The post Aging is By Choice! Find out how. appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

Happy-Assisted-Living

Laughter is good Medicine even when you need Assisted Living Care.  Laughter  might be better medicine than most pills for treating emotional health, wellbeing and sense of belonging.  We need to laugh with other people so look for Assisted Living Care Settings that Make you Laugh.

COMMEDY QUESTION

Let me “make your day” Laughing is great medicine.  If not watch youtubes videos!    Find Assisted Living places that make you laugh.

Youtube Comedy Week Link

Test Yourself. 

Learning and being involved in day to day chores, life, and TV can be good medicine too.  Look for care Assisted Living Care settings that offer Family Style care where you are involved in care and not hotel style Assisted Living Care Where you are less involved in your own dare.

Can you see what is not right with the quote “make your day” and the Arnold video I attached. 

Laugh and get the answers at TLCSR – blog  

ANSWER:

#Clint Eastwood Said “go ahead and make my day” not the #gubernator, #terminator, Arnold schwarzenegger

Help us spread the word.  Click for Free Ways to help.

Check out these Family Style Assisted Living Alternatives to Live, Laugh, and participate in Life at.

TLCSR  Or TLCSR, COSTA BRAVA

Dr Shawn McGivney

The post Laughter is good Medicine. Find Assisted Living that makes you Laugh! appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

But doctors are the Human Element and the Factor you need to use your individual Health and life resources!

Doctors are third line of life savers to 1) Public Health and sewers and  2) Research and antibiotics.  While Doctors are a  distant 3) over all to society’s life saving they are number one for each individual.  If “Your Doctor” were  your, friend, and trusted doctor  they could advocate and guide you to stay well and use your social, financial and insurance resources wisely.  If Your Doctor is a trusted friend, then the doctor is the Best, Most Cost Effective choice to guide you how to use your money to remain Healthy, Wealthy, and Happy.

Bill Gates 2.0 is doing 1 and 2 COST EFFECTIVELY!  Making sewers and using already proven research through vaccines.

Bill Gates 2.0  CBS 60 Minutes Video Link!

Bill Gates with his own money and the money Warren Buffet donated to the Bill Gates charity is putting it all together to make the world a better place.  He unlike governments is smart enough to put his money to the most cost effective uses.  By making a toilet that runs without water and that can be deployed as he called it for the lowest 2 billion people, those who live in India, China, and Africa on less than $2. / day he will help to drastically reduce disease, famine, and hunger for the world.  On the research front Bill Gates and his foundation are  developing a vaccine Ice chest  that holds vaccines for up to 50 days on one load of ice.  That keeps vaccines usable in hot places with no electricity.  Then gates  pays for vaccines which save millions of people.  He is using  things that are already well known, proven, and no risk but all benefit to help billions of people.  That is smart.

Continuity-of-Care

  Donate to Bill and Melinda.       

Why I will donate to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Bill is not just throwing money at the advertisers who legally take 80% of the moneys donated in most charity.  He is personally active in this.  He uses not only his money but his time.  That is the type of leader I want supervising any project.

We all can help for free!  Share, click, make suggestions.

I hope you can all make this viral and it gets back to Bill but here are some added ideas to help Bill’s Cause.  Please everyone add your ideas to help out.  Ideas, comments  and shares might be more powerful than money.

Don’t forget Doctors.  My suggestions and 2/3 of Aging is Good!

Doctors are the best resource any individual can use to remain healthy, wealthy and happy.  2/3 of Aging is good!  That is right for most people two thirds of aging gets better with age.   The three big parts of aging are Financial, Socially and Health.  Financially most are better off as they age.  They have forced saving as Social Security, some small pension, and still Seniors are the biggest group of home owners.  Many have a small pension.  Socially, most people are more aware of who they are, what to expect out of life, and are more patient and tolerant.  Bill Gates reflected on his own growth and maturity in the 60 minute piece

How to use doctors to help the lowest 2 billion and help all people in the individual and global health care crisis.

