Archive for March, 2010

Board and Care homes (also known as RCFE’s – Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly) are residential private homes that have been licensed by the Department of Social Services to provide services to seniors. Most accept no more than six residents, but offer a cozy, home-like setting for frail seniors. At least one caregiver is on the premises at all times to assist residents.

Board and care homes come with a variety of characteristics. Rooms can be shared or private and may include a shared or private bathroom. Limited social activities are provided, but not to the extent of an assisted living facility. Specific needs can be met in this small setting, such as language, ethnic or food preferences, even accommodating a loved pet. Meals, laundry, housekeeping, transportation to doctor appointments are usually included. Most provide assistance with dressing, bathing, grooming, eating, medication management, and hygiene and continence issues. With hundreds of these homes scattered throughout most geographic areas, there is hardly a situation that cannot be met in a board and care home.

With most board and care homes, a resident will interact with just three or four caregivers each week. This allows caregivers and residents to form a close bond, which many seniors prefer. Homes range in care giving levels, from simply providing a personal presence for seniors to dealing with severe medical conditions. If fact, some specialize in very specific areas of healthcare and their related needs, such as non-ambulatory residents, stroke or paralysis residents, diabetes care, oxygen needs, catheters, colostomy’s, and cognitive and memory impairments such as dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Some medical conditions such as a feeding tubes or tracheotomies cannot be handled by board and care homes.

Generally, Board and Care homes are managed and owned by an individual or family who are closely involved in the day-to-day activities of the home. Board and care homes are a refreshing alternative to the more business like approach of an assisted living or skilled nursing facility.

Alex Jensen is with http://www.careplacement.com – a free placement service for Southern California. Care Placement’s staff can review your care requirements to determine whether skilled nursing care, assisted living facilities or board and care homes are a viable option for seniors.

Board and Care Homes ? What Are They?

Medicare recognizes this need and, therefore reimburses your residents to receive advanced behavioral health services? making them free to your facility!

Psychologists provide a wide variety of valuable and testedclinical services that can provide a big shot in the arm to yournursing home care. For example:

1. Psychotherapy is a treatment approach, which in many cases is equally, if not more, effective than drug therapies in nursing home care. Cognitiveand interpersonal psychotherapies, for example, are effectivetreatments for depression.

2. Psychological alternatives todrug therapies are particularly valuable to elderly populationsreceiving nursing home care who are suffering fromovermedication and side effects of various drugs and theirinteractions. These alternatives can reduce the medication usein your long term care facility thus reducing any complaints ofover-medication of residents.

3. Psychologists can significantly bolster the impact of the nursing home care andtreatment plan of patients suffering from chronic illnessesthrough a variety of advanced interventions providing a powerfultreatment synergy that is invaluable.

4. People can be helped to control high blood pressure and manage chronic pain orheadaches with fewer medications, when psychotherapy, behavioraltechniques, and biofeedback are added to nursing home care.

5. Breast cancer patients who participate in group psychotherapysurvive longer and manage their symptoms better than those who do not.

6. Pre-surgical psychological counseling leads tofewer complications and a reduction in medication utilization.

7. Psychotherapy added to nursing home care enables somediabetics who are at risk for erratic treatment compliance tomaintain their discipline of diet and insulin treatments.

8. Psychological interventions help cancer patients to manage theunpleasant side effects of their chemotherapy so that theirlives are disrupted less seriously and their daily effectivenessis maintained.

9. Individual and family psychologicalinterventions added to your nursing home care are effective forenhancing resident quality of life. It does this by enablingthe resident to effectively manage the depression, anxiety, andother adjustment issues resulting from the onset of chronic anddisabling illness.

10. Psychotherapy and/or other behavioralinterventions enrich your nursing home care by helping yourresidents to change lifestyle habits in order to reduce risksfor cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Becomerecognized as a forward-looking leader in long term care byhaving your own specialized psychological treatment program. Itis well documented that psychologists assist residents indeveloping coping strategies and healthy behaviors, which canreduce the factors associated with the development of illness.

11. The psychologist has a unique expertise in the diagnosisand treatment of conditions addressed in nursing home care such as stress disorders, neurological impairments, brain disease andpsychosomatic illness. Psychologists have been in the forefrontof high quality research involving the mutual influences whichmind, body, emotion and disease have on each other.

