Portland Home Care & Caregiving for Aging Parent

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

How Caregiving for My Father Affected My Family

When I decided to bring my father into my home and provide for his care full-time, I knew I would have to make some compromises in my personal life and that there may be some changes in the dynamic within my home. I have two school-aged children and a husband who frequently travels for work, so we had to make some arrangements to ensure that everyone would easily adjust to my dad’s arrival in our home; all of this was expected when we made the decision to have him come and live with us.

What I wasn’t however, expecting, were the challenges that arose with my siblings. From the get-go we had frequent disagreements about what was best for my father; my brother felt he would be best placed in a nursing home, my sister wasn’t sure if I’d have enough time to provide for his every need and these discussions were a constant source of tension in the family.

Nonetheless, I ensured that I kept my brother and sister involved in the planning process and respected their feelings; and in the end, we all agreed living with me would work best for my dad. Not surprisingly, this was not the end of the conflict, my siblings and I frequently had heated discussions about all aspects of my dad’s care; from what he should be eating to what brand of adult diapers I should be buying for him.

While at first I struggled to cope with the constant interference and criticism from my siblings, I ultimately understood that we all wanted the same thing; we wanted what was best for our dad. So gradually I adjusted, and while I continued to listen to their concerns, I took control. As the one who was with my dad most hours of the day, and responsible for 99% of his care, I believed I knew what was best for my father and made all the decisions relating to his medical care and financial situation and came to find that this greatly reduced the tension in the relationship with my siblings, because they slowly came to earn a greater respect for me and my role in our father’s care.

Caring for an Aging Parent

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

Caring for an Aging Parent in Portland

Making the decision to provide full-time care for a family can be a challenging one, and the process doesn’t always get easier. Here are a few tips to help alleviate family conflict during these stressful times.

• Maintain communication – involve all siblings in the discussions leading up to a final decision regarding care. Everyone’s opinion should be listened to and respected.
• Appoint one sibling to take charge – It’s important that one person be primarily responsible for all care related decisions; from medical care to finances. Typically, this should be the family member acting as a full-time caregiver for the parent. Other members of the family should respect ad support this person’s decisions.
• Expect challenges – siblings are likely to disagree on the best methods of caring for a parent, however, don’t allow these conflicts to negatively impact your relationship long term.
• Provide support – while the primary caregiver should expect to be responsible for 99% of the parent’s care, siblings should also play a role by acting as a support network; they should be willing to help out with transportation and occasional care.
• Remember what’s important – the well-being of the parent should always be the main priority. Having all their children involved will help provide for their physical and emotional well-being.

Portland Senior Planning

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

It is important for seniors to plan ahead when considering long-term care insurance because many companies will not accept individuals already in poor health and policy rates increase with age and physical decline. A policy rate is also locked in based on the time of application, and can be automatically reviewed annually without additional research being conducted into health conditions. Consumer Reports recommends, that while anyone over the age of 50 consider insurance, the best time to apply is at 65 provided the senior is in decent health.

The cost of long-term care insurance ranges from $55 to $12,000 dependent upon coverage type and age/health when purchased and coverage can be applied, often with the signature of a doctor, when a senior is no longer able to complete two of the following tasks independently on a day-to-day basis; cooking, eating, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, maintaining continence, moving from place to place at home.

In order to prepare for their futures, individuals should also ensure their wills are in place before they reach their senior years or an illness occurs, a Retirement Savings Plan is in place during their working years, and that they are aware of coverage available to them through either Medicare or Medicaid.

Long Term Care Planning in Portland

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

Seniors, Consider Options for the Future

According to a recent survey conducted by the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) 90% of people feel that they are unprepared to financially support their retirement, and will need to take on more fiscal responsibility in order to meet their goals. In order to make their finances go father and ensure they are well prepared for any unexpected emergencies later in their lives, individuals also need to consider their long-term care requirements (should the need arise), as well as the financial implications that go with it.

More than half of Americans will require long-term care of some variety during their senior years, but only 7% has obtained private insurance to help with funding. Since Medicare and Medicaid have limited requirements for long-term care coverage, this could be necessary since the cost to seniors and their families can be immense at up to $44,000 per year; an amount that many would be unable to come up with on their own.