You cant practically develop your own sewer system or research new medicines but you can choose the best personal doctor you can.  Choosing your doctor in not choosing your insurance.  When you choose your insurance they give you a doctor.  Don’t be confused by the statement you can choose any doctor there is always and implied in our network or that we influence, etc.  Instead look for and value a doctor who is part of your social community.  Take the time to know that doctor and you and the social community might have to pay something that the insurance does not pay to keep that trusted, socially aware doctor, your doctor, as your independent voice.  When you don’t have insurance that doctor can still help you.  That doctor can go with you to what ever insurance you do have and be your second opinion.  Imagine how hard it would be for another doctor who represents Medicare, Medicaid, or any insurance or ER to say no when they have to defend the reason for no to another doctor, your friend.  It is easy to say no to you, the patient,  since you don’t know the words, vocabulary, meaning of one phrase vs the next.  You wont be able to write down what transpired but another doctror is going to know what they are saying and not saying.  Your doctor will have a higher duty, a social duty, to defend your interests.  Unlike law and need for a friend who is a lawyer, we cant know we will get in trouble with the law  but with medicine we all know we will get old and when we need even a little assistance we will increasingly need the health care system.  Your doctor is your lawyer for the rest of your life.  If you choose wisely the verdict might be very different for you.

Your doctor is in the best position to be a gate keeper but one who values your interests first and the specialists second.  That saves money and provides better care.

Patch Adams said it best, if you treat the disease you win or lose but if you treat the person you win NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME.  You win even if you die because the person had independence, dignity and remained connected to their social system as an example that life is good even in death.  Being connected, friends, family are more powerful medicine than any pills.  Seniors teach us many things and we need to re evaluate how we value those more social things.  What do you think?  Share comments, like, make this viral.

Your doctor needs to be a part of that process from the minute you need even minor assistance. The doctor, feeling like you have a friend with some access, knowledge, and skills and one who will visit and sit with you if that is all he does is invaluable.  Your entire social system benefits from the seniors and that doctors example.  In essence and old fashioned doctor.

Continuity of Care the Cure for the individual and Global health care crisis!

We all will need Assisted Living, as we grow  old.  As we approach that time of older age, needing any amount of assistance,  I believe CONTINUITY OF CARE  is the cure to the global and individual health care crisis.  I would love to have the opportunity to speak to Bill and Melinda Gates about why that is true.  What we see now is the lack of leadership of a persons’ care from the doctor. The many sub segmented forces of hospitals, insurance company, Medicare pushing continuity of your chart instead of care, all of which segregate and divide any relationship, sense of duty, that once existed between doctor, patient and the local social community they lived in.  We can change that right now by choosing care settings like Tender Loving Care Senior Residence,  and Tender Loving Care Senior Residence, Costa Brava or doctors you pay a little extra to help them stay in private practice.  Yes, if you want them to be your independent voice, or the voice of you and your social system you might have to pay them something since the insurance does not cover that.  Insurance wants them to work in their office, with their rules, so they pay for the office, insurance and “help out”.  What we all give up is an independent Doctor who is more of “Our Doctor”.  To have duty, sense of commitment both sides need to help the other.  We can get that right now but we need to read about continuity of care and then look for it.  Meet the entire care team you are hiring when you buy senior care, Assisted Living, or Home Care.

Don’t forget the value of a doctor in a third world county.  The 60 minutes story highlighted a person who was doing public service who was abducted.  Imagine a single doctor who was working other there and helping to do something as simple as triage for many people their practical health care options including to educate on why the society needed to protect the toilets and vaccine cooler.   The doctor would not be able to say bypass for everyone but could have a practical list of care alternatives and facilitate care while helping to protect the most valuable resources of the community.  That to me is a powerful idea.  If the public care agencies could offer a pension like the military we might see more doctors “volunteering” or serving abroad.  Again a small cost to improve the Gates Plan.

Cost effectiveness is drastically reduced when the system gets to sub segmented but the doctor can give a good menu of prices, outcome, and plans for those to use their existing resources.  The doctor could give anti biotics to all as a free first lawyer of help and a way to get them to come for more education.  The big benefit over there of empowering the community to protect its vaccine and toilets might help the Gates Foundation buy the local police force of the community they need to further protect their awesome plan.  That works at all levels and the bigger the budget the more you save which is how continuity of care and re organizing and re valuing the role of “your doctor” can save the Individual and Global health care system.

