Transition Aging Parents

 Transition Aging Parents

Your source of insight and information to help your aging parents "thrive and find joy" in every stage of their life!

 

Bi-Weekly Ezine Issue  April 4, 2010 Volume 2 Issue 7

(This Ezine is published bi-weekly on Sundays.  You are on our list because you signed up for it at TransitionAgingParents.com.  To change your subscription, see link at the end of this email)

---> To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course, "5 Essential Strategies for Helping Your Aging Parent Face Change", visit my website at http://www.transitionagingparents.com

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A Note from Dale  

 

 Hello!  Hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed time with family.  Let's get right to the issue!

In today's ezine, I'm sharing a comparison of 3 of the top "Personal Emergency Response Systems" (PERS) on the market.  The good news is each of these offer "automatic" fall detection. In our Media Review, I highlight a new movie, "Almost Home", about the transformation of a nursing home from a medical model to a patient-centered model.   

And, here are a couple of special features this issue...

We ask you to complete a short survey about your preferences in communication with care providers.   There is an excellent solution available for care providers to update and communicate with families.  As the company (Tutela) looks to build upon its original offering, it is seeking feedback from "you".  Thank you!

And, last but not least, be sure to check out the new line-up of guests/interviews for BlogTalkRadio's Transition Aging Parents show. I look forward to my interviews with the author of a unique caregiving book; founders of a new relief fund for caregivers and an expert on VA pension benefits.  I hope their insights will help you and your aging parent!  Listen live or later via the archived recordings.

 As always, my best wishes to you and your parent(s) as you journey together,

 

Dale Carter...  (my apologies for the formatting problems in this issue!)

 

PS: Welcome to all my new subscribers!  I am so very grateful to have you as part of our Transition Aging Parents community. I think you'll love the information, tips, and inspiration you'll be receiving!

 

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."  ~Mother Teresa

 

(Note:  If there is a topic, resource or person that you would like me to highlight in future issues, please write to me at dale.carter@transitionagingparents.com)

 

 

Featured Article -

 

 "How to Choose the Right Fall Protection Device for Your Aging Parent"

While the three leading Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) products have distinct differences, each now offers "automatic" fall detection.  The wearer does not need to push a button to notify the system of a fall.  That, in and of itself, is a big advance in this type of product.  Why?  When an older adult falls, they can become unconscious, disoriented or unable to push a button.

 The CDC tells us, "More than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year in the United States.  Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma".  When you consider these statistics, you realize what an important safety measure these fall detection devices are!

The three products are offered by Philips, Wellcore and Halo Monitoring.  I will not discuss pricing options because they can vary due to factors, including location.   My understanding is that the pricing is competitive, so I suggest you focus instead on the features important to you and your loved one.

Philips:

1.  How Philips Lifeline works: Pendant (worn around the neck) has a push button, and optional auto-alert.  The auto-alert feature is based on multiple sensors that monitor activity and can differentiate between normal activity and a fall.  If a fall is detected, the Lifeline Response center will try to contact the wearer.  If they can't, they send emergency services to the wearer's home, and the center also contacts a designated family member or neighbor.

2. Considerations

1. No coverage away from home and the base unit.

2. If the pendant is not worn, there is no alert.  The only alert would be if wearer does not respond to the call center test once every 30 days.

3. Link to short demonstration and vendor website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUr7-_ISlHU; http://www.lifelinesys.com/content/home

 

Wellcore:

1. How it works:

1. The Wellcore system ncludes a base unit, personal activity monitor (can be clipped on) and an Emergency Call Center.  The "personal activity monitor" automatically detects a fall and alerts the Call Center (or the wearer can push a button.)  The Call Center sends emergency services to the home, and contacts a designated family member or neighbor.

2. Additional functionality

1. When used with a Wellcore compatible cell phone, the monitor functions away from the home/base unit.  Wellcore can use the cell phone to pinpoint location and send help.

2. If the wearer forgets to put the monitor on, a message is sent to the base unit.  If those messages go unanswered, Wellcore notifies a designated family member or neighbor.

3. Includes an online display with secure access (for designated family member/caregiver) which displays activity trends.

4. Includes "text to speech" message that is sent to the base unit.  This is a way for family members to leave messages that can be heard later by the senior pressing a button on the base unit
3. Link to short demonstration and vendor website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgnE7zPhYNw&feature=youtube_gdata ; http://wellcore.com/

 

HaloMonitoring

1.  How it works: There is a base unit.  The "myHalo Clip" can be worn at the belt or top of pants.  The "myHalo Complete" (with the added benefit of vitals monitoring) is worn as a chest strap or undergarment and is invisible under outer clothing.  All vitals are displayed on a secure website (to designated family member) while alerts are delivered via text message, e-mail or a phone call from their Call Center.

