Meeting with VA for Fudiciary Account Posponed a Week

Happy Saturday to all,

Our meeting with the VA rep to set up mom's fiduciary account was suppose to be yesterday. The rep called in sick so now the meeting is set for next Friday 2/19/2016. I was disappointed as I hoped to have information to share with you on how the process works, but this extra week with give you more time to send in your questions about VA Aid and Attendance Benefits. You can use the link at bottom of article or you can email me at ruthann@palcaregivers.com.

Hope to hear from some more of you as this is a great chance to get you questions answered by a expert, the rep, not me.....


Until Next Time
Take Care
Ruth Anne

Tomorrow is VA Meeting Remember to Send Me any Questions

Just a quick reminder, I am meeting with the VA rep in the morning to set up Fiduciary Account. If you have any question you want me to ask her about anything related to Aid and Attendance Benefits send them to me before 9am eastern time Friday the 12. 

I will try and get answers for you.

Staying on Task When You Work From Home, How Do You Do it?

Hi All,

Hope today was a great day for you. Today I feel like I am in a rut. You know doing the same thing over and over again. Well that is how today was. Not sure why the feeling comes on as it does, but every now and then I just can't shake it.

As caregivers we do have a routine and so we repeat the same tasks day in and day out.  It's a must for us when caring for a loved one or a client. Now that mom is in an Adult Family Care Home I do not have the same schedule I had a few months ago, but I still try to keep a routine up. I have my little lady I visit and care for several times a week and I go and see mom on a regular basis, but I do work from home and that is a challenge for me. I would like to know how others deal with the challenge of working from home. Either as a caregiver or in another business. How do you stay on task?

I am trying to set goals for each day, and checking them off when completed. I also try and not let house work or other personal things interrupt my work, but that is one thing that is really hard for me. It's so easy to throw a load of laundry in the wash, then clean up the kitchen, you know house stuff. 

So how do you stay on track? I would love to hear your ideas for this challenge.

Until Next Time
Take Care
Ruth Anne 

94 Year old Abused By Caregiver. How to Hire the Right Caregiver

Hi everyone,

Hope you are doing well today. Monday I posted about how the weather here in Michigan was so mild this winter, I spoke to soon.....Now it's snowed and by the weekend it's going to only be 9 yes I said 9 so winter is not done yet. 

My post today about how to hire the right caregiver for your loved one was prompted by something I saw on TV Tuesday . Just as I was leaving the Adult Foster Home where my client lives I caught a glimpse of the show Right This Minute. The show was airing a clip about  a caregiver who was caught on camera abusing her 94 year old dementia client.  It is quite disturbing. I will provide you a link however I must warn you watching it is hard and very unpleasant. 

Because this is not a random case unfortunately, it got me thinking about how do you go about finding the right caregiver. Although we try to care for our loved ones ourselves, that is often just not possible for us to do on our own, so we turn to outside help to accomplish the job. Wanting only the best for our loved ones we should use caution when hiring someone to come into our home. We all know we should do background checks and check references but here are a few things you may not think to do.

Meeting With VA For Fiduciary Account This Week

Hello Everyone, 

Well the Super Bowl is over tomorrow is Fat Tuesday and the weather is still not that bad here in Michigan. All this means we are marching ever forward toward spring...hooray !

This week we finally will be meeting with the person from the VA to set up the fiduciary account for my mother's Aid and Attendance Benefits. Now mind you she has been getting monthly benefits since June of last year so that tells you how far behind the VA is in getting stuff done. 

For those of you who are working with the VA setting up a fiduciary account may be in your future too. Just what is a fiduciary and why do we need to go through this process? I will try and explain to the best of my knowledge.

When we applied for mom's benefits she was, because of her dementia, deemed unable to manage her finances by the VA. We already knew this as she no longer could remember to even ask about her finances which was quite a change for her. All her life she was sharp as a tack when it came to money. She worked hard and saved her money wisely. She knew where her money was and when things came due etc... Because of her failing eyesight myself or my sister have been helping her with her bills for years but she always knew exactly what was what. Then about a year and a half ago she just stopped showing interest in it. By this time she was living at my sisters and my sister was a signer on her accounts so I guess mom knew in her mind everything was taken care of. 