Continuity of care the human element that is

NEVER INCLUDED IN ANY STUDIES!

The doctor is the human element that sewer and research cant provide!

The third level of heath care is the human level.  That is not a public health issues but an individual and local community issue.  A human element is essential to help balance dollar cost and  human benefit, socially and emotional.  That is how most people choose and calculate their individual values before they buy or act.  Like it or not the doctor is a part of the social fabric of each community!

Many will be shocked to know that most studies specifically control for or remove as variables feelings, social issues, and caring from all treatments.  Most of us know that feelings are the final expression of all disease and of life!  We buy because of feelings, Mary and live because of feelings.  Feelings matter.

Because science cant study or quantify them or control them they specifically remove them from all studies.  The studies doctor’s quote when the doctor says the study showed is helpful only at the minimum data level.  It is not a treatment, not a total care plan at all.  Just because the study showed this or that it does not mean that will make you feel better.  The doctor is the person who adds humanity and practical use of those studies back for you.  You are in no position to evaluate how much the study helps and how much emotion, social or financial value there are on the alternative uses of time and money.  The doctor is.  He is your best guide to use your insurance, social system, and feel good.  The doctor can make you feel good himself. That is the value of a visit.  While insurance companies won’t pay for just seeing a friend to feel better we all know that has value.  We need to value continuity of care and our guide to using health care in our own individual social system with our individual unique resources and emotional needs.

All of that is part of how continuity of care can save individual and global health care.  There are levels that vary for each individual and we need to make continuity of care the main variable and then let people choose how they value an independent option which is what doctors provide.

Topics you can help with. Lets make this viral to help those who use Bills waterless toilet and vaccine cooler to show those around them that stealing these community resources will be social suicide.  We all know that we can better police our own streets by reporting abnormal behavior.  Without being vigilantes we need to report and look out for our neighbor and helping empower our neighbors to watch out for us can spill over to helping those lowest 2 billion to look out for their Gates Toilets and Vaccine Coolers.  Please share any ideas on how to protect the vaccine cooler socially through social pressure or more traditional methods?

Help me get this out there so I can get Bills and Melinda’s attention.

We invite Oprah, TV shows, and anyone to pick this up and share!

Free Ways to Help!

Dr Shawn McGivney

The post Three Best Ways to Save Lives. Doctors are the Human Element! appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

We generally take a more postive view and talk about focusing on continuity of care and complete care but felt this was right on and wanted to share it.

We especially note how seniors and their families are mislead by their views that they need only a little help and avoidance of the fact that they will need much more care in the very near future if they need any assistance today.

If they dont need assistance and there is no reason they are looking for an “assisted” care setting then one might ask why are you looking?  What we see is the Assisted Living sales force promising what other caregivers will do for them.  However, the details of there are 3 caregivers covering 50 residents in a large area is a detail that is missed.

Smart money notes that Assisted Living is a short term fix.  That is because they cost alot for the limited care they provide and when the increased care needs come many are forced to move.  Also in general Assisted Living has 1 administrator in charge of 150 sick people.  Common Sense tells us that the level of direct protective supervision might be in question.

Assisted living and home care generally are the lowest values for senior care dollars. They prey on a seniors desire to remain indepenent and young and falsely advertise that they can keep them living at home or in a hotel type care settings. Those are just not reasonable assumptions. Seniors need to be cautious of all care settings and spend time looking for continuity of care.

Read the 10 Things Assisted Living Homes wont tell you by smartmoney and let us know which ones you like or add your own.

How do you balance cost and value?

While reducing staff helps the businesses bottom

line is that helping you get the most care, best care, and

continuity of care you want?

Is that a good value for you?

Help us spread the word.  Click for Free Ways to help.

It is up to you to make this viral!

Two examples of great value for your senior care dollars.  Both offer continuity of care!

Tender Loving Care Senior Residence - Great alternative to Assisted Living In Las Vegas and Home Care In Las Vegas for heavy care needs, memory care, dementia care and Alzheimer’s Care.

Tender Loving Care Senior Residence, Costa Brava – Great Assisted Living in Las Vegas and Home Care in Las Vegas for more active seniors transitioning to needing assistance.  Both offer high levels of continuity of care.

