{"id":1031,"date":"2016-05-16T04:12:09","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T04:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/?p=1031"},"modified":"2016-05-16T04:12:09","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T04:12:09","slug":"theres-no-place-like-home-growing-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/2016\/05\/16\/theres-no-place-like-home-growing-old\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;There&#8217;s No Place Like Home&#8217; for Growing Old"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>\u201cThe stairs are getting so hard to climb.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n<em>\u201cSince my wife died, I just open a can of soup for dinner.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n<em>\u201cI\u2019ve lived here 40 years. No other place will seem like home.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>These are common issues for older people. And your aging loved one\u00a0might share the often-heard wish, \u201cI want to stay in my own home!\u201d The good news is that with the right help, they\u00a0can do just that.<\/p>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2016\/05\/78628297-1-1024x674.jpg\" alt=\"There's No Place Like Home For Growing Old\" width=\"375\" height=\"247\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1033\" \/>What do you\u00a0do first?<\/h2>\n<p>Planning ahead is hard because you never know how your loved one&#8217;s needs might change. But, the first step is to think about the kinds of help they\u00a0might want in the near future. Maybe they\u00a0live alone, so there is no one living there\u00a0who is available to help them. Maybe they\u00a0don\u2019t both need help right now, but only one of them\u00a0does.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone has a different situation, but one way to begin planning is to look at any illnesses like diabetes or emphysema that one of your loved ones\u00a0might have. Talk to their\u00a0doctor about how these health problems could make it hard for someone to get around or take care of them\u00a0in the future. Help getting dressed in the morning, fixing a meal, or remembering to take medicine may be all they\u00a0need right now to stay in their\u00a0own home.<\/p>\n<h2>What kinds of help can you\u00a0get?<\/h2>\n<p>You can get almost any type of help you want for your aging loved ones in their\u00a0home. The following list includes some common things people need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2016\/05\/FLHC-8-2.jpg\" alt=\"Laundry\" width=\"250\" height=\"375\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1034\" \/>Personal care.<\/strong> Is bathing, washing their\u00a0hair, or dressing getting harder for your aging loved ones to do? Maybe a relative or friend could help.\u00a0You can\u00a0also hire a trained caregiver from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FirstLight Home Care &#8212; South Sound<\/a>\u00a0for a short time each day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Homemaking.<\/strong> Do your loved ones need help with chores like housecleaning, yard work, grocery shopping, or laundry? These are all services that can be performed by FirstLight&#8217;s certified caregivers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meals.<\/strong> Worried that your loved ones might not be eating nutritious meals or are tired of eating alone? Sometimes they\u00a0could share cooking with a friend or have a potluck dinner with a group of friends. Also, meal delivery programs can bring hot meals into their\u00a0home. \u00a0FirstLight caregivers can also prepare meals that ensure your loved ones are eating properly, including following any dietary restrictions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Money management.<\/strong> Do you worry about your aging parents&#8217;\u00a0bills getting paid late or not at all? Are health insurance claim forms confusing to them? Maybe you can get them help with these tasks. Ask a trusted relative to lend a hand. Volunteers, financial counselors, or geriatric care managers can also help. Just make sure you get the referral from a trustworthy source, like your local Area Agency on Aging. You can also have\u00a0their regular bills, like utilities and rent or mortgage, paid automatically from their checking account.Help them be careful to avoid money scams. Make sure they never\u00a0give our their\u00a0Social Security numbers, credit card account numbers, or bank account numbers to someone on the phone or in response to an email.Even though they\u00a0might not need it now, help them think about giving someone they\u00a0trust permission to discuss bills with creditors or Social Security or Medicare benefits with those agencies. Or, they\u00a0could give overall permission to handle a variety of legal matters in the form of a durable power of attorney. \u201cDurable\u201d means the permission remains in effect if they\u00a0cannot make decisions, but they\u00a0can also change the power of attorney or cancel it at any time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Health care.<\/strong> Do your aging loved ones forget to take their\u00a0medicine? FirstLight offers devices that\u00a0remind them\u00a0when it is time for their\u00a0next dose.\u00a0These special pill boxes allow you or someone else to set out their\u00a0pills for an entire month.Has a loved one\u00a0just gotten out of the hospital and still needs nursing care at home for a short time? The hospital discharge planner can help you make arrangements, including\u00a0a\u00a0FirstLight caregiver\u00a0to come to their\u00a0home. \u00a0If they\u00a0can\u2019t remember what the doctor told them\u00a0to do, the FirstLight caregiver can\u00a0go to the\u00a0doctor visits with them. They will\u00a0write down everything your loved one is\u00a0supposed to do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Where can you\u00a0look for help?<\/h2>\n<p>Here are some resources to start with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>People you or they know.<\/strong> Family, friends, and neighbors are the biggest source of help for many older people. Talk with those close to you and them about the best way to get what\u00a0they\u00a0need. Often, services can be traded with a friend or neighbor. One could do the grocery shopping, and the other could cook dinner, for example.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Community and local government resources<\/strong>. Learn about the services found in your community. Healthcare providers and social workers may have suggestions. The local Area Agency on Aging, local and State offices on aging or social services, and your tribal organization may have lists of services of services. If you belong to a religious group, talk to the clergy, or check with its local offices about any senior services they offer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geriatric care managers.<\/strong> These specially trained professionals can help find resources. They will work with you to form a long-term care plan and find the services your loved ones\u00a0need. They will charge for this help, and their fees probably won\u2019t be covered by any insurance plan. Geriatric care managers can be very helpful when you\u00a0live far apart from your aging loved ones. If asked, they will check in with your parents\u00a0from time to time to make sure their\u00a0needs haven\u2019t changed.<\/li>\n<li><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2016\/05\/FL16-1.jpg\" alt=\"FirstLight Home Care\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1036\" \/>FirstLight Home Care.<\/strong>\u00a0 The professional caregivers from FirstLight are licensed and trained to assist with personal care, as well as running errands, cooking healthy meals, housekeeping, transportation to activities, providing medication reminders, and more \u2014 customized to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/helping-seniors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">whatever your aging loved one needs<\/a> to live at home\u00a0with dignity and respect.Our goal at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FirstLight Home Care &#8212; South Sound<\/a> is the same as yours \u2014 to help your loved ones enjoy the best quality of life, on their\u00a0terms, in the comfort of their\u00a0own home and for as long as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><em>Source:\u00a0National Institute on Aging<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe stairs are getting so hard to climb.\u201d \u201cSince my wife died, I just open a can of soup for dinner.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve lived here 40 years. No other place will seem like home.\u201d These are common issues for older people. And your aging loved one\u00a0might share the often-heard wish, \u201cI&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":1033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-legal","category-home-care"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}