12. Next-generation physicians consult psychologists to obtain anexpert assessment regarding any psychological disorders present,advice on the implementation of behavioral programs, thepinpointing of specific behavioral symptoms and the targeting ofresulting treatment goals. One reason is that 81% of adultssay that they would feel more comfortable seeing a physician whoconsults with a psychologist.

13. Diagnostic tests performed by psychologists are state-of-the-art tools. Increasingly, physicians are turning to them to pinpoint any emotional orbehavioral factors that may be affecting or interfering with thetreatment process in nursing home care.

14. These next-generation diagnostic services give added power to yournursing home care because they can be used to assess among otherthings, prognosis and the existence of functional impairments,degree of intellectual, cognitive and/or psychologicalimpairment and the extent of any dementia or memory impairments.

They also specify treatment and documentation guidelines whichenable staff to reduce risk by use of more concrete factors tolist in charting and by enhancing the odds for resident recoveryand/or the slowing of the process of deterioration.

15. Sophisticated physicians are increasingly applying these resultsto develop faster-acting and longer-lasting rehabilitative services and treatment programs that stand head-over-heels aboveyour nursing home peers in long term care.

16. Psychologists emphasize the least restrictive, safest, drug-free, mostcost-efficient treatment alternatives available leading to thembeing increasingly recruited to provide services to long termcare residents and being a factor in the numerous complimentsadministrators start getting from their bosses.

17. Dynamic Team-building. They will empower your nursing home care manytimes over because they are experts in facilitating cohesiveteam-work to generate results. They excel at working with teamsof other health care professionals in nursing homes and othercomprehensive rehabilitation facilities.

Dr. Michael Shery is the founder of Long Term Care Specialists in Psychology, a firmspecializing in consulting to the long term care industry regarding mental health programming. Its website, http://www.NursingHomes.MD, provides state-of-the-art mental health treatment, facility staffing and career information to long termcare professionals. Receive a copy of "How Strength-Embedded Counseling Reduces Depression in Long Term.

What Most Long Term Care Professionals Don?t Know

The decision to place your loved one into a nursing home is anextremely difficult decision, often causing much guilt for thecaregiver. It is a very emotional decision for most clients we see andmost are under a certain amount of stress, often great, when facing whatthey consider to be a drastic course of action.

I counsel ourcaregiver clients to get beyond the guilt as quickly as they can,because the situation their loved one is in is not the caregiver’sfault. And besides, the longer you remain under this stress, the lesshealthy you eat, or you eat way too much, the less you sleep, and somestart drinking (my own mother started this late at night after she gotmy dad settled in bed for the evening – not healthy to say the least).

The stress of caring for a loved one is constant and unrelenting. Itis a physical, mental and emotional grind. On numerous occasions, wehave actually had caregiver clients die before the spouse in the nursinghome. Sometimes, the caregivers die shortly after the nursing homespouse dies. The stress of being a caregiver can be deadly serious,especially for older clients who are caregivers for their spouse.

You have to recognize it and develop a plan to deal with it.

Get your children involved in developing a plan to deal with yourloved one’s incapacity. And remember, plan for the absolute worst casescenario. Get to an attorney who can help you develop a plan to help youwith your particular situation. And this is especially important as soonas you detect any signs of dementia in your parent or spouse, or as soonas you begin to detect physical problems with your loved one. The sooneryou begin the plan, the better off the family will be.

NOW, HOW DO WE PAY FOR MAMA’S NURSING HOME CARE? There arereally only three ways to pay for a stay in a nursing home.

LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE (LTCI). If Mama was far-sighted enough, shemay have purchased LTCI in the past before she needed it. This would bean excellent source of funds to help defray some or all of Mama’s longterm care costs. Unfortunately, very few seniors, those over age 60,have LTCI coverage.

SELF PAY. This essentially means that Mama has enough income orfinancial assets to pay her own way in the nursing home. However, manyfamilies don’t have the income or the financial asset base to be able topay $4,000 to $7,500 or more a month for a bed for very long in anursing home.