Dr Shawn McGivney

The post 10 Things Assisted Living Homes wont tell you! appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

Read the article here Dementia Care costs top $100 billion

The headlines are clear.

A new study puts the cost of treating Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia at $109 billion, making it more expensive to society than either cancer or heart disease.  Moreover, the current crisis will continue to grow rapidly as the baby boomers in America age.  What is less clear is the answer to that question of how to provide the care, in a humanistic and family oriented way, at a reasonable cost.  We want to suggest THE CURE TO THE INDIVIDUAL AND GLOBAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS.

TLCSR is the pilot study that answers the question! 

By focusing on continuity of care, people including care team, residents and family society benefits and the care provided is socially more complete.  That is how you get the best value for Senior Care dollars and fix the problem of the global and individual health care crises.  More good news is you dont have to wait for the goverment to help you find the Best, Most Cost Effective, Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care.  You can do it yourself right now!  Visit Tlcsr.com and tlcsr2.com to find out what to look for in all Senior Care Settings.

How can Continuity of Care and the TLCSR model of care be the cure for both the individual and global health care crises?

Our plan cures the issue not only of Dementia Care and Alzheimer’s care but helps fix the individual and global health care crisis.  We have seen a mis use of funds away from the direct care system to sub specialities many of whom say “ I only do this or that.”  That disjointed level of care leads to expensive and less comprehensive care.  A la Cart billing is good for the CEO, Stock holder and the companies bottom line but the servcie buffect, in-kind services, and mothers family style care is better for getting care when needed.  We are not blaming any one person since everyone has participated in getting where we are.  Doctor, Families, Individuals, insurance companies and the government.  What is needed is a better understanding of what care is.  How many of us have at one time or another under valued a caregiver, a mother, a domestic worker, who cares for us?  I have at times felt that as the “skilled” doctor I was smarter, better, than someone less educated.  By doing years of direct care for my own parents mother and  now father I see that caregiving is a skill!  Indeed, my wife and sister do it differently and in many ways better than I do.  Now after 10 years as a direct caregiver I am a much better caregiver.  My view is very unique in that few doctors are given the change to do direct care.

Care does include emotional and social care. Feelings are the final expression of all Health care no mater what the label.  Indeed most studies specifically exclude feelings, emotional health, social and financial variables since they cant study them.  Even if we cant study them they are the most improtant factor in work, productivity, feeling good, family and social wellness.  Read our post on care vs caring or how are physical care and caring different as other reading. These are not the total answer but they start to provide guidance as to how we can value each other, family, mothers and caregivers more and in turn get more caring and value for our health care and life spending.

Tender Loving Care Senior Residence advertised Continuity of Care and complete care and not just urgent care or quick care.  Indeed, do you want a quick fix or heart felt care from someone who is INVESTED IN YOU FOR THE LONG RUN?

A hospitalist who cares for you for a week, then another doctor in rehab for a week, then …  In all cases you have to be your own doctor and coordinating the care.  While you know how you feel you probably do not really know which tests you would pay for if you were spending your own money.  The tests with the best value physically and emotionally to you.  You are not a doctor, you do not know how to quantify risk, benefit, or cost.

Did you know it is cheaper to buy many medications for cash, out of pocket than, to pay just the copay?  Yes, the co pay alone is more than paying cash!  Why you ask.  The systme makes more money. You have almost no way to know the details of what is needed, and the magnitide of the risks and benefits of your choices even if you are informed. That is why you need a doctor.  The probloem is the doctor directly or indirectly works for someone other than you. The relationsnip with you and the doctor is indirect and short lived.

Continuity of care can help all get more care, better care, for a better price or value.

That is especially true in Dementia Care where the care team is the best treatment for Dementia.

Find the most continuity of care and complete care, find the best individual members of your care team and you will get the best value for your Senior Care dollars.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

THIS AFFECTS ALL OF US RIGHT NOW BY AFFECTING AT LEAST ONE PERSON IN OUR EXTENDED SOCIAL CIRCLES AND EACH OF US INDIVIDUALLY AS THE BABY BOOM WASHES OVER AMERICA.

Help spread the word.  Make this viral!!

Help us spread the word.  Click for Free Ways to help.

Click for The Best, Most Cost Effective, Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care!.