Tips for Portland Caregiver

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

Ask, ask, ask. A very wise taxi driver recently told someone we know, “When you need something, you can’t suffer in silence. You just have to ask, ask, ask, and eventually you will find a way to get what you need.” He emphasized the point to her several times: “Just ask, ask, ask.” We promise this really does work. So, are you asking everyone you know for help? You don’t have to go through this caregiving journey by yourself, but you do have to “ask, ask, ask” to get what you need. You’ll be amazed how this can change your life.

Recharge your batteries. Remind yourself every day to take a break and have some fun. You will have nothing to give if your own well is empty, so make sure to fulfill this vital requirement. Think of all the little activities that recharge your batteries — taking a walk, playing with your dog, watching a comedy show, writing an email to a friend, sipping a latte and so on. Make a list of your unique energizers, both large and small, and then build these fun things into your life. As with everything else, if you don’t plan the fun stuff, it probably won’t happen. And remember, you will be a better caregiver when you are meeting some of your own needs, too!

Help for Family Caregivers – Portland OR

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

Recognize your feelings and lean into them. Acknowledge your feelings about caregiving and allow yourself to feel them — really feel them. If you don’t, you’ll find that they pop out anyway, sometimes in bizarre ways! It is like trying to hold something underwater that is meant to float. It takes lots of energy and it eventually pops up when you least expect it. So, the next time you are feeling frustrated, angry or sad about something related to caregiving, ask yourself why you are feeling this way, and give yourself some distance as you let the answer surface. When you give yourself permission to honor your true feelings, you can better understand yourself and move through your feelings to a safe place on the other side.

Transform your environment. Altering or modifying your environment can quickly transform your experience. Let’s say you have just returned from a visit with your loved one, and are feeling extremely stressed or exhausted. All you can think about is how much there is do to and how little time you have to do it. This is a perfect time to shift your environment. Put on your favorite music, light a candle, take a long bath, go for a walk, turn off the TV and listen to the silence, or indulge in some comfort food. (Not too much comfort food, or you’ll have another problem to deal with!) Change your environment, nurture your senses, and you’ll soothe yourself and transform your mood.

Transform your professional life — come clean. Have you shared any information about your caregiving role with your boss or co-workers? Be genuine and authentic in your workplace by acknowledging your caregiving responsibilities and you might very well relieve some stress, find more flexible ways to get your work accomplished, and feel more competent. It saps energy to hide something as important as your caregiving responsibilities from the people you work with — energy that you could probably use right now. When you begin telling people about your caregiving experiences, you may well discover those in similar situations, creative solutions to the challenges you face, and a level of support that can benefit all.

Elder Home Care in Portland – Hope for the Caregiver

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

Contact someone from your support squad NOW and tell her what you need. The next time you feel trapped and want to run away from your caregiving responsibilities, pull out your support squad list and contact the best person to help you regroup in that moment. Make sure you tell her why you are contacting her. Not only will she will feel valued, but you’ll share a gift of friendship by giving her the opportunity to play her “position” with gusto.

Listen to your “rooftop chatter.” Tune in and listen to what you are telling yourself. Would you allow anyone else to talk to you that way? Recognize if your thinking is moving in a downward spiral, or in an outward sweep looking at possibilities. Ask yourself some questions to reframe your perspective, and remember that when you change the way you look at something, the thing you look at changes.

Is my thinking helping me or hurting me? What would I tell a good friend who was having similar thoughts? What is my real percentage of responsibility in this situation? What small step I can take to improve the situation? What are ten possible solutions?

Get moving. Nothing sparks transformation more than taking action! But sometimes action is squelched by the urge for perfection. Relax, step back and begin to move forward by setting a minimal goal, a desirable goal and an optimal goal for anything you want to achieve. Then take action to hit the minimal goal (and we really do mean minimal) to get you moving in the direction you want to go. Doing something — no matter how small — does more than ruminating about what you should do and goes a long way to get the wheels of progress turning. Aren’t you feeling more in control already?

