Photos in top banner: Grace Dolan (our graphic designer's daughter) riding "Bucky"; Scott (Regina's Son) Ryan on family beach vacation; Ashaine,(Caregiver Dellaine's son) bored with shopping decides to drive off We are Always There!
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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:
5 Things You Should Never Say to a Person With Alzheimer's
When relating to a person with Alzheimer's there are many guidelines to follow. I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here.
By Marie Marley | Alzheimer's Reading Room
Yesterday afternoon I walked into Mary's spacious room. Mary is a woman who has few visitors and whom I've volunteered to spend a little time with every week. I greeted her, complimented her on her beautiful turquoise sweater, and shook her hand.
Then I sat down at her little table that was overflowing with books, photographs, the newspaper and other items she wants to keep close at hand. I started off by picking up a small framed photo of Mary with her husband and three children - two sons and a daughter.
"Tell me about your daughter I said," using an open-ended question because they have no right or wrong answers. That's a tip I picked up from The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care by Virginia Bell and David Troxell.
"Oh, her name is Connie," she told me. "She has four children - two boys and two girls."
She continued by giving me several details about Connie and her family. I then picked up a photograph of Mary and her twin sister, Bernice, and she told me about how they took piano lessons together when they were children. After a few minutes I asked her if her daughter ever played a musical instrument.
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KUDOS
from Kelly
By Kelly McNamara
Jessica Colon: Few people who are familiar with our company and have joined it either as a caregiver, employee, or client and family member, know Jessica very well. In her relatively short tenure here (eighteen months) she has broadened her scope of responsibilities, helped us grow in clients and caregivers, all while raising two wonderful children.
Jessica's formal title is Client Service Coordinator, but her responsibilities span the entire spectrum of services in meeting the needs of our clients and families. She can be seen rushing out to drive a caregiver to a last-minute case. She will patiently listen to a family member in need of assistance with a loved one who is unsure of exactly where to turn. She will then find a great solution. She routinely solves caregiver issues in her "off hours" while balancing a toddler on her hip.
Jessica is very creative in finding solutions to unique staffing situations. Balancing client/family needs with caregivers' requirements to support their own families and balance their lives is a rare talent and she utilizes it daily. Since Jessica, like many of our caregivers, is a single parent, she understands all too well their unique needs. She regularly helps our caregivers locate community resources, training programs, child care, and other daily assistance tips. She even routinely passes on outgrown baby and children's clothes and equipment to our staff.
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The Long-Term-Care Insurance Dilemma
by: Beta Everett
Our trusty LTC adviser took some time off to have her first baby. She is now back with us and shares this valuable piece:
From Beata: I want to share the attached article with you which I found to be quite informative and concise in regard to long-term care insurance.
Also, an increasing amount of recovery care/short-term care products are being approved throughout the country. Although these products do not protect assets the same way as LTCi, they may be a viable option for those who can't qualify for longer-term policies.
PREMIUMS KEEP RISING, BUT YOU MAY NEED A POLICY MORE THAN EVER. By KIMBERLY LANKFORD, Contributing Editor, April 4, 2018, From Kiplinger's Personal Finance
The median cost of one year in a private room in a nursing home was $97,500 in 2017, according to Genworth's Cost of Care Study. A year of assisted living was $45,000, and 44 hours per week of home care-which most people prefer-came to $49,000. Care costs have been going up by 3% to 4% per year over the past five years.
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 Alan Weiss on Grandeur
Have you ever been in the middle of the ocean with no land or other vessels in sight? I have, and it's a wondrous sensation. All around you, to the curvature of the Earth, is water. Do you know that more people have walked on the surface of the moon than have visited the bottom of the Marianas Trench (the deepest spot on Earth, in the Pacific)?
Some of you have seen tornados, majestic in their terror. I've experienced hundred-mile-an-hour winds, ripping up trees, while ducks placidly paddled around our pond. I've watched snow fall so fast that it quickly covered all attempts to plow it and it was waist-deep to walk through.
Human creations can rival nature in grandeur. When I flew in the Concorde at about 1,400 miles per hour at around 50,000 feet, I could see that actual curvature of the Earth that formed the horizon around my ship at sea. When I visited the Great Wall of China I found a structure far more mind-boggling than any photos or narrative could depict, built thousands of years ago with portions the Chinese feel are too dangerous to try to repair today with even modern technology.
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I Wish You Enough
By brighteyes, posted May 10, 2007
At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane's departure, he said to his daughter, "I love you, I wish you enough."
She said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy." They kissed good-bye and she left.
He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied.
Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.
"Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?" I asked.
"I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, " he said.
"When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?"
He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more.
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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....
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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.
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
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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.
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!
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