Dr Shawn McGivney

The post ALZHEIMER’S and DEMENTIA CARE COST MORE THAN CANCER OR HEART DISEASE! appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

Why do writers generally under value Dementia Care caregivers, social and behavioral treatments when listing Dementia Treatments.?  Most of the time they list the pills and just gloss over get the care by saying “get home care”.   All home care is not the same even if it costs the same. People vary a lot in many socially and emotionally important ways.  Relationships have many sides– the customer, Customers Family and Social System, the individual caregivers, and the entire care team.

Value People and you will get the best, most cost effective, care by getting many in-kind less tangible to the researcher’s studies things.  Love, Compassion, Continuity of care, reliability, sacrifice, are relationship words that have value and should be valued.

Both sides need to value the other, it is a two way street.

Mayo Clinic Blog

Here is a shout out from the mayo clinic blog to thank those caregivers who are the treatment.

Alzheimer’s disease by Angela Lunde

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dementia-caregivers/MY01963

Dr McGivney’s Thoughts

Find the best, most socially skilled caregiver team you can, the most continuity of care, to get the best care in life.

Family offers a lot of continuity of care.  We value them and get a lot in return emotionally and socially if not financially.  Even if you do not use the family social system today, there is a big value we get by knowing we have that back up a social system provides us.  Remember those issues when you are sick and looking for “help”, medically or financially, for “home care”, Assisted Living care or Dementia Care, Alzheimer’s Care, or Memory Care.

Value the caregivers, mothers, friends, and paid caregivers.  Value continuity of care and you will get a lot more than you pay for in dollar terms. That is how you get value in health and Dementia Care.

Share your comments, like and make this viral!!

Help us spread the word.  Click for Free Ways to help.

Click for The Best, Most Cost Effective, Assisted Living and Senior Care Alternatives.

By Dr Shawn McGivney

The post Save money on Dementia Care-Value The Caregivers! appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

Read this article and then read my comments on the post.  Do you see how one might use this good research to modify how they look for Assisted Living and Senior Care?

Novel Exercise Program May Trump Meds for Dementia

Great article by Caroline Cassels  that confirms what common sense has told us for a long time.

People, all people, have feelings, emotional needs, and being more attentive to them can help all people including people with Dementia Feel better.

At one level that is scarey. That the science doctors think is complete, their studies, actually fail to include the most powerfull variables to feeling good and getting better where better is feeling better.  I often think of the power of family when I recall the old women who one minute is crying in pain from a broken arm, total body arthritis, and bone mets and then just seconds later, has no pain and is smiling when she is offered the change to hold her 3rd great grand child.  Many doctors, social managers, think of the dollar cost and these physical things which is the biggest short coming in my mind for health care today.

A much brighter use of this study is that to feel your best, get the best care, you need to interact with people.  That includes staff and other residents.  That is a type of medicine or treatment.  Take a friend out for lunch and you pay.  That might be a better value than the co pay on a pill for depression.   People, friendships, the search for independence are never ending and ongoing up until we die.  Read this article and hear the physical claims but also read betweent the lines to see if you see some of the things I see.

They talk about combining eastern and western therapies.  I saw straight social dynamics.  We had them sit in a circle.  Circle to me is very group oriented and social.  Indeed, we do an exercise program at Tender Loivng Care Senior Residence every day in a circle.  Less for the exercise and more for the emotional and social benefit.  What you call it really does not matter but the fact is people need people to feel good.  The physial place matters much less than the people.  A second example is our email program at tlcsr.  We do that more for the family to feel connected than the senior with mild dementia.  Some may say that is a semantic difference but we believe those social sensitivity differences make a big difference in how the entire social system feel and deals with aging now and then their own againg in the future.

Second, the author notes”the program focused on creating a “loving, nonjudgmental enviroment to promote postivie feelings and joy” and used music to enhance this effect.  I agree 100%.

What I was hearing is find the best caregivers and care team you can.   Look for continuity of care to get the best care, and best value for any private senior care dollars.  Of course, we say repeatedly in this blog Continuity of Care  is the cure to the individual and global health care crisis and that includes Dementia Care, Alzheimer’s Care, and Memory care and ALL OTHER DISEASE LABELS YOU HAVE!