Portland Caregiving

Portland Home Care - Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR gives family members tips on helping yourself be a better family caregiver. If you need help caring for an elder or senior in your family, please call us at (503) 698-2020.

Shift from feeling trapped to feeling transformed. Think about a time when you felt trapped by something. Can you recreate that feeling in your body? For some people, it might feel like a weight sitting on their chest, accompanied by shallow breathing; for others, it might be tightness in the throat or a stomach knot. Now, imagine a time when you felt truly light-hearted, joyous, “on top of the world.” Can you feel that in your body? You may remember feeling energized, spontaneously taking a deep breath, with a smile or laugh surfacing from deep within.

Right now, in the present moment, you can actually move your sensation from feeling trapped to feeling more positive by consciously remembering what joy feels like — how good life can be! Use the power of your mind and body to shift your sensations.

Identify your “support squad.” Make a list of the people you can call, email or get together with for support. Note their contact information and their “position” on your squad. For example, some people are great in a crisis — they can talk you off the ledge. Other upbeat friends may be the ones who help shift your view by sharing a laugh, while someone else might be an “information guru,” serving as your human encyclopedia on specific medical information. Keep your list handy and update it as you make new connections during your caregiving journey.

Portland Senior’s Slowing Economy Tips

Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR - Provides home care & home health in Portland West Hills, East Portland, Clackamas, Gresham, Boring, Happy Valley, Oregon City, Downtown Portland. Call us today 503-698-2020 or email Guardian Angel Caregivers info@guardianangelhelp.com.

While researching tips and education sites and articles giving wisdom and common sense help on saving money in a tight economy.. we bumped into a few good sites. Here’s one that we recommend. It’s call Zen Habits.

The blog list ways to save money on food, gas, toys, utilities and much more. Here are a few on saving money on food.. that’s one item Portland seniors cannot live without.

Food is one of the biggest expenses, along with housing and cars, in most people’s budget. If you’re looking for ways to cut back on your budget, your food category should be one thing you look at closely — there’s almost always ways to reduce your spending here.

Eat out less and cook your own food more — this will save tons of money right off the bat. But frugal grocery shopping can be an art — and with a little planning, can also be a lot of fun. Here are several tips to save you some big bucks over the long term. 

How to Save Money on Food – read more.

Portland Senior Living Tips

If you are retired and want to learn more about stretching your dollars and resources for a better life in Portland OR, here are some tips on how to save money on cars and gas:

• Run errands once a week and use the most efficient route.
• Walk as much as you can.
• Stay home as often as possible.
• Keep tires filled to their proper pressure.
• Don’t suddenly stop or accelerate.
• Carpool.
• Bum a ride with friends and chip in for gas.
• Ride your bike.
• Use a diesel car if you have one.
• Coast when you see a red light ahead, instead of hitting the brakes.
• Use public transportation.
• Try to get by with one car if you have two.
• If you have one car that you only drive a couple of times a week, consider getting rid of it and using cabs.
• Drive your car until it’s old. This works really well when you buy a car that will run for 200,000 miles.
• Keep up on your car’s maintenance.
• Turn your car off at lights.
• Coast when you can.
• Limit city driving.
• On a long trip, keep a steady foot.
• Make it a challenge to see how far you can go on a tank of gas.
• Use a discount card to buy gas. (Many grocery stores offer them, as well as Costco).
• Fill up early in the morning when the air is cool, and the gas is dense. You’ll get more gas and less air.
• Fill up when your tank is half empty.
• Shop around for insurance. The rates can vary a lot!
• Use gasbuddy.com to find the lowest price on gas.
• Save Money on Utilities

http://beingfrugal.net/2008/04/03/frugal-tips-to-survive-a-recession/

Guardian Angel Caregivers in Portland OR - Provides home care & home health in Portland West Hills, East Portland, Clackamas, Gresham, Boring, Happy Valley, Oregon City, Downtown Portland. Call us today 503-698-2020 or email Guardian Angel Caregivers info@guardianangelhelp.com.