Family caregivers dread bringing up elder care issues with their aging relatives. Discussing these sensitive subjects over the telephone is no way to deal with a senior loved one. That’s why trips home during the holidays often are ideal times to talk with an aging loved one. When you’re visiting during the holidays, check out some of the tips offered in the “40/70” Rule Booklet that help caregivers communicate with their aging parents on sensitive subjects:

Get started. If you’re 40 or your parents are 70, it’s time to start observing and gathering information carefully and thoughtfully. Don’t reach a conclusion from a single observation and decide on the best solution until you have gathered information with an open mind and talked with your parents.

Talk it out. Approach your parents with a conversation. Discuss what you’ve observed and ask your parents what they think is going on. If your parents acknowledge the situation, ask what they think would be good solutions. If your parents don’t recognize a problem, use concrete examples to support your case.

Sooner is best. Talk sooner rather than later when a crisis has occurred. If you know your loved one has poor eyesight or has trouble driving at night, begin to address those issues before a problem arises.

Forget the baby talk. Remember you are talking to an adult, not a child. Patronizing speech or baby talk will put older adults on the defensive and convey a lack of respect for them.

Maximize the independence. Always try to move toward solutions that provide the maximum amount of independence for the older person.

Look for answers that optimize strengths and compensate for problems. For instance, if your loved ones need help at home, look for tools that can help them maintain their strengths.

Ask for help. Many of the issues of aging can be solved by providing parents with the support they need to continue to maintain their independence.

Call your local Home Instead Senior Care office for home care services at 905- 276-2273.

Click here to check out local senior resources that can help in the New Braunfels area.

Check out: http://www.caregiverstress.com/category/helpful-tips-for-caregivers/caregiver-communication/40-70-rule/40-70-conversation-topics/

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Home Instead Senior Care hosted the kickoff to their 3rd Be A Santa To A Senior Campaign in Mississauga, on November 4th. The program, in partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society, Shoppers Home Health Care and The Mississauga Seniors Center, will be collecting and distributing gifts to isolated and needy seniors in our community.

Stella Amber MP for Mississauga South joined everyone to help decorate the tree and kickoff the campaign. Participating nonprofit organizations in the local communities identify isolated and deserving seniors and provide those names to the local Home Instead Senior Care office in Mississauga. Christmas trees go up in stores, and other locations, that feature Be A Santa To A Senior paper ornaments with the first names only of the seniors, and their gift requests. Holiday shoppers pick up an ornament and buy the item(s) on the list and return them unwrapped to the store. For more information, visit www.beasantatoasenior.ca

The holidays are a good time for family caregivers returning to Mississauga to tune into the signs that an older family member may need extra help to remain safe at home.

To learn more about those signs, register for the free Home for the Holidays web conference, moderated by a representative from the Home Instead Senior Care network.

The hour-long web conference will be available in Canada, and offered on Monday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. To register, go to Family Education at Caregiverstress.com.

“It’s easy for busy family caregivers to overlook the subtle signs that a senior loved one needs assistance,” said Greg Bechard, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office in Mississauga. “But during the holidays, when many return to their childhood homes, the difference between your last visit and now can highlight those red flags.”

The web conference will be moderated by Director of Strategic Alliances Mary Alexander of Home Instead, Inc., the franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care network. Alexander is a family caregiver and a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA).

“Signs of potential trouble can be evident in a senior’s home – such as spoiled food in the refrigerator and piles of unpaid bills – or personal indicators such as episodes of confusion or dirty and unkempt clothing,” Bechard said.

Countering senior resistance to assistance can be a challenge. President and CEO of the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA), Suzanne Mintz adds, “Family caregivers must recognize that their parents are adults and – unless there are cognitive or emotional problems – they can make their own decisions. We do not and should not become our parents’ parents. We must remember we will always be their children.”

The web conference will feature information about countering senior resistance to assistance as well as resources that can help family caregivers and senior care professionals.  To register, go to Family Education at Caregiverstress.com.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

This year’s Be a Santa to a Senior campaign kicks off Nov. 4 at the Mississauga Seniors Centre

Last year the campaign, developed and sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care, the largest provider of non-medical services for seniors worldwide, delivered more than 250 Christmas gifts to local seniors. With a continuing tough economy, it’s expected the need will be greater this year.

“Be a Santa to a Senior is a way to show our gratitude to an important segment of our community who have contributed so much throughout the years,” said Home Instead Senior Care owner Greg Bechard. “It’s not just about presents; more than 1.8 million Canadian seniors over 75 live alone, and for many it’s the human connection that makes the campaign important”, says Bechard.

