How to know when it's time for home care

Being a caregiver is a labor of love that can be very rewarding, but it is also a responsibility that is incredibly challenging. Providing the level of care your parent or loved one needs while simultaneously meeting the needs of your own family can be stressful. Many caregivers struggle with finding a balance between caregiving, work, family, and personal time.

For this reason, many caregivers seek additional help with the care of their loved one. Home care is a great option for caregivers who need assistance, but still wish to remain the primary caretaker of their loved one. But how do you know if you are ready to take that step? Here are some signs that it might be time for additional help through home care:

Your relationship with your loved one is suffering.
Love is the primary motive in caregiving – we care for our family members because we love them and want what is best for them. However, because caregiving is so demanding, the stress of the situation can affect how we feel about them. You may find yourself beginning to feel resentful of the person in your care, or find that you are viewing them as a burden rather than someone special to you. This is a clear sign that you need a break! Hiring a home care service to help you bear the load of caregiving, even for just a few hours a week, can help renew your relationship with your loved one. Allowing a home care service to help with the responsibility of caring for your loved one will allow you more time to simply be with that person, and enjoy your time together.

Your home and work life are suffering.
Many caregivers have additional responsibilities in their lives. They have homes and families of their own to care for, and many also have jobs outside of caregiving. Caregiving in itself can be a full-time job, so you may find that other areas of your life are suffering because of the time caregiving requires. If this is the case, it might be time to consider home care. Allowing someone to help with the care of your loved one will give you more time to meet the needs of your household and your employer. Rather than feeling that certain areas of your life are lacking, you can have the peace of knowing that you’ve got all your bases covered.

Your personal health is suffering.
In order to be an effective caregiver, you have to take care of yourself. This can be hard to do, because caregiving is a demanding task that often requires you to put the needs of your loved one before your own. If you find that your own physical or emotional health is suffering due to the amount of time and energy you devote to caregiving, then it might be time to consider home care. Having assistance with your loved one will allow you time to care for yourself, get rest, and pursue the things that make you happy. All of this will make you a better caregiver for the person you love. Seeking time for yourself isn’t selfish; it’s necessary if you wish to continue in the role of caregiver.

Seeking additional help through home care isn’t admitting defeat; it’s a wise decision that will allow you to be the best caregiver you can be. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the weighty responsibility of caring for someone you love, consider hiring a home care service to help you bear the load. Even just a few hours of help a week can help you feel more fulfilled in all areas of your life.


Synergy HomeCare is a locally-owned, non-medical home care provider that serves any individual who needs assistance in the home.  We strive for excellence from our caregivers who provide assistance with household chores, transportation and meal preparation, among other services.  For further information please call us directly at 317-577-4663 or visit our website at http://synergyhomecare.com/neindy

What is project management & why should nonprofit staff care?

The following article appeared in the Not-For-Profit News published by Charitable Advisors this week:

“Project Management.” The term seems to be popping up all over in both nonprofit and for-profit circles. But what does it mean – and why is it important for you, as a nonprofit employee, to know? Project management is the process through which projects are planned, executed and monitored. Although you may be a social worker, volunteer coordinator, elder care provider, counselor, substance abuse specialist, or other nonprofit employee whose primary job focus lies elsewhere, you maybe be finding project management taking a place in your job as one of those “other activities as assigned.” So how do you become an effective project manager? 
 

As close as your computer  
The University of Indianapolis offers a Graduate Certificate in Project Management for Human Services Professionals. This certificate, offered in a completely online format, is designed for professionals from the human service sector who have a bachelor's degree or higher in any discipline.

The three required courses (9 credit hours) are offered through the University’s Center for Aging & Community and must be taken in sequential order. The program content is focused on project management skills applicable for any human services environment, not just those who work in aging services.

Professionals who complete the certificate will be equipped to effectively plan, monitor and execute projects. In addition, you will gain practical project management skills you can immediately put into practice in your everyday work, which can help make you a more versatile employee. 

Begin this Fall
A new cohort of this program will begin in Fall 2013. Students who begin the certificate program then can expect to finish the program by the end of Summer 2014. 

For more information, visit www.uindy.edu/cac or call (317) 791-5930.

A student's eye view of online learning at UIndy

Sometimes life can be a little overwhelming, trying to balance multiple part-time jobs, a healthy lifestyle, any remnant of a social life and working on a Master’s degree. After it had taken me five years to finish my bachelor’s degree, it was a heavy decision to apply to graduate school. More school was the last thing on my mind going into my senior semester. However, I now have finished one-third of my Master’s courses and I am confident that I made the right decision. 

The Master’s in Gerontology program offered at UIndy is largely why I decided to continue. Not only did I see an opportunity to stand out in my field (exercise science), but this was a chance to specialize in working with a population I adore. I would be lying if I didn’t mention that the online classes were also a big draw. I typically work a few different jobs at one time (I’m up to 3 right now), in multiple places not particularly near each other, and let’s face facts:  attending class was never my favorite part of school to begin with.  So the idea that I could take class on my own time, in whatever city I was in, has worked out better for me than I could have imagined.