Adult Family Care Homes What Does Your State Call Them?

Hello Everyone,

Well yesterday it was 50 here and today it's snowing, but that's Michigan for you! 

I know many of you have been following my posts and I thank you for that. If you have you know I have talked a lot about Adult Family Care Homes. This is the type of home my mom is in. Let me describe it for you. It's a beautiful home in beautiful wooded area. The family that runs the home lives there. They use the upstairs of the home as their residence and have a beautiful lower level walk out that is designed for the seniors they care for. The house is licensed  by the state of Michigan to take up to 6 residents. Similar home are set up for residents only and the owner does not live there, caregivers are hired for round the clock care. 

The nice thing about these homes, I have seen many of them, is that it's like a family. The residents who have dementia benefit greatly from these homes because they do not have to get use to different caregivers all the time and because the area is smaller they get use to the layout and routine easily. My mom is doing wonderfully at her new home.

What I was wondering is what other states call these type of homes. I know some call them Board and Care Homes, however with the inconsistency of terms when it comes to senior care across the US I was hoping some of my readers could help me put together a list of states and the term they use for these homes. 

If you are in a state other than Michigan and know what your state calls these homes I would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment at the bottom or email me at ruthanne@palcaregivers.com

I am off to help a fellow caregiver find a home for her mom. If you need any help let me know. I will do what I can to assist you. 

Until Next Time
Take Care
Ruth Anne

How To Chose The Right Assisted Living Facility For a Loved One

Hello Everyone and welcome to February 2016. 

The time just seems to be going by so fast. It's a beautiful day here in Michigan sunny and on the warm side for this time of year. My daughter just left to go home and we both commented it looks like spring outside. But don't be fooled there is plenty of winter left. Ground hog day is tomorrow and we should know what old man winter has left in him for this year, if you think old Mr. Ground Hog knows his stuff.

I was thinking today about the hard decision we often have to face with regards to a loved one. The decision to move them to assisted living. I know how hard it is to make this important decision because recently my sister and I wrestled with it ourselves. If you follow my blog you know that in the fall we moved my mother to an Adult Family Home. Previously she had lived with myself for 9 years and more recently with my sister. It took us a couple of months to finally decide it was the right thing for all involved and several visits to varying types of facilities before we settled on one.

With the wide variety of facilities available, how do you know which one is right for your loved one? There are some things to consider when making your decision. These are the things that came into play for us.

Sending Warm Thoughts To Those Affected By Weather and To My Neighbors In Flint Michigan

Hello Everyone,

It's a rather warm Sunday Evening here in Michigan for January 31. It got up to 50 degrees today, but rainy. This weather has sure been crazy. I want to say to all those who were affected by the bad weather last week that I hope things are getting back to normal for you, and that you are now doing well. 

We Make  Made Cars!

For those in Flint Michigan about only 35 minutes north of us, I want to say we at Palcaregivers care about you. We know that many of you in Flint face the same challenges as the rest of the population in our society, when it comes to caring for older loved ones and now you have an added challenge. A horror that none of us in our day and age should have to even think about, finding safe drinking water. 

Does a Person's Gender Make Them A Better Caregiver? Male or Female?

Hello Everyone,

Recently while reading on a cargiving forum I frequent, the question was raised " How is the situation different when the caregiver is the husband". It was suggested that men are usually not raised from childhood to nurture and that they may need help to be a successful caregiver. This got me thinking about how times have changed. The one comment made by another forum member was to the effect that this was an old concept, and I must say after much thought I have to agree. 

In generations past the line between the sexes was very well defined. Women where raised to be wives and mothers, to stay home with the children and as the posters said be the primary nurturer. The men were raised to be the strong ones, the bread winners and to keep their emotions in check. When a loved one became ill such as a parent or grandparent it was usually the woman who stepped in to care for them. If a wife became ill many times a sister or other female relative would care for her or the husband would place her in a nursing home. That was then this is now.