Quoting Patch adams again.  “If you treat the disease you win or loose but if you treat the person you WIN NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME.!”

Really look at the last part of that quote.  No matter what the outcome.  Seniors and all of us know we will die. Dying is not as scarey as being alone, abandonded, and shifted home, place, facility to facilty.  More accurately being shifted from one care team to the next!!  Being shifted away from the main care team, your family you have known for your entire life!  Look for a care team that can and will be able to stick with you, visit you, no matter where you go to get the best value and care possible as you age.  If you accept the sales pitch you did not look far enough.  Take the time to meet the entire care team from Doctor, Administrator, caregivers, med techs.  And ask if they interact with each other.  The more continuity of care in your broad based system the better you will feel and the more value you will get for THE SAME health care dollars.

Summary

In discussing these variations of interpretation though words and this blog I hope to raise awarness that all people, families, seniors and care teams need to value each other.  Realtionships, caring are a two way street.  Take the time to find the most continuity of care when ever anyone you love is forced by aging to need assistance and choose Dementia Care or any Senior Care Setting.  Not I did not say move. That focuses onthe physical place, instead use this post to focus on the care team and continuity of the people and care.

Help us spread the word.  Click for Free Ways to help.

It is up to you to make this viral!!

Click for The Best, Most Cost Effective,
Assisted Living and Senior Care Alternatives

By Shawn McGivney

The post Dementia Care-Exercise, social interaction may trump meds for Dementia Care appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

After Caregiving, Comfort in Having Helped

by Judith Graham.

Lets move on to the answer!!

CONTINUITY OF CARE IS THE CURE TO THE INDIVIDUAL AND GLOBAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS WE ALL FACE.

• Value people and they will provide many in-kind servcies and levels of compassion and effort you cant buy for dollars.
• Value your doctor, your family, your friends and their extended soical systema and they will value and help you when you and yours needs it.
• this cant be legislated but legislation can adjsut the playing field.  We have to act, we the people need to value continuity of care and our doctors.  Many do not know that all doctors get paid the same for an office visit.   Your doctor who knows you, does extra inkind service gets the same as the guy who you dont know who says call anohter specialist.  Second, did you know that specialists get paid much more than your doctor but specialists often say I can’t decide on treatment, accept responsiblity for you as a person, that is your doctors job.  Seems unfair to me.  paid less as pcp but expected to do socially the right thing.  I assue you doctors have feelings too.  It is less about the money and more about the value people plance or give to their doctor.
• Senior Care settings, Assisted Living, Residential Care homes, hospitals  also delegate care.  I for one would be suspect of a place that says I want you to come but the people who work here are not my responsiblity.
• Do not criticise the current system.  We all have allowed and fueled its growth.  The cure is still right here.  We need to value each other, people, our extended social systems to fix a problem that affects all today indirectly by affecting someone in our own extended social system right now and us tomorrow after an accident or expeceted medical issue, and 5-10 yrs from now when we age ourselves.
• did you know we all get medicare!!  Yep, if you get hurt right now you get medicare disability.  There is so much you dont know and I cant do it all in one post.  If you invest in me, send comments, I can invest in continuing the discussion.

I am sure that the only way to fix the health care system, make it cost effective while still providing a high level of care is to value continuity of care.  Let me know what you think.

Help us spread the word.  Click for Free Ways to help.

Dr Shawn McGivney

The post Continuity of Care the Cure for Health Care Crisis! appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

While all care settings try to differentiate themselves Assisted Living, Home Care, Dementia Care, Alzheimer’s Care, Memory Care, Hospice Care, Residential Care, Elder Care all offer the same thing – CARE!

What varies is the degree of caring you get and feel as both a resident and as a staff member or provider.  Both resident and staff feel better if they know each other and have some kind of a progessional or social relatioship.  That is why continuity of care and having a relationship is so improtant.

Going further physical care could be described as just doing the task like giving a shower.  Caring might be the added small talk about a common event that makes both people share the moment or have a relationship of sorts with the physical care.

In fact there is a significant difference between doing the physical task of giving a shower and then giving a shower combined with a friendly discussion of recent events, recent visitors, or activities both care giver and resident have experienced in the day to day life. That later is emotional health and goes a long way to change physical care inot caring and maximize emotional health for both caregiver and resident.

