In This Issue
FEATURE ARTICLE: Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's
Kudos From Kelly
Day Dreaming with Darcey
From Al
Alan Weiss on Civility
Providers We Love


Photos in top banner: (Regina's Grandson) Ryan showing off his home-grown tomato; Grace and Luke Dolan (our graphic designer's children) enjoying site seeing;  Beautiful Bella (Jessica's daughter) is getting so big!

 











 



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Regina McNamara RN, MSN President & Kelly McNamara, Chief Operating Officer



Here at Always There Home Care, we are grateful you are slowing down to read our newsletter full of items that relate to home care, home health care, aging and eldercare, as well as some useful tips for daily living. Please enjoy in the spirit of community and cooperation in which this newsletter was sent.
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Also, see our beautiful new video,  here!!!
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FEATURE ARTICLE:
Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's  
Or is it Typical Age-Related Change?   
   Alzheimer's Reading Room
 
Memory loss that disrupts daily life may be a symptom of Alzheimer's or other dementia. Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. There are 10 warning signs and symptoms. If you notice any of them, don't ignore them. Schedule an appointment with your doctor.

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life. One of the most common signs of Alzheimer's disease, especially in the early stage, is forgetting recently learned information. Others include forgetting important dates or events, asking for the same information over and over, and increasingly needing to rely on memory aids (e.g., reminder notes or electronic devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own.

What's a typical age-related change?
Sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering them later.

2. Challenges in planning or solving problems. Some people may experience changes in their ability to develop and follow a plan or work with numbers. They may have trouble following a familiar recipe or keeping track of monthly bills. They may have difficulty concentrating and take much longer to do things than they did before.

What's a typical age-related change?
Making occasional errors when balancing a checkbook.

3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure. People with Alzheimer's often find it hard to complete daily tasks. Sometimes, people may have trouble driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work or remembering the rules of a favorite game.

 KUDOS from Kelly   
  By Kelly McNamara  
  
Dawn Reed: I am very proud and pleased to say that Dawn is now celebrating her TENTH YEAR with us. And we are all applauding it as well. Dawn first came to our attention while I was at our bank (TD Bank, then and still) in our very early months. We began our business knowing that we needed to find good caregivers before we began to advertise for clients. Being rookies in this business, we assumed that once we hired a few great caregivers we would be set. We learned quickly that word of mouth spreads. Soon we had higher demand for our services than good available caregivers.  

How to proceed? Well, luck was shining on us that day because right there on a table at TD Bank was a pile of Dawn's business cards. "Heavenly Home Care" it read. Along with "Experienced, professional caregivers available". Thus, began our long and interesting journey with Dawn and the wonderful caregivers she supplied for us....


 Day Dreaming with Darcey Announcing a
   new program for our current care partners as well
   as company supported local charities
 
     
Darcey has completed a rigorous  program in Pet Therapy.   Finally, after over a year in training, she   has passed all exams to be certified as a  Therapy Dog.  Darcey joins the millions of dogs and other animals certified by Pet Partners® , a well-regarded national program with the highest standards for animal assisted  therapy providing peace of mind for the organization and the person receiving therapy.  Pet Partners® was the first comprehensive, standardized training in animal-assisted activities and therapy for volunteers and health-care professionals.

At Pet Partners, we believe that the human-animal bond is a mutually beneficial relationship that improves the physical, social, and emotional lives of those we serve. We are motivated by connection, compassion, and a commitment to sharing this meaningful bond with everyone who can benefit from time spent with an animal.

"In an age of research when it is tempting to reduce emotions to biochemical reactions and to rely heavily on the technology of medicine, it is refreshing to find that a person's health and well-being may be improved by prescribing contact with other living things."

  From Al 
     
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.

The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." 

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

The older lady said that she was right  our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. The older lady went on to   explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.     

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.


  Alan Weiss on Civility
     
I was listening to Robert De Niro's scabrous invective directed at President Trump when he took the stage at the Tony Awards, ostensibly to introduce Bruce Springsteen and his honorary Tony, which he eventually got around to after his attack. I'm all for free speech, but I'm also for civility. I believe the president is often uncivil and rude, but I don't believe you descend to that level to combat it.

