Interactive Caregiving from Comfort keepers Senior Care in Troy, MO

There was a study done in Chicago recently that showed that staying socially active may help prevent the onset of symptoms in Alzheimer’s. What this means is, if we keep our elderly parents engaged in life mentally, physically, emotionally and socially there is a good chance that we can keep them in their own homes for a longer period of time.
Many seniors with Alzheimer’s have a tendency to isolate themselves and have lost the ability to reach out to family and friends for their social needs. Friends and even family may stop visiting so often, or be so taken up with caring for basic physical needs that they may not recognize the need for social and mental activity. Even if we, as family members, recognize the need, we may not be able to do much about it because of restraints of time and distance.

Here at Comfort Keepers we can assist families with these needs, as well as your loved ones physical needs and safety, we call it Interactive Caregiving. Caregiving should be more than just cooking, cleaning and assisting with personal care, we take everyday activities and transform them into opportunities to communicate with and engage our clients. If you would like to know more about Interactive Caregiving please take the time to read our online brochure or if you’re in the St. Louis, St. Charles or Troy, MO area call us at 314-288-0054.

Interactive Caregiving

Long Distance Caregiving from Comfort Keepers Senior Care in Troy, MO

Living a thousand miles away from my elderly parents I can identify with the woman telling the story about her aging loved ones in this article. It's not always feasible or desirable to move your senior loved one closer to you or for you to move closer to them. Keeping in touch by telephone and trying to solve the problems long distance can be very stressful and traveling back and forth can get very expensive. If you are caring for a loved one from a distance an agency such as Comfort Keepers can help. An agency such as ours can be your eyes and ears. We can help with most of the things you aren't able to do from a distance. Making sure your loved ones are eating, taking their meds and getting to doctor appointments. We will also be able to let you know if there are other problems that need to be addressed.

Poor Medication Management Can Harm Seniors from Comfort Keepers Elderly Care in Troy, MO

When our loved ones do not take their medications properly or at all it can harm them in many ways. Over or under medication, or not following directions taking it can lead to unnecessary hospitalizations and even death. Using several pharmacies to get better prices or just because it was convenient at the time can cause drug interactions.

Up to 10 percent of all admissions into long term care and/or assisted living facilities are because the client was unable to self-medicate. Adverse drug reactions are also considered to be the 4th leading cause of death among the elderly.

Comfort Keepers Home Care of the St. Louis, St. Charles and Lincoln County areas in Missouri can help. Starting with our new Daily Meds program that will package your elder loved ones medications in packets with instructions on what day and time to take it. This is mailed to the home monthly.

We also offer a Safety Choice Medication Dispenser which organizes, reminds, dispenses and tracks delivery of up to 40 days of prescribed drugs. It can alert the elder that medications are due and warns when they have not been dispensed.

We also, of course, offer our wonderful caregivers, who can help with many other things as well as remind your loved one when to take their medication.

Resource: The elderly face the dangers of poor medication management

You can call us at: 314-288-0054

Long Distance Caregiving from Comfort Keepers Senior Care in Troy, MO

I moved a thousand miles away from my parents years ago. Actually Mapquest says it's 978 miles but who's counting? I call them at least once a week and so far everything is usually fine. I do have a brother that lives much closer and he is available in case something went wrong. But what if he wasn't? What if I were an only child, or my siblings lived even further away? Some elderly loved ones will also not tell you if anything is wrong because you "live so far away" or they "don't want to worry you". The following article gives some good tips on how to tell if there is a problem or not.

Long Distance Caregiving

If you are a long distance caregiver with parents in the St. Louis, St Charles or Lincoln County Area give Comfort Keepers a call at 314-288-0054.

Background Checks are Important from Comfort Keepers Senior Care in Troy, MO

There are a lot of pitfalls to hiring someone from an advertisement or even from an agency that doesn't do background screening. The link I have included below is only one of them. Here at Comfoprt Keepers Elderly Care all iof our caregivers are our employees, they've been thoroughly screened and are bonded and insured. Making sure this is the case with the agency you use could save you the problems this woman had with her mother's caregiver.

Worker's theft shines light on elder abuse

Why Pay the Extra for an Agency? from Comfort Keepers Senior and Elderly Care in Troy, MO

There are many good reasons to hire an agency instead of an individual. It may seem more expensive than hiring your best friends, neighbor's niece but it can end up saving you a lot of money and trouble in the long run. I just found this article that explains it all much better than I

Research to find in-home caregivers

Stopping Elder Abuse in Troy, MO from Comfort Keepers Senior Care

Learning to recognise elder abuse is the first step towards stopping it. Abuse takes many forms from physical to financial. Even those we most trust can be the ones abusing our aging parents. Any reputable home care agency does background checks on their employees to gaurd against abuse. Here at Comfort Keepers Senior Care in Troy, MO we go the extra step above and beyond what the state of Missouri requires. I found this article that is very thorough in explaining the different forms of elderly abuse as well as what you can do if you suspect it is happening to an aging friend or relative.



Elder Abuse: Types, Signs, Symptoms, Risk Factors, and Prevention

Preventing Caregiver Burnout in Troy, MO Courtesy of Comfort Keepers Senior Care

In my job here at Comfort Keepers Senior and Elderly Care I have seen families under a lot of stress trying to care for a loved one. Many times they don't get outside help until the situation becomes detrimental for both the family caregiver and the loved one they are caring for. Caregiving puts a lot of stress both mentally and physically on the caregiver and can lead to them becoming ill also. It can also to lead to making mistakes in the care of the loved one and even to neglect or abuse. Hiring outside help, such as we provide at Comfort Keepers here in Troy, MO, can help and allows the family caregiver to spend quality time with the loved one. Here is an article I found about preventing caregiver burnout.
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Preventing Caregiver Burnout
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Taxes, the IRS and Hiring a Private Duty Caregiver for Elderly Care in Troy, MO

Many people think home health care agencies such as ours, Comfort Keepers Senior and Elderly Care of Troy, MO, are too expensive. They just don't realize all we do and everything we take care of for you. We pay our employees taxes and Social Security, pay for Workman's Comp insurance, do thorough background checks and provide ongoing education to help them be more effective in their jobs. We also make sure there is someone to cover every shift even if your regular caregiver becomes ill or quits.

Hiring an agency who's caregivers are employees and not independent contractors can save you many headaches and, in the long run as you can see from the article I've linked below, money.

Hiring Private Duty Home Care Workers:Why Work through an Agency?