MEDICAID. This is a state-administered medical benefit program whichwill pay for the cost of a nursing home stay if three tests are met,i.e., medical need, asset, and income. Medicaid is obviously aneeds-based program, funded partially by state funds, but mostly byfederal funds. Many people are under the mistaken impression thatMEDICARE, which most seniors in this country over age sixty-fiveparticipate in to one degree or another, will cover the cost of theirstay in a nursing home.

(c) Copyright 2005 P.L.Fields LLC

P.L. Fields is a Medicaid Expert and President of SeniorStrategies, a service that helps seniors save time and money. Tolearn more about the secret strategies and solutions that Medicaidlawyers charge to get clients qualified for Medicaid, while protectingtheir assets, visit: http://www.medicaidsecrets.info

Strategies on Paying for Nursing Home Care and Medicaid

Every year, as Christmas approaches, you hear Christmas carols everywhere. Sometimes to the point where another Silent Night would make you want to silent the sound system.

Everyone is scrambling to buy Christmas gifts for everyone in a list that seems miles long. The queues to pay up and the queues for a parking lot seem endlessly long too.

Christmas cards are sent out to friends and family, some of whom you might not have seen for years.

Beautifully decorated christmas trees pop up every where. Buildings are dressed in lights, mistletoes, bells, and other Christmas decorations. Santa Claus, his elves and reindeer are seen every where. Kids get more and more excited as Christmas approach. Even grown ups prepare for the onslaught of Christmas partying during that time of the year. Party dresses are purchased. Everyone gets ready to dress to their nines.

In all this excitement, do you know what you are celebrating?

What is Christmas actually? It sometimes seems like a brillian invention of the toy makers to push sales of toys to all the parents around the world. A sales marketing ploy of the retail industry.

Actually, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Long ago, a little baby was born to a girl who was still a virgin. The baby was born in a manger, among the animals, yet angels proclaimed his birth. Wise men followed a star that marked his birth and presented him with precious gifts, to pay homage to him. It all seemed so beautifully sweet.. until you realise the reason why this child was born.

This baby was born to die. To be crucified on the cross while still in his prime. Killed alongside murderers, on the insistence of the crowds, even though he had not committed a crime… days after being welcomed into Jerusalem by crowds of people waving palm leaves, shouting Hosanna, praising him.

It was a gruesome death. He was whipped and then his body, all covered with blood, still a live, was nailed to a cross and left to die. Upon his death, the skies turned dark. There was an earthquake The curtain separating the holiest place in the temple in Jerusalem from the rest of the area was torn in two.

3 days later, his tomb was empty and the heavy stone was rolled away. His disciples and those close to him saw him. He spent time with them, ate with them, showing he was alive and not a ghost. Later, while talking to a crowd of people, he rose up in the sky disappeared into the clouds.

All this happened for a reason.

The first man and women, Adam and Eve disobeyed God. That was the first sin. From then on, every one of us sins. A tiny white lie, doing what we know we shouldn’t do… The penalty for sin is http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/overheads/pages/oh20021004_139.asp. The only one who did not sin is Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God. Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus. Jesus had to die on the cross to win forgiveness for anyone who chooses to accept his gift. The real Christmas gift.

Sounds far fetched? That’s why they are called miracles. Miracles are still happening today. All over the world. Check out http://www.lighthouse.org.sg/ which has miracle services every Saturday. You can read the pastor’s latest sermon each week there too.

A good resource that explains every detail of the Christmas story is http://www.answersingenesis.org/ Actually, that site explains the creation vs evolution theories, dinosaurs and a lot more.

So the next time the pressures of Christmas preparations drive you up the wall and you wish you could kill the person who invented Christmas, don’t worry. You already have.

The writer is the webmaster of http://www.christmas-giftshop.com/.

The Truth About Christmas

Finding the best nursing home is easier than you might think. That is assuming there is more than one nursing home in your area so that you have something to compare. The sad part is that the best nursing home is just the one that meets your expectations better than its competitors. That doesn’t mean it is a good nursing home, it might even mean that it just isn’t the worst.

A good source of information and feedback on local nursing homes is the attending physician for the residents. The staff at the physician’ office works closely with the nursing home staff scheduling appointments and transportation, prescribing medication, and treating ailments as well as serious medical conditions. We found the best nursing home for my grandfather from the recommendation of our cardiologist’s nurse.