2. Additional functionality.

1. Includes an online display with secure access (for designated family member/neighbor)

2. Includes delivery of alerts via text messages, email or a phone call from the MyHalo Call Center.

3. Consideration: No coverage away from home and the base unit.

4. Link to short demonstration and product website: http://www.halomonitoring.com/support/myhalo-clip-demonstration-video

If I were seeking a PERS for my elderly mother, I would first carefully consider the functionality that she needed.  Then, I'd discuss the choices with her primary care physician.  Then, and only then, I'd contact the vendor of choice and inquire about availability (by location), initial cost, monthly cost and contract required.

Technology will continue to change over the coming years. The important thing is to make an informed choice and take action.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Falls/adultfalls.html

 

Media Review -

 

A friend (Brenda Torres) told me about the film "Almost Home".  If you have any connection with a nursing home (have a relative there, work or volunteer there), I encourage you to watch the film clips on the website below.  And, consider sharing the information about the film with the nursing home administration.

Nursing homes in our country generally follow a medical model, meaning they operate very much like hospitals do.  But, this film offers another way, something called the patient-centered model. 

The film features Saint John's on the Lake in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a retirement community (independent living, assisted living and nursing home) reinventing its 135-year old operation.  "The visionaries behind this culture-change ...seek to tear down traditional walls between residents, staff, and families and to replace the stigma of nursing homes as institutions of boredom and despair to a vision of 'community' where people live rich and full lives."  It is not easy.  As you'll see in the film clips, those initiating change face skeptical managers, resistant nurses, overworked and underpaid CNAs and complacent residents and families used to being excluded.

I hope you will watch a couple of the film clips and then pass this information along.  We can change the nursing home environment, one nursing home at a time! to 

be in one

http://www.almosthomeoutreach.org/about_the_film (be sure to scroll down to see the list of film clips)

 Survey - Need your input about communication with Care providers!

 

If you've taken my E-course, you know I feel very strongly about effective communication with your parent and family.  Just as important is communication with your parent's care providers.  If your parent is in Assisted Living or a Nursing Home, you realize how much it means to know how your parent is doing each day. 

There is a company that is trying to make that happen with their solution, Tutela Connect.  Care providers (in assisted living, nursing homes, home care, adult day services or independent senior communities) can use Tutela Connect to provide daily updates and communicate with their residents' families (via a secure website.) 

Please complete this short survey, sharing your thoughts about communication with care providers.  Tutela will use this survey in their effort to expand their current product and ultimately benefit senior residents, their families and care providers.

Tutela leadership writes, "if they can help advance positive, meaningful change, then we count that as a success".  Pretty amazing that this section follows our "Media Review" in which I discussed a culture of change in nursing homes!!!

Please be a part of this culture change and take Tutela's short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ ZH3LH82 

(Complete the survey by April 23^rd.  You'll have the option to win a $20 Amazon.com gift card.)

Tutela's website: http://tutelaconnect.com/ 

 

 

BlogTalkRadio April Line-up

I'm excited to share our list of guests and topics this month.  I hope you can join us live.  If not, catch the archived recording at your convenience.   http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dalec

 

April 6^th:  Join me and my guest,  Margery Pabst (author of Enrich Your Caregiving Journey) as she shares compelling stories of caregivers and tips on how we can navigate caregiving without losing ourselves and our joy in life.   

April 13^th: Join me, Ryan Whitmore and Michael Lindenmayer, founders of the Caregiver Relief Fund. Listen in to learn how this new social venture reaches out and helps caregivers in need.

April 20^th: Rita Files joins me to share her comprehensive knowledge and experience in the area of VA pension benefits for vets and their spouses.

 

Forward to a Friend

 

Feel free to share this issue with friends and family, and invite them to subscribe.  I will never share email addresses with anyone.  And, folks can unsubscribe at any time.

 

 

 Note about Dale

 

Dale Carter is wife, mother of 3 grown children, and long-distance caregiver to her elderly mother.  She is a former educator and university IT consultant.  In the spring of 2008, a major life experience (helping her elderly mother through a health/life crisis) changed the course of Dale's life work. 

 

Dale created "Transition Aging Parents" as a way to share her experience and reach out to other adult children of aging parents.  She provides insight and shares information to help adult daughters and sons ensure their aging parents "thrive and find joy" in every stage of life.  

 

Her goal is two-fold: to serve as a resource for adult children as they help their aging parents through the many transitions in aging AND to highlight this time in their journey together as one of joy, renewed bonds and reflection of lives well-lived.

 

© 2010 Transition Aging Parents. All Rights Reserved.

 

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Dale Carter, founder of Transition Aging Parents, is dedicated to providing insight and information to adult children of aging parents so their parents may "thrive and find joy" in every stage of life. To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course and receive her bi-weekly articles on resources, options, and new innovations for aging parents, visit http://www.transitionagingparents.com

 

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