escondido or elsewhere that are experienced at assisting with filing claims and working with the insurance companies.

Attend to legal planning long before you think you will need it

Taking care of  legal concerns like wills, conservatorshps, powers of attorney, and advance directives before there is a pressing need to do so saves a significant amount of money in the long run. Make sure that if a question about treatment arises, there is a clear set of criteria in place for a responsible family member to make decisions on behalf of parents who can not.  If an expensive piece of equipment is needed, deciding ahead of time what fund the costs will be paid from will eliminate the possibility of putting your own finances in danger.

Above all, make those decisions well in advance, and do it while the aging parent is clearly able to make their own decisions.  If you wait until after that, your legal challenges and expenses will escalate quickly when your aging parent is no longer mentally competent to make decisions for themselves.

Plan for your OWN future, too

Money experts advise that, even as you try to balance the costs of companion care, treatment, and other needs for elderly parents, it is critical to plan for your own future. If you spend all of your savings making your own parents comfortable during their final years, there will be no retirement fund left for you to draw from down the road, and your children will be forced to incur heavy college tuition debts. Make saving money a priority even when times are difficult, and both you and your children will reap the benefits of your foresight, and consider long-term care insurance for yourself and your spouse as well.

*Original article: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2006/pi20061016_372743.htm

During the holidays, you probably enjoyed the opportunity to stay home from work and simply sit around the house for a few days. However, those of us who are used to going to work every day are often surprised at how quickly we become restless at home. If you’ve ever suffered an injury that required a long period of recovery, you are even more aware of just how frustrating “cabin fever” can be!

An elderly loved one usually has the background of an entire life spent going here and there. Imagine how difficult it must be to transition to a stay-at-home mentality, especially when health issues make driving dangerous. Assisted transportation services can make all the difference in the world to a senior that isn’t able to just hop in the car and go to the store whenever they want to.

If you’re the adult child of elderly parents in Encinitas, or anywhere else in California, it’s no easier for you either. If you are a member of the sandwich generation, you are painfully aware of the difficulties of balancing care of parents with care of children and a full-time job. It’s very easy to suddenly realize that it’s been far too long since the last time your aging parent had a refreshing outing. While assisted transportation certainly doesn’t substitute for quality time spent together, it can fill an important role by getting a senior out of the house for a while under the capable supervision of a trained caregiver.

We’re not talking about a expensive limo services here. Assisted transportation is more affordable than you might think, and it has the important benefit of including an experienced senior care provider who is ready to help in the case of an emergency during the outing. It’s certainly much safer than relying on a ride from a neighbor or family friend who might not have adequate training to address a health crisis or a dementia-related incident. And while you try your best to make time for outings with your elderly parents in Encinitas, during unusually busy times or family vacations, a transportation service can really help break up the monotony of staying at home.

Think of all the times you run to the store for a gallon of milk; run to the gas station to fill up; or rush to the library to return an overdue book. Those trips might feel like inconveniences now, but to someone like your elderly parent who doesn’t have the ability to make them on their own, they are a very special time. An assisted transportation service can make those special times take place little more frequently.

Before long, your aging parent may have a more advanced smart-technology device than you do.

Sound surprising? A few of the people behind the Apple company’s groundbreaking computers, phones, and mobile devices have decided to take a different route from their colleagues. Founding BAM Labs with other like-minded engineers, these experts decided to devote their energies to designing and producing products that improve the health and safety of seniors. They also make it easier for health care providers and in-home caregivers to provide excellent assistance.

The newest product from BAM Labs is a “smart bed.” Already in experimental use in several facilities, its features have quickly grown very popular with health care professionals. For Seniors needing caregivers in Carlsbad (and anywhere else) it promises to make the job of caring for bedridden patients easier than ever before, adding a new level of convenience and safety. Best of all, it only costs about $150.00 per month to lease and use the bed and its associated equipment.

The “smart bed” replaces all of the wires, switches, and other bulky components found on hospital beds with a wafer-thin sheet that slips underneath a patient’s mattress. This sheet is covered with sensors that transmit a reminder to in-home caregivers or hospital nurses when it is time to adjust a patient’s position. This reminder can be programmed to broadcast to a mobile device or computer carried by caregivers, relieving them of the responsibility of keeping track of the time on their own.