One of the most valuable tools to compare nursing homes is a nursing home report you can get through Check My Nursing Home.com. This report will tell you about complaints against the nursing home, inspections of the nursing home, abuse and neglect cases, and other valuable feedback that potential residents need to be aware of.

This report is definitely a necessity, but the most valuable tool to compare nursing homes is personal interviews with residents, staff members, and family members. Remember when talking to residents and caregivers that we all compare things based on our own perceptions. For example, my grandfather is getting excellent care and unbelievable attention at his nursing home, but thinks he is being abused and neglected because the food is so bad.

Find out what the employees like and don’t like about their working environment and employer. The attitude and contentment of the staff will have a direct affect on the care and attention your loved one will receive. Compare nursing homes based on how good of an environment it is for nurses to work in, and you’ll get a clearer picture of how good of an environment it is for residents to live in. Ask questions like, “How often do you have to do someone else’s work that is not your job?” You’ll learn a lot about how work is managed, but most importantly, you’ll get a clearer picture of the attitude of the person you are interviewing. Do they have a resentful attitude or a cooperative one? Do they mind helping outside of their job descriptions, or do they see the staff as a team where everyone works together no matter what the task? These keys will give you a good indication of what is going to happen when your loved one needs help going to the potty when the nurse’s aide assigned to their room is busy with another resident.

Always ask specific questions to compare programs and care, such as “Tell me about your physical therapy routine, what exercises you do, and how often?” Asking, “How’s physical therapy here?” will only provide you with personal opinion. And even if the therapy is excellent-if the resident doesn’t like the PT nurse, you’re liable to get a negative response. My grandfather hates the resistance bands his physical therapist uses, and really feels stupid sitting there stretching rubber bands. If you asked him what he thought about physical therapy at his nursing home, you are going to get an earful of how it’s a useless waste of time. But if you specifically ask him what his physical therapy routine consists of and how often he has physical therapy, you’ll get some facts mixed in with the soap box venting.

So to compare nursing homes, visit them personally, ask lots of questions, and interview not only staff, but residents and their families as well. Once you have your choices narrowed down to one or two, order a report on the home to check out what is really happening behind the scenes. And once you’ve chosen the best nursing home, keep checking on them to make sure the care your loved one receives continues to meet your expectations and their needs.

Shannon Davis is a consumer advocate and freelance writer for the health care, http://www.checkmynursinghome.com” target=”_blank, and long term care industry. What does Shannon have to say about your local nursing home? Visit http://www.checkmynursinghome.com

Compare Nursing Homes

As a person ages, a certain amount of memory loss and confusion is quite normal. Personally, I’ve been known to invoke the clich

Several months ago, I was coming out of a gas station when a woman stopped me and asked me what I did for a living. On the back of our van is our web address. On the side wing windows is “Free Senior Home Placement.” I explained to her that I am a Long Term Care Consultant. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Great I need you!”

She went on to explain that her mother had fallen and was in the hospital. Her hip had been broken, and she was going to be discharged from the hospital in two days. She was going to require 24-hour care. To complicate matters her mother had been caring for her father who was unable to walk, or feed himself. Suddenly they found themselves in the middle of a crisis.

Families never expect to be in a situation like this. But situations like this happen all of the time. Here is a list of things families should do to be prepared for a crisis.

While your parents are still mentally cognizant discuss with them the kind of long-term options they would prefer. Discuss, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family homes, boarding homes, or in-home care.

Prepare a notebook that includes documentation, such as physicians phone numbers, attorney’s phone numbers, bank account information, ministers phone number, power of attorney documents, and their living will.

Educate yourself on the kinds of facilities that are available in your area, or where your parents live.

Contact your local department of social and health services, find out what resources that they have available if you should need financial support. Fill out the paperwork ahead of time, leaving the date and other time sensitive information blank.

Discuss some of these issues with your siblings before hand, so you do not have to deal with family dynamics in a crisis.

Visit facilities and discuss prices so you know what your parents are able to afford. (Note that when the time comes circumstances may be that they cannot live in the kind of facility that they would prefer, especially if they require heavier care than they had anticipated.)