We believe this is a small part of starting to explain the power of relationships, the humanism needed for and involved with in care and caring.

This distinction applies to “care” in all care settings Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Home Care, Hospice Care, Medical Care, Dementia Care, Alzheimer’s Care, Memory Care, Elder Care, Respite Care, Hospital Care, Residential Care, and all of the care settings.

What is “skilled” care vs custodial care.

Doctor

Mother and Caregiver

Caregiver is a skilled position even if some do not describe it as “less skilled”

Insurance companies constantly try to define custodial care as something less, of lower value, lower price than “skilled” care. In fact, people pay more attention to the caregiver than the insurance defined skilled views of the nurse or doctor. the reason for that is trust and continuity of care. When, not just if, something happens in the day to day life of a frail senior who needs assistance the only skills that will matter are the skills of the person the resident can get and that in general is of the caregiver. The caregivers interpersonal skills, compassion, caring are used every minute of every day to provide feeling good, comfort, redirection and to help empower the senior to remain positive, active, productive and feeling good. That in fact is a skill. Call it patience, compassion, good family values, faith in God, but whatever you call it that is indeed what the senior needs and wants.

caring is a desirable skill!

Words and ideals we all value highly

Caring is therapy for someone who needs assistance.

What is the “Value” of not getting “care” from the controlling Caregiver? How can a senior who needs assistance really monitor and protect against this? Care Setting and the leadership being hands on, day and and day out, from top levels of ownership down to the caregiver is essential and the only way to provide care with caring?

The alternative might meet a physical care need but at what emotional cost.  These images of the controling caregiver are firghting to most seniors.

Scolding and Control are not caring

Controling Staff

Cost to the Senior of a Controlling Caregiver

Patience, interpersonal skills, and familiarity with dealing with a person who is older and has many complex medical issues that are unlikely to resolve is a skill. Unlike dealing with a child where cure is likely and possible in this case cure and getting younger is much less likely. Seniors know that but no one including the senior will say that. It is ego dystonic, to say you want to die or accept getting old even though we all do it every day. God or a higher being can play a role and does increasingly play a role as we get older and more disabled. As humans we need things to believe in and God and the best interpersonal skills you can find are the first line treatments for all that ales you.

Emotional health and Feeling is the final expression of all disease. 

Patch Adams, in Movie Patch.  If you treat the disease you win or loose but if you treat the person you win no matter what the outcome!

No matter what the label Alzheimer’s, Chronic Pain, CHF Congestive Heart Failure, Arthritis the end result will be I don’t feel good. Doctor are trained to look only at the physical part but the many levels of social and emotional therapies are often over looked or discounted. Be it due to physical pain, depression, fear of the future all diseases are expressed the same way. You feel bad. Doctors cant describe it, define it, or study it but we all feel it and can understand it. Indeed, your doctor is uniquely positioned to help you balance cost, effect, side effects, incidental social and implementation and even financial consequences of all the physical and emotional or social choices that are available to you. If you were a doctor you would know the physical stuff and if he were you he would know the social stuff but when both of you have a relationship and know each other continuity of care, caring and the best outcome are possible. That outcome is feeling the best you can given your unique, individual, set of physical, social, and financial illnesses. While many try to be “case managers” including elder law attorney, social workers, nurses in fact there are only two real choices you since you are the most aware of your social and emotional health or how you feel and / or “your doctor”. I use the term “your Doctor” going back to a time when continuity of care was the standard. Hopefully this blog and your examples can help others value people in our lives.

Some People incorrectly under value those who keep the Family, Social System, and Frail safe.  Mothers, Teacher, Doctors Caregivers.

-A mother who works all day to care for the kids and husband and arranges the social system. Not easy, but not values by dollars.
-a Teacher who listens, stays after class to help someone who is behind so they are not embarrassed to catch up or get a head.
-a care giver who calls and visit when you go to the hospital. or is available to look after your kids and your grandmother because she can it helps the bigger system out.
-a doctor or lawyer who goes beyond the standard description to help you understand the system and potential related costs.

All of those examples are things that are “not needed”, not valued in dollars, but are often provided to take physical, “less skilled” care to the highest level of care and include caring.