And, of somewhat major import, De Niro's diatribe dishonored Springsteen, who was there to be accorded a great tribute, not to serve as the premise for someone else's harsh political polemic.

This was an egregious example, but I see it frequently. Many years ago, a woman who was a very good speaker  was asked to introduce a quite famous speaker. She decided to take the occasion to deliver a four-minute, "mini keynote" which featured her own speaking skills. While, again, ostensibly introducing the person we had taken our seats to hear, she in fact delivered her own material so as to attempt to "wow" the audience.

Once the novelty of her approach was absorbed, everyone started doing this. I had to tell people introducing me to read, verbatim, the 30-second introduction I gave them, and then eliminated the introducer altogether.

Whether at a school board meeting, the Rotary, a keynote, or an informal session, if our job is to introduce-which means to make someone "known"-we should tend to it crisply and with brevity. And we should make sure we limit our own introductions.

Frankly, the longer the intro, the more suspicious I get.

And please, let us all re-embrace civility.

Providers We Love We are privileged to have received referrals from and be able to coordinate care with many Assisted Living facilities, rehab facilities, and Medicare Home Care and Hospice agencies. Our growth is in large part due to the trust the staff in these organizations have put in our caregivers. We are likewise impressed with them and we are committed to referring to them on a regular basis
 
Seabury Active Living Retirement Community, and Seabury at Home, Bloomfield  
One of Connecticut's first retirement communities, Seabury has grown impressively from its original facility.  The sprawling campus now boasts several individual residences, from apartments to substantial single homes.  Their memory care unit is superb.  The surroundings provide lovely views in all seasons. An immense fitness facility, including a large pool promotes continued fitness of older adults. Seabury boasts an impressive participation of its residents in the fitness facility. Seabury also has an innovative Life Care program and Seabury at Home service. Their home care program provides both Medicare as well as home private duty services for the community and surrounding area...  

McLean Hospice Palliative Care and Hospice, Simsbury 
McLean Home Care and Hospice enjoy the coveted highest Medicare rating of Five Stars based on outstanding patient outcomes as medication compliance, improved mobility and no hospital re admissions, as well as starting care in a timely manner.
 
McLean Hospice is dedicated to improving patients' comfort and supporting their families. Their team in helps patients you live as fully and comfortably as possible so their last days or months may be spent with dignity and quality. Their goal is to provide satisfying days; fear-free nights and the richness of time with loved ones, surrounded by a supportive team. Hospice nurses are available to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year....


 About Always There Home Care

Always There Home Care provides compassionate, dependable and professional one-on-one care for seniors who need assistance in the comfort of their homes or residential care communities.  Services from highly qualified and trained caregivers range from companionship, meal preparation and incidental transportation to personal care, medication management and RN-directed case management. Available 7 days a week, services range from a few hours a day to 24-hour care.

Always There Home Care understands that every situation is unique and creates individualized care plans to help improve a client's quality of life.

Even Longer Dotted Divider Line
 
Our Caregivers

Our caregivers are totally committed, highly qualified and carefully selected individuals who are personally and thoroughly screened, bonded and insured. Most are Certified Nurse Assistants or Home Health Aides. Most importantly our caregivers are dependable and extraordinarily caring of others. In addition to their previous experience, our caregivers receive continuous training that includes dementia, hospice care, home safety, nutrition and other topics related to seniors. These highly qualified and trained caregivers are ready to help you and your loved ones with a variety of daily activities such as:

Personal care    /  Meal planning and preparation
Transportation to doctor appointments and other errands
Caring companionship    /  Light housekeeping
Medication reminders  /    Information and referral services

Our personalized, nurse- supervised services are available 7 days a week and
can range from a few hours a day to 24 hours and live in care.

Even Longer Dotted Divider Line

For more information or service needs, call 24 hours a day at:
800.348.0485
or visit www.AlwaysThereHomeCare-CT.com.  
We are Always There!