Online interactions with students across the United States are actually much more involved and inclusive than I originally expected. Forums and chat rooms -- tools that used to be foreign to me -- have helped me feel like we are all working together towards a common objective. Other students help motivate me every week by making me feel like I am not alone in this process.

What can be challenging is having the sole responsibility of making sure I read everything available to me so that my assignments are turned in on time. With no professor standing in front of you three times a week that your forum post is due this week, not next (when you could have sworn you were looking at the right date), successfully navigating online classes adds a higher level of accomplishment than I have previously felt in other classes. But what has surprised me most, is that I am already using what I have learned and worked on in class.

Currently, I am using a large chunk of my Health Promotion’s project in a community-based health promotion class that I was asked to help out with. I feel like the organizational and planning skills that I have learned will be adding to the success of the class by using the tools, structure, and research that I have been able to put together. I can only imagine how great that feeling will be when I graduate.
 
Some of the best advice I've ever been given is: “Don’t make it harder on yourself.”  This philosophy has not only encouraged me to stay as organized as possible, but has saved me a massive amount of stress in school and at work. 
 
Here is how it works for me:

• At UIndy, online classes can be taken anywhere with internet available? Check.
• Classmates from all around are supportive and motivating? Check.
• Assignments are applicable to and help me excel at work: Check. 

If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t have hesitated to sign up for UIndy’s graduate program in gerontology.  




Rachel Arney
CAC Graduate Assistant

Newsletter shares elder abuse resources for aging professionals

Unfortunately, elder abuse happens. Professionals who work in aging services are in a unique position to be able to help prevent and/or recognize and report symptoms of elder abuse. 

Just in time for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, observed annually on June 15, the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community has published an e-newsletter on the subject of elder abuse.

You can read this month's issue here.

To subscribe to this free e-newsletter (topics change from month to month) click here.

Who is at risk for vitamin D deficiency and how can you get enough?

What we do know from the last blog post: 

• Most people in the U.S. today do not get enough vitamin D
• Vitamin D deficiency is associated with several conditions and illnesses
• Age complicates the issue since it becomes more difficult to make vitamin D in the skin over time.  
• Some dietary sources contain vitamin D -- egg yolks, fish, dairy, and fortified cereals, -- but it is nearly impossible to get enough from diet alone. 

So the question becomes, who is at risk and how do we get enough vitamin D? 

* This can be answered in part by where we live. People living the farthest away from the equator are exposed to less sunshine than those who live nearer. 

* Dark-skinned individuals make less vitamin D precursor, which is made in the skin and later converted to its active form in the kidneys and liver. 

* The larger we are, the more we need. Vitamin D is fat-soluble which means it is stored in fat cells and not circulated in the blood as efficiently as in thinner people. 

* Gender is an indicator; females are at higher risk of deficiency.

* If sunscreen is used liberally, sunshine exposure is limited. Lack of daily sunshine exposure over time indicates risk; those who are institutionalized, for example, are at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency. 

* Age is a risk factor due to changes in diet, nutritional needs, and skin function over time.

I don’t avoid the sun and I don’t use sunscreen, but I am a 53-year-old, olive-skinned, female Oregonian.  I am at risk. 

After a heel injury a couple years ago, a blood test revealed my own vitamin D deficiency. I took supplements for 10 months but my vitamind D levels still dropped.  High doses in gel form raised it nearly 30 points. I was elated and figured I would stay there with sunshine and supplements. I was puzzled, though, by something my doctor said. I asked for a brand recommendation since the first supplements did not work. I was told any over-the-counter brand would be fine. Uncertain, I began looking closer at supplements. 

Supplements are not classified as food and are not held to the same food packaging and labeling standards by the FDA, which means labeling, dose, concentration, and contamination levels are highly variable. In other words, the label does not necessarily reflect what is inside the bottle. I happened to see a news brief recently about labeling of supplements. Without the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) seal, label accuracy is not guaranteed. A supplement is not a supplement is not a supplement. Be sure to look for the USP seal if you are buying supplements.

What happened to my levels? They dropped after taking over-the-counter supplements, a brand without the USP seal. My levels rose after taking doctor-prescribed high doses of vitamin D, but dropped again after taking a well-known, over-the-counter brand with the USP seal. It was winter, however, and I had less sunshine exposure. Last January my level was 36 nanograms, on the low end of the normal range. 

It is important to know your vitamin D levels. In hindsight, I am glad I hurt my heel, which led to this long discovery and put me on the road to better overall health.

For more information about vitamin D and its effects on health, visit the Vitamin D Council.