There are far more tasks that this new bed performs, however. Using revolutionary monitoring technology, the wireless pad also continuously measures vital signs like heart rate and breathing. Instead of waking up a patient to take a blood pressure reading, in-home caregivers can simply pull up the smart bed’s information on a device to make sure everything is as it should be. If a patient’s vital signs stray into dangerous territory, the caregiver knows immediately thanks to the bed’s constant monitoring.

One final advantage is that the smart bed helps hospital and in-home caregivers in Carlsbad and elsewhere respond instantly if a patient incorrectly tries to get out of bed. Seniors with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or a weakening illness who should not get out of bed without help sometimes injure themselves or wander into a hazardous area. With the smart bed, an alert to a nurse can make sure that help is on the scene as quickly as possible. Reports from the facilities using the bed show that falls have been greatly reduced during the experiment.

Elder financial abuse is a huge topic of concern among those providing companion care for elderly persons. Its prevalence and even its increase over recent years, as detailed in a recent publication by MetLife, shows that it is an issue deserving concerted attention by both caregivers and lawmakers. While recent laws passed in the U.S. Congress will hopefully raise awareness and protect more seniors from financial abuse, in the meantime it is important for family members and in-home caregivers to familiarize themselves with the extent of this disturbing crime.

According to MetLife’s recently published survey of news stories, financial abuse of the elderly results in losses totalling $2.9 billion each year. This staggering amount of money makes it into the pockets of not only strangers (in 51 percent of news articles) but also friends, family members, and neighbors (34 percent). The remaining news articles described losses due to corporate exploitation and Medicaid/Medicare fraud.

Those who provide companion care for elderly persons are often shocked to hear that many financial abuse crimes are committed by family and friends of seniors. Often, elders who have a significant amount of money in their retirement account become tempting targets for people who are experiencing a financial crisis. Deceiving vulnerable elders and taking their money may seem to be the only way out of trouble.

According to this study, most victims of financial abuse are over 80 years old, live alone, and require assistance on a regular basis. A potential criminal who spots these characteristics knows that they are likely to be able to deceive or force the senior to give them money or valuables without risking resistance. In keeping with this scenario, over one quarter of the incidents reported in the news from November 2010 through January 2011 were single attacks by strangers, or “mugging” type thefts.

If you are interested in reading the complete study report, you can find the very readable document at The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse. One encouraging finding of this research is increasing action by lawmakers to provide more financial protection for seniors. With a continued focus on this critical issue, it is essential that companion care for elderly persons throughout the country become safer and more trustworthy over the next few years. It is up to those closest to vulnerable seniors to make sure that they are protected from both strangers and friends who may be tempted to steal from them.

Have you ever wondered just how clean the rooms are in your hospital in San Diego County? You probably have little concern about the bed sheets, which are changed every day, or the actual medical equipment that is sterilized frequently. But what about the other, less often addressed surfaces in the room? The privacy curtain hanging in a hospital room is handled by not only doctors and nurses, but also by outside visitors and ill patients themselves on a regular basis. Most of these people probably do not think to wash their hands before and after handling the privacy curtain. In most hospitals, this curtain is rarely changed or cleaned, and it doesn’t take much thought to imagine the multiple germs it could be hiding.

A recent study, funded by a blank check from a company that produces anti-microbial cloth surfaces, confirms your suspicions. It found that a typical hospital in San Diego is extremely likely to have privacy curtains that hold disease-causing bacteria. This study focused its attention on the “leading edge” of each curtain, the surface that is most likely to be touched by hands opening or closing it. There were several different parts to the study:

One part tried to determine what percentage of curtains were contaminated by bacteria. 43 curtains were checked six times each in a three week period, and 41 of them tested positive for a disease-causing bacteria in at least one of the checks. The most dreaded hospital infection, MRSA, showed up on 21 percent of the tested curtains. These results show that, in general, you can assume that the curtain in the room of your hospital in San Diego County may be a dangerous source of disease.

What if the curtain has been washed recently, though? The study also addressed the question of how quickly these curtains become contaminated. Thirteen clean curtains were placed in rooms during the three week period under consideration, and twelve of them showed bacteria contamination within just one week. Apparently, the cleaning frequency needed to keep hospital curtains free of disease is much higher than anyone previously thought.

Unless your local hospital in San Diego County boasts privacy curtains made from state-of-the-art, bacteria resistant materials, it appears that it would be to your benefit to avoid touching them at all costs! At least, be aware of their potential for passing infection, and take all the hand-washing precautions necessary to avoid catching the diseases that are probably lurking among the folds.

Original article: http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2011/12/hospital-privacy-curtains-dangerous.html