It’s simple to join in: between Nov. 4 and Dec. 9, go to www.beasantatoasenior.ca and enter your postal code to find a participating store. Go to the store and take an ornament off the Christmas tree. On the back of the ornament there is the first name of a senior and their requested gift. Purchase the gift and deliver it unwrapped, along with the ornament, to a store employee.

On Dec. 14, Home Instead Senior Care office employees will host a gift-wrapping party at The Mississauga Seniors Centre for staff and volunteers who will wrap the gifts for delivery.

Home Instead Senior Care’s Mississauga office is partnering this year with several local organizations and businesses including Alzheimer’s Society of Peel and Shoppers Home Health Care.

Popular and economical gifts for seniors include slippers and socks, toiletries, pet food, blankets and pajamas.

Seniors are chosen for the program before the holiday season by participating not-for profit-organizations.

Mississauga Seniors Centre is located at 1389 Cawthra Rd. Mississauga South MP Stella Ambler will help kick off the campaign at 1 p.m.

Source: Mississauga.com

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Home Instead Senior Care partners with local non-profit and community organizations to identify seniors who might not otherwise receive gifts this holiday season. The company then works with local businesses and retail stores to help facilitate the purchase and distribution of gifts by placing trees and ornaments within their various locations. Each senior’s gift requests are written on a Be a Santa to a Senior tree ornament.

Here’s how to help an underserved senior:

1. Find the nearest Be a Santa to a Senior tree location by using the form at the top of the page
2. Remove an ornament
3. Purchase the gift
4. Bring ornament and gift back to participating store and give to
   store employee.

View the video at CityNews.CA

It’s that easy.

Volunteers collect, wrap, and deliver the gifts to the seniors.

Dates vary by location, however, the program typically begins the first week of November with gift collection taking place through mid-December. Volunteers deliver gifts prior to Christmas.

Find a Tree today and brighten the life of a senior.

If there is not a Be a Santa to a Senior tree in your community, we encourage you to contact an organization in your community dedicated to helping seniors during the holidays.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Call now for your free in-home care consultation: 905-276-2273 or 416-239-2200.

Perplexed about what to get the senior in your life this holiday season? That older adult on your shopping list may well be facing two challenges: the economy that has seniors looking for basic items they can no longer afford and the loneliness that many seniors encounter because families may not be able to visit.

Many seniors, including those in care communities, could have no one to visit them during the holidays this year as families cut travel expenses and treasured family time. So the most valuable gift is companionship.

That’s why the Home Instead Senior Care^® network has developed a gift guide of presents that seniors may not be able to afford, but that can bring families together. Following are several suggestions:

1. A newspaper subscription – Some of your senior loved one’s fondest memories could revolve around life at the dinner table discussing the day’s events. A subscription to a daily newspaper can help them continue that tradition with you.
2. DVD player and favorite DVDs – A DVD player will help your older adult enjoy their favorite old movies. But it will be much more special if you bring the popcorn and make a night of it.
3. Tickets to a sporting event or play – What better treat than tickets for your senior loved one and the rest of the family to attend a play or favorite team event?
4. Scenic train or boat trip – Many communities have day excursions – such as scenic train or boat trips – which can serve as great incentives for seniors to get out and about.
5. A calendar – Create a calendar with activities that are going on in your family’s life so a senior can feel a part of them. Check online; there are many resources for personalizing calendars with family photos.

If you’re looking for other gift ideas, consider the Homemade Memories Cookbook, which features family recipes and stories. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Home Instead Senior Care Foundation. If you can’t be there with an older loved one, remember that the next best thing is the gift of companionship services. Call your local Toronto Home Instead Senior Care office today for more information – 905-276-2273 or 416-239-2200.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Senior gift requests are expected to be up again this holiday season amid worries about the threat of declining benefits and the economy.

Be a Santa to a Senior®, the popular campaign that has delivered 1.5 million gifts to needy seniors throughout North America during the past seven years, is gearing up again this holiday, according to the Home Instead Senior Care® network, the world’s largest provider of non-medical, in-home care services for seniors.

The program relaunches during a time when already-nervous seniors faced the threat of Social Security payment delays as part of the debt-ceiling debate earlier this year. These older adults have lost nearly one-third (32 percent) of their buying power since 2000, according to the Annual Survey of Senior Costs from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a senior advocacy organization.