Karen Hoskins, RDH, MSGc

Karen Hoskins is a master's candidate in the Gerontology program at the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community and has been a dental hygienist for the past 30 years. Karen can be reached at klhoskins(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Vitamin D for healthy aging

Fortunately, I injured my heel. Fortunately, the pain persisted. I finally saw my doctor who ordered a blood draw. The diagnosis was plantar fasciitis. I learned to deal with my foot, but I came home with something much more valuable: the blood draw revealed I was deficient in vitamin D. That was September 2011 and I was 51 years old. It was time to get serious. I began taking over-the-counter vitamin D tablets, 2,000 international units (IU) per day, for several months. I also began researching.

Vitamin D isn’t, in fact, a vitamin at all.(1) It is a hormone that helps regulate calcium in the blood. In its active form, vitamin D affects much more than bone health because of its significant repair and maintenance capabilities. 

As we age it becomes more difficult to make vitamin D in the skin, and with a deficiency, less calcium is absorbed. This increases the risk for osteoporosis and fractures. Elderly adults deficient in vitamin D score lower on cognitive performance tests.  Just as unnerving, 17 varieties of cancer, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and Parkinson’s disease are associated with vitamin D deficiency. (2)

Prior to 2010, the daily vitamin D recommendation was set at levels to prevent rickets. This has since been revised by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and changed from 400 IU to 600 IU for adults. The current consensus is that this is not enough. (3)

I was shocked my levels dropped after 10 months of taking supplements. Instead of 20.5 nanograms per milliliter—optimal levels are between 30 and 100—it was worse at 15.2. At this point I was fairly puzzled since I don’t avoid the sun and I’d been taking 2,000 IU tablets daily, but something wasn’t working. That was July 2012, and it was time to get more serious.  

Since some people deficient in vitamin D respond best to high doses in gel form, my doctor recommended 50,000 IU gel caps weekly for 12 weeks. I decided to check again in October 2012 and to keep researching. One theme kept surfacing: older adults are at significant risk for vitamin D deficiency. Something else caught my eye: 100 percent of elderly women admitted to the hospital for osteoporosis-related fractures were vitamin D deficient, yet half were already taking vitamin D supplements. Clearly, we are not getting enough.  

Stay tuned for the next blog post about vitamin D: Who is at risk and how do we get more vitamin D? How do we know what is in the supplements we take? What happened to my levels after taking 50,000 IU weekly for 12 weeks? 


Karen Hoskins, RDH, MSGc

Karen Hoskins is a master's candidate in the Gerontology program at the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community and has been a dental hygienist for the past 30 years. Karen can be reached at klhoskins(at)yahoo(dot)com.
(1) Khalsa, S. (2009). The vitamin d revolution. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House Inc. 

(2) Northrup, C. (2012). The wisdom of menopause. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
(3) Dowd, J. E., & Stafford, D. (2012). The vitamin d cure. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 

Conference on aging hits milestone anniversary

You are all invited to join me June 3-6, 2013 for the 30th anniversary celebration of the UK Summer Series on Aging in the beautiful countryside of Lexington, Kentucky. The Summer Series was first offered in 1983 and was the only conference of its kind at the time for professionals in aging, providing evidence-based information for practitioners and decision makers. This conference is designed to share geriatrics and gerontology issues from a multidisciplinary perspective. 

Each year, a national search is conducted to find specialists to speak on the most relevant topics and trends running the gamut from research to practice and application. It has consistently been a worthwhile conference for me, so much so that I've volunteered as a member of the planning committee for several years. 

This year's conference promises to be extra special with complimentary receptions nightly and a “Music and Memories Dinner” event. The line-up of speakers is excellent and the sessions cover a broad range of topics. The attendance averages around 400 people, comprised of participants who are truly dedicated to serving the older adult population. There is plenty of opportunity for interacting with friendly, like-minded individuals while gaining those important CEU’s. The staff and programming committee go out of their way to make folks feel welcome and supported. Add to all of that the beautiful location and the affordability factor, and this becomes one of the best events to attend for people in the field of aging! Discounts on registration are available for students, seniors, and groups. Click the link above for more information.

Visit CAC while you're there
The University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community (CAC) will host an exhibit all through the conference to feature our Aging Studies Programs. CAC offers both graduate and undergraduate programs:

• Master of Science degree (36 credits; completely online)
• Graduate Certificate in Gerontology (18 credits; completely online)
• Undergraduate Certificate in Aging Studies (12 credits; completely online or classroom-based in the School for Adult Learning)
• Graduate Certificate in Project Management for Human Services Professionals (9 credits; completely online – a skills-based curriculum for any discipline) 

Applications are accepted year-round for these programs. Students may start taking aging studies courses any semester (Fall, Winter, or Summer). A new cohort for the Project Management certificate starts each Fall Session (only). Anyone with a bachelor’s degree or higher can take 1-2 courses on a “Guest” basis (for-credit or as an audit) without making application to the program. This is an advantage for individuals whom have an interest in the course topic or want to try it out before applying.

I am looking forward to a wonderful week of learning and networking at the UK Summer Series and I hope to see you there!


Tamara Wolske, MS, PhDc
Academic Program Director