Comment to help others see the value of people in their lives.

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Dr Shawn McGivney

The post Physical care VS. Emotional Caring In Assisted Living and Senior Care settings in Las Vegas appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.

Saw the movie Safe Harbor and wanted to share my Senior Moment.

Mom and Step mom were human.  The X- Wife, Susan Sarandon, was jealous of the younger, new wife, Julia Roberts, but in the end when her breast cancer was progressing, the mom, Susan Sarandon, wanted the best for everyone even her X husband, her kids and her rival the Step Mom, Julia Roberts.   That is the power of people, caring, and relationships.  That power is invaluable and hard to quantify in Dollars.  Look for that and you will get the best value for you Senior Care dollars.

The Safe Harbor is another creative way to show that even when one is dead.  The Mother who guided the new wife to help her husband and kids still has value.  I see the similar values to families, society and seniors as they age.  Images of what was, is and can be continue to be powerful influences to families and society.  I know no simple dollar formula for love, hope, trust, feeling needed, wanted, productive and valued.  Likewise defining “safety” is hard for most seniors to swallow since the social worker, family, or individual defining “safety” for the senior often times is focused more on financial, legal, or physical safety than on emotional well-being, continuity of care and relationship building.

I see families faced with aging, loss as individuals who are aging and families who are losing large parts of who they are. In losing a senior, but in all cases they want to help each other.  Seniors know they are aging and they just want to be known, remembered, and to help if they can.  Feelings are the end point of all process.  Pain hurts less when you are holding your own new born or a grandchild.  The sum of all pains, pills, and Emotional and social therapies including continuity of care and relationship building is part of the treatment.  Complex and powerful therapies, and feelings like hope, trust, belief, faith, belonging, parenthood, creation, choice and empowered to choose, take time and social relationships to achieve.  Seniors and all of us know helping can mean getting others to provide the care so the Family can visit, email and carry on.  Pain and life have large emotional elements that doctors cannot study.  Indeed, few studies add in emotional health and wellbeing since you can’t “study” or quantify it and it varies so much person to person and day to day.  However, that does not mean we don’t value those things.  Indeed, those are the things we buy based on even if we do not know we are.

If you want to be “Safe”, have a “Safe Hospital Discharge”, “Safe transition to any Senior Care Setting” look for individuals, people, and care teams with continuity of care.  Sub segmented systems based on business organizational flow sheets and financial payment models pale in comparison to Continuity of Care and Relationship building to make someone feel safe.  To feel safe you have to know and trust the individuals who provide the day to day care and who the problem solves or manager are.  They have to know your social system and visa a versa.  You have to respect what they do and value it also.   Then you can hope to feel safer in a process of transitioning to a senior care setting.

Aging and even dying are not bad they are expected.  What is bad is not having a care setting with caring and a relationship to allow physical care to be transcended to Family-style care we all want. 

Two quotes from Patch Adams of the Movie Patch.  That show Caring is more than care.

Treat the most devastating problem of all indifference or apathy. 

If you treat the disease you win or lose but if you treat the person you win no matter what the outcome. 

To me, even if you die, that is not as much of a loss if they had someone who was there, caring, respecting, all that that person has done and continues to do for the family.  That sets a social and family example of valuing people and not just disposing of them which helps each of us in the family, caregivers and all the people surrounding the senior.  I care for my dad and he helps me every day by giving me some space to work.  Yes, he comes in but he then let’s me finish work and that is helping. 

Seniors who can find a safe haven or care setting with caring and continuity of care can help their social system and continue to enjoy family life.

Look for Continuity of care in any care setting Assisted Living, Home Care, Hospice Care, Residential Care, Dementia Care, and Alzheimer’s Care, Memory care, Respite Care, Elder Care, Nursing Home Care and any Senior Care setting.  Meet the entire care team and you can find caring with the physical care that all promise you.

Help us spread the word. Click for Free Ways to help.

Click for The Best, Most Cost Effective, Assisted Living and Senior Care Alternatives.

By Shawn McGivney

The post Safe Harbor-Lesson in Assisted Living appeared first on Tlcsr Blog- Best Assisted Living and Senior Care Resource.