Local offices of the Home Instead Senior Care network, the world’s largest provider of non-medical in-home care and companionship services for older adults, have joined their area senior care organizations and retailers to provide gifts and companionship to seniors who otherwise might not receive either this holiday season.

In most years, seniors receive a small increase in their Social Security checks, intended to help them keep up with the costs of inflation. But since 2000, the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) has increased just 31 percent, while typical senior expenses have jumped 73 percent, according to the survey.

In 2011, for the second consecutive year, seniors received no COLA. Before 2010, however, seniors had received a COLA every year since 1975, when the automatic COLA was introduced. Seniors can expect to receive only a very small COLA next year, the TSCL reported.

Be a Santa to a Senior isn’t just about gifts, though. It is designed to give back to those needy seniors as well as to help stimulate human contact and social interaction for older adults who are unlikely to have guests during the holidays.

Here’s how the program works: Before the holiday season, the participating nonprofit organizations in local communities throughout North America will identify needy and isolated seniors in the community and provide those names to local Home Instead Senior Care offices for this community service program. Christmas trees will go up in stores that feature ornaments with the first names only of the seniors and their respective gift requests.

Holiday shoppers can pick up an ornament, buy items on the list and return them unwrapped to the store, along with the ornament attached. The local Home Instead Senior Care office then enlists the volunteer help of its staff, senior-care business associates, nonprofit workers and others to collect, wrap and distribute the gifts. A community gift-wrapping event, when hundreds of the presents will be wrapped, is held in many communities.

Businesses are encouraged to contact their local Home Instead Senior Care office about adopting groups of seniors. For tree locations in your local area, or for more information about the program, visit www.beasantatoasenior.com.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Award-Winning Program

The American Society on Aging has recognized Home Instead, Inc. as the Small Business of the Year for it’s exclusive CAREGiver training program designed by the world-renowned experts of The George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Center. This program and other professionally developed and recognized Alzheimer’s care training programs provide CAREGivers with the latest in Alzheimer’s education and dementia care techniques, so you can be assured your loved one is with a trusted professional.

Home Instead Senior Care® has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association. The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Their mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

Alzheimer’s disease is fast becoming one of the greatest medical challenges facing Americans today. The Alzheimer’s Association Early Detection Alliance (AEDA) spread’s awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. Their goal is to educate everyone about the warning signs of Alzheimer’s, the importance of early detection, and the resources available to help them.

If you’d like more information about our Alzheimer’s program, please call us at 905-276-2273. You may also wish to visit the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada at www.alzheimer.ca or log onto the Alzheimer’s Foundation for Caregiving in Canada website at www.alzfdn.ca/ for additional information and resources

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Welcome to Home Instead Senior Care – Serving Mississauga including Streetsville, Clarkson, Port Credit, Erin Mills, Meadowvale & Applewood.

If you’re looking for extraordinary in-home senior care and elder home companionship, you’ve come to the right place. Your local Mississauga Home Instead Senior Care office is your connection to compassionate, reliable one-on-one, non-medical assistance. We can provide everything you’d do for your loved one and more, so you’ll have confidence that your loved one is safe … whether you live several provinces away or just kilometers down the road, please call 905- 276-2273.

Our home care services are available around the clock, every day of the year and they include everything from companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, medication reminders, shopping and errands to continual care and Alzheimer’s care. With our extensive experience in elder care, we can help you find the right solution to assist your loved one in maintaining the best possible quality of life.

Here’s what a few of our happy clients say about us:

When we moved our aunt, who has dementia, from her retirement residence in one city to another to be closer to her family, it was a difficult adjustment for her. Fortunately, a dedicated team of HomeInstead caregivers provided her with continuing support for the many weeks it required for her to become comfortable in the new surroundings. Through memory challenges and mood swings, they were empathetic, caring and conscientious, providing her with patient companionship and reassurance. Home Instead of has been a real blessing to our family! Corinne & Dave

Dear Greg and all the staff of Home Instead Senior Care…..Our family will always be grateful for the wonderful help rendered to Mother in her home in the time of her declining health. Her doctor observed that he felt that she would not likely have lived as long or as well as she did without the care provided the Home Instead Caregivers. M.  Copeland

Jennifer was fabulous, and gave my dad and us a quality of life that we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy.  I wouldn’t have been able to be with him as I was if it were not for her….she truly cared for my dad and he really grew to love and trust her like none other. She gave him absolutely the best care, and he looked at her with hopeful eyes to make him as comfortable as possible. L. Ball

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.