Being unprepared when a crisis hits will leave you scrambling. If you have done a portion of the legwork before hand you can face the crisis before you with a measure of confidence. ~Dutchy

Renee “Dutchy” Reeves is an Elder Care Consultant with over 10 years of working with the elderly and their families. Her online advice column, “Ask Dutchy” provides practical ideas and advice for assisting the elderly with Alzheimer’s disease, Dementia, Parkinson’s, disability, and those needing long term care. See other articles by her at http://www.askdutchy.mycarelink.net

Prepare to Make Long-term Care Choices

If you’re 60 to 70 years old … or have a family member who is … then what you are about to discover could help prevent the complete erosion of your estate.

In fact, it’s probably the most important asset you could ever own. Let me explain why.

For over 24 years, I have helped hundreds of individuals understand and implement money saving ideas. From the birth of an innocent newborn to the demise of a crafty senior I’ve witnessed families in every financial situation imaginable.

As my clients age (and me along with them), I can tell you without hesitation the biggest fear of growing old is losing your ability to remain independent.

Although we are living longer, we are not necessarily living better.

Chronic disease is rampant … and it strikes with a vengeance when you least expect it.

How many people who have experienced a stroke knew it was going to happen to them?

How many anticipated that particular moment when they began to forget things?

The facts speak for themselves. Literally millions of Americans require long term care … either in nursing homes, day care centers, assisted living facilities or in their own homes.

And the cost of providing this care is outrageous with no end in sight.

Now, if you think it will never happen to you … I’m sorry. This article doesn’t try to convince anyone about the likelihood of their needing care before they die.

It’s meant for those who understand and appreciate the need to arm themselves with protection against the horrific expense of long term care.

In fact, this article is ideal for those who have already looked at traditional types of long term care policies and are trying to determine which type is best for them.

One of the biggest objections to buying a long term care policy is that if the benefit is never needed the premiums paid for the policy will be wasted.

This is somewhat like buying automobile insurance. You have to pay the premium in order to get your car repaired. But what if you never have an accident. Is that considered losing your premium?

Funny isn’t it? People hardly question paying for car insurance, but they frequently resist doing so for a long term care policy.

So… what if you could always get your premium back – guaranteed – if you never require any long term care?

And, what if you die before receiving long term care? Wouldn’t it be great if your loved ones could recover 100% of your premium expense?

How about this? You actually use up all of your long term care benefit. And then you die. What if your family could still get back 10 percent of your premium.

Now if you know anything about long term care policies you’re probably wondering why you haven’t heard of this type before.

One reason is because it is non-traditional and not included in the mainstream marketing of long term care policies.

Another is because it takes a large sum of money to buy the policy. $50,000 is typical and it’s a one-time single premium, which means you will never get stuck with a premium increase.

It is not uncommon for people between 60 and 70 to have large sums of money stashed away in bank CDs earning low interest. Kind of an emergency fund.

Transferring a portion of this fund into the policy makes sense because the money continues to earn interest. Besides, it usually pays more than the bank … plus, the policy interest is tax deferred.

It’s also common for people this age to have old life insurance policies with significant cash value.

Many times it’s possible to transfer the cash into the long term care policy and still retain a meaningful death benefit.

And the future long term care benefit could easily be worth over one million dollars.

This policy has a 90 day waiting period before benefits are paid. The length of the benefit can be as short as 4 years or as long as your lifetime. You can also get a 5% compound interest inflation protection rider to help keep up with the rising cost of care.

The name of this policy is MoneyGuard. It is a universal life insurance policy with a long term care rider. The issuing life insurance company is Lincoln Life, a subsidiary of Lincoln Financial Group.

By the way, this policy was initially developed by Penn-Pacific Life many years ago. They have years of experience and an excellent reputation. Lincoln recently bought Penn-Pacific.

Ask your life insurance agent to get you more information about this single premium policy. For the right situation it is absolutely the best guarantee in a long term care policy.

Don Adams is a 24 year veteran financial consultant who has helped hundreds of individuals solve a variety of problems related to money matters. More information is available at http://personal-finance-on-the-net.com

Introducing the Best Available Long Term Care Policy Guarantee