This Friday’s Favorite Feature is Contact Groups. We understand keeping track of contacts can be complicated if you have a lot of them. Luckily, RememberItNow! makes it easy for you to keep track of contact information for medical professionals, caregivers, pharmacies, labs, insurance companies and more. (more…)
Have you ever come across an inspirational quote that brightened up your day a little? Or maybe you were leafing through a magazine and stumbled upon an interesting fact you wish you could share with friends. (more…)
Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
What does this have to do with our recent report on long-distance care and employee health care costs? Well, when Self Funded Magazine decided to publish our report, “Care Giving from the Office“, we thought it was a great thing! (more…)
Written by, Celeste Bowen, RN, BSN
If your childhood memories do not include radios that broadcast from a box or TV’s that only produced pictures in black, white or some varied shade of gray, your consciousness likely bloomed in an era after Walter Cronkite was an evening ritual. The members of that pivotal generation not only lived a different lifestyle but experienced it with eyes and ears tuned to an entirely different way of thinking. (more…)
They are easily woken by the slightest noise, and cannot fall back asleep. Frequent trips to the bathroom, and long naps during the day can keep them awake as well. Although naps feel great and are a great way to deal with boredom, they interfere with a good nights sleep.
Poor sleep patterns can lead to health problems in the elderly. Seniors that do not sleep well are more likely to get sick, be exhausted, be grumpy, have memory problems and experience a flare up of chronic health problems. (more…)
Book Review: Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out
Whether you are caring for someone who has Alzheimer’s or have been diagnosed yourself, Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out, will enrich your knowledge and help you to understand how an Alzheimer’s patient sees and thinks about things.
The author, Richard Taylor was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at age 61. A former psychologist, Richard courageously shares an account of his slow transformation and deterioration and the growing division between his world and the world of others.
With poignant clarity, candor, and even occasional humor, more than 80 brief essays address difficult issues faced by those with Alzheimer’s disease, including:
* the loss of independence and personhood
* unwanted personality shifts
* communication difficulties
* changes in relationships with loved ones and friends
* the declining ability to perform familiar tasks
This rare, insightful exploration into the world of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is a captivating read for anyone affected personally or professionally by the devastating disease. The writings reinforce the fact that there IS someone inside a person with dementia, a human being first and foremost, that deserves to be treated respectfully and is worth the trouble of doing what it takes to communicate with effectively.
You can order Richard’s excellent book from Amazon.com right here. >>>
RememberItNow! helps you coordinate care for someone you love. But where do you find the caregivers to coordinate? How do you know what kind of care you really need? What will it cost? Who can help you, help your parents?
A GoldenHand can.
Recently we met with Richard Wexler, the CEO of A GoldenHand, a company that will help you prepare for the inevitable day when an aging parent needs help.
Richard founded A GoldenHand to help families pre-plan and manage the Golden Years. His experienced staff helps you to preplan for the possibility that you or your parent might be struck with a stroke, heart attack, cancer or some other health crisis and require assisted living care.
While Richard emphasizes the importance of preplanning as it saves time, money and a great deal of stress, his care consultants have access to all the resources you need in an emergency situation, including assisted living facilities, in-home care, meal delivery services, pharmaceutical consultations.
I started RememberItNow! because I realized that very soon, I’d need to help my father continue to live his life as independently as possible. It was a hard reality for me to face, because as I child I saw my father as invincible. Richard’s pre-plan services not only help you when a medical crisis arises, but will help you buy back time. To learn more, visit www.agoldenhand.com today.
Thanks to all the hard work our PR team has done (me), RememberItNow! has had some more luck in getting coverage! For those of you who live in the San Francisco East Bay area, you might be familiar with Diablo Magazine.
If you’re not familiar with Diablo Magazine, I’ll fill you in. It’s one of the most chic and popular publications from the Tri Valley area to the Berkeley Hills.
We were so excited to see RememberItNow! spotlighted in the famous “Speak of the Devil” section, because we really wanted to showcase our success with local friends and family.
It was even more pleasing to see Diablo Mag advise readers to consider our eHealth service if they are worried about their loved one’s health.
“Do you worry whether your dad took his heart pills? Well, worry no more, since the creation of RememberItNow!…”
Read more from this article here, “A Healthy Reminder” and let us know what you think!
How RememberItNow! Gives Grandma a Break and Mom Peace-of-Mind
As the primary caregiver for my grandpa, my grandmother is frequently overwhelmed. For several years my entire family has tried to get her to hire some help, but she would shrug and say, “I would rather just take care of Grandpa myself.” Of course, this really took a toll on her own wellness.
When she did get some help, she complained that it was more time consuming for her to explain all the new medications, stats, and directions to a new caregiver.
When I introduced RememberItNow! to her, she wasn’t too sure. But within a few weeks, she decided I knew what I was doing. Having all of Grandpa’s information in one place means that she doesn’t have to explain the routine to new caregivers, or dig up contacts and website links. And it means my mother and I can help her keep an eye on Grandpa’s care from wherever we are.
One of the features of RememberItNow! she loves is the Health Journal. She uses it to coordinate care and provide instructions for the day.
Grandma even moved the computer to the living room so that the caregiver has quick access to it. When a caregiver arrives they log in. Here’s how an entry looks to start:
Notice where the red arrow is pointing above. The Journal’s time stamp on each entry makes it easy for someone like my grandmother to keep track of a caregiver’s hours, and it ensures punctuality as an extra bonus.
The care giver simply logs in, makes an entry of her or his arrival, looks at the activities scheduled for the day, and continues on with their work.
One of the responsibilities Grandpa’s caregiver has is to record his blood sugar and blood pressure during the day. They record the readings, his overall wellness, and significant events in the journal during the day.
The journal gives Grandma a sense of control and freedom. It makes it easy for her to leave instructions, and to have a history of activity. She knows everything the caregiver needs to help Grandpa can be found within RememberItNow! And, when she gets home, she has a record of the days activities.
My mother often logs in from work during the day to check on things. She can see all the important items right from the dashboard.
RememberItNow! gives my mother peace-of-mind, knowing that grandma can get out for a bit or get some much need sleep during the night. Mom can now do a checkup on things without going by the house. Most important, RememberItNow! helps to keep grandpa healthier. Happy holidays to all the grandpas out there, and especially my “avo” (Portuguese for grandpa 
.
A recent report conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP provides a comprehensive portrait of family caregivers today in the United States.
What is amazing is the number of people who act as unpaid caregivers. In the past 12 months, an estimated 65.7 million people in the U.S. have served as unpaid family caregivers to an adult or a child. The Caregiving in the U.S. 2009 report is packed with research. Here are a few of the findings:
* Eighty-six percent of caregivers provide provide care for a relative, 36% care for a parent and 14% care for their own child.
* The main reasons people need care are old age (12%), Alzheimer’s disease (10%), mental/emotional illness (7%), cancer (7%), heart disease (5%) and stroke (5%).
* On average, caregivers spend 20.4 hours per week providing care.
* 90% of caregivers say their recipient takes prescription medications.
* 68% of caregivers for an adult receive help from one other unpaid caregiver.
New technologies such as RememberItNow! offer great promise for facilitating some of the responsibilities that caregivers’ shoulder and more generally to improve the care for their recipients. Nearly half of caregivers say they are already using some type of technology to provide care. An electronic organizer/calendar is the most frequently used technology. Here’s a breakdown:
