Active Body: Walking Strong

The Leg Curl is designed to help make walking and climbing stairs easier for a senior. Here’s what to do:

1. Stand behind a sturdy chair, holding on for balance. Lift one leg straight back without bending the knee or pointing the toes. Breathe in slowly.
2. Breathe out, slowly bringing the heel up toward the buttocks as far as possible.
3. Bend only from the knee, keeping hips still. The leg you are standing on should be slightly bent.
4. Hold position for 1 second.
5. Breathe in, slowly lowering the foot to the floor.
6. Repeat 10 – 15 times.
7. Repeat 10 – 15 times with the other leg.
8. Repeat 10 – 15 more times with each leg.

Source: National Institute on Aging.

Active Mind: Change Directions

If a senior has a regular route through the grocery store or to the mailbox, she may want to try a different route. Research has revealed that such a technique exercises the brain.

Or, if an older adult can’t leave the house, help your senior break a routine. Drink tea in the afternoon instead of coffee in the morning. If he reads the newspaper in the morning and watches television in the afternoon, suggest that he try switching that around. Make a note of what she likes and doesn’t like about the new order.

While she is going about her day, ask your mom to use her opposite hand to open doors and brush her teeth. Or suggest to dad he wear his watch on the opposite hand. These activities will help their brains re-think daily tasks.

Relevant News Articles for Seniors: Week Ending March 26, 2010.

Cigarettes and UV rays have long been tied to cancer…now obesity?  We are all aware of the health risks of being overweight or obese. Now we can add to the list an increase in risk of cancer. Just one more reason to eat healthy and exercise. From the Los Angeles Times.

Break a leg, not a hip! One of the top fears for seniors is the fear of falling. Rightfully so, since if a senior breaks a hip they are up to eight percent more likely to die within the next three months following the fall than someone of the same physical fitness and health that hasn’t broken a hip. Recently my cousin’s father (not my uncle – you know how family dynamics can be confusing) fell while ice skating with his granddaughter. This was in January. Two weeks ago (so early March) he found out that he had broken his hip. Why the delay in getting help? Because people equate a broken hip to a death sentence. However, if you get the help you need and take care of yourself, recovery from a broken hip is possible,.  From HealthDay.   (By the way, the prognosis for my cousin’s father is very good since he is still a spring chicken in his early-seventies and is in great physical shape.)

Honey (and Mom), I’m home! More and more households are becoming multi-generational. This isn’t a new concept. I know that my Mother shared a bedroom with her grandmother while growing up. However, the number of multi-generational households had fallen in the later half of the twentieth century and is now on the rise again. In 1940 about 25% of households were multi-generation. In 1980 that number had dropped to 12%. That number was back up to 16% in 2008 and expected to rise even more in the upcoming years. From The Christian Science Monitor.

There are a number of issues to consider when contemplating having your Mother/Father move in with you (or if you’re thinking about moving in with your son/daughter). Home Instead Senior Care created the makewayformom.com website which provides additional support and information, including a calculator that will help families decide if it makes economic sense to combine the two households or to continue living separately. See Too Close for Comfort. for more of an overview.  Before making the final decision you and should discuss Emotional Issues,  Comfort and Safety,  and Financial Affairs.

Collecting Unemployment at 55? When the economy tanks and cutbacks are necessary who generally gets laid off the first few rounds? If you guessed the employees making the bigger salaries with more benefits you guessed right.  If you were fired recently, something to consider is were you fired (or not hired) because of your age? Age discrimination is getting harder and harder to prove. In order to compete with your younger co-workers you should stay ahead of the game. Because you know computers now does not mean you’ll know all about them five years from now (or even one year from now!).  Remember that your younger coworkers are fresh out of school.  In order to compete with them for the same job when cuts are a definite, you must take classes, stay current, and know the direction your industry is headed.  From Newsweek.

Census Scams.  By now we’ve all received the letter stating we would be getting our census form soon and the census form itself. Hopefully you’ve opened it, filled it out, and sent it back. If you haven’t done so yet, get on it! If you have been a good citizen and taken the five minutes to fill this out, you would know that the census form does not ask for any personal financial information – bank account numbers, credit card accounts, etc. If someone calls you, emails you, or knocks on your door saying you didn’t fill out the form correctly and they need to verify your bank account number – hang up/delete/close the door and call the authorities. This is a scam! From Bankrate.com.

Here's to the last day of my twenties.  Have a great weekend!

How the Final Health Care Reform Legislation Helps The Fight Against Alzheimer's Disease

While the Alzheimer’s Association did not endorse any specific health care reform bill, the Association did work to ensure that all bills under consideration contained the strongest provisions as possible to help people with Alzheimer’s disease, their families, and their caregivers. Following are the substantial benefits that those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias – and their caregivers – will receive under the final health care reform bill.

CLASS Act: A new voluntary insurance program will help people who are unable to perform two or more functional activities of daily living pay for nonmedical services and supports – to help them remain within their homes and communities for as long as they can. Individuals pay premiums while they are working and then are eligible for cash benefits if they become functionally impaired. Eligibility for the cash payments specifically includes people who develop substantial cognitive impairment. Benefits can be used to pay for such things as home modifications, assistive technology, accessible transportation, homemaker services, respite care, personal assistance services, and home care aides.

Medical Research: A new medical research program – the Cures Acceleration Network – will focus on developing treatments and cures for high-need diseases. Currently, many laboratory discoveries never make it to market; that is, no treatments or medications are ever developed. The Cures Acceleration Network will emphasize funding research that bridges the gap between laboratory discoveries and actual treatments – so that more patients can benefit from discoveries made in the lab. The program is funded at $500 million a year.

Care Coordination: Individuals with Alzheimer’s often have one or more other chronic medical conditions. As a result, care coordination – effective communication among medical and community care providers and connecting an Alzheimer patient and his/her family with the services they need – is crucial to providing better medical care and to increasing the opportunity to remain at home. On this front, the final health care bill:

• Establishes an “Innovation Center” at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test various ways to promote care coordination in the Medicare program, with language specifically encouraging CMS to test care coordination models that include people with cognitive impairment and dementia;

• Creates an “Independence at Home” pilot project to provide high-cost Medicare beneficiaries, including those with Alzheimer’s, with coordinated, primary care services in lower-cost settings, rather than more expensive institutional settings;

• Allows groups of health care providers who join together to provide care for Medicare patients to share in any cost-savings they would achieve by being more efficient and cost-effective, provided that these “Accountable Care Organizations” coordinate care for those with multiple chronic conditions; and

• Provides private HMOs that participate in the “Medicare Advantage” program with a bonus payment for undertaking care coordination among seniors enrolled in their plans.

Transitional Care: A new Medicare transitional care pilot project will provide services to seniors at a high risk of reentering the hospital. Those with cognitive impairment are specifically included in the pilot project. Home- and Community-Based Services: Federal Medicaid payments will increase for those states that provide home- and community-based services to individuals who are otherwise eligible for nursing home care. This will encourage more states to provide – or to continue to provide – care for seniors with Alzheimer’s in their homes and communities, rather than only through nursing homes.

Insurance Reforms for Those with Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s: Individuals with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease – those under the age of 65 – often have a difficult time getting and keeping private health insurance. The federal government will now provide premium subsidies to low- and moderateincome individuals to help them purchase insurance as well as subsidies to businesses that provide health insurance coverage to retirees aged 55-64. More important, insurance companies will be required to:

• Issue insurance to all individuals who want to purchase it, thus ending pre-existing condition exclusions;

• Renew the policy to any enrolled individual wishing to renew;

• Maintain insurance for individuals who pay their premiums, thus ending the practice of rescinding the insurance coverage of high-cost individuals; and

• Limit the premiums charged to older individuals to no more than three times the amount charged to younger individuals;

Finally, individuals shopping for health insurance on their own will now have a centralized “exchange” at which they can obtain information about the various plans and at which they can purchase an individual insurance policy. This “exchange” is meant to foster competition among health insurers and therefore hold down premium rates.

Family Caregiver Assistance: Education and training grants will be provided to Geriatric Education Centers. To receive the federal funding, these Centers must offer at least two free or nominal-cost courses a year to family caregivers, including instruction on managing the psychological and behavioral aspects of dementia.

Workforce Training: Skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes will now be required to provide dementia management training for nurse aides. In addition, training and certification programs will be developed for home care aides to ensure they know how best to provide for an individual’s needs, including the needs of those individuals with dementia. Finally, funding will be provided for dental training programs, including programs that teach oral health care for people with cognitive impairment.

Quality Indicators: For many diseases, expert panels of doctors and scientists have established quality care indicators – best medical practices for treating and caring for someone with a particular disease. Alzheimer’s disease is not one of those conditions. The Department of Health and Human Services will now identify the diseases and conditions for which there are no quality care indicators and will then develop indicators for those conditions.

Closing the “Donut” Hole: At a certain point under the Medicare prescription drug program – a point known as the “coverage gap” or “donut hole” – Medicare stops paying part of the costs of a senior’s prescription drugs, requiring seniors to pay the full cost themselves. This gap will be phased out by 2020. And, in 2010, all seniors who reach the coverage gap will receive a $250 rebate. In addition, all prescription drug cost sharing under Medicare Part D will be eliminated for individuals who are on both Medicare and Medicaid and are receiving home- and community-based services.

This article was posted with the permission of the Alzheimer's Association.  Article was originally released on March 18, 2010.  To contact the Alzheimer’s Association nearest you, please visit http://www.alz.org/.

Bill Hinrichs from the Alzheimer's Association of Northeastern New York will be offering a program titled "Managing Challenging Behaviors" at Wesley Health in Saratoga on Tuesday March 30th at 3:30pm.  For more information, please contact Bill at William.Hinrichs@alz.org.

Active Soul: Support The Troops

Nearly half of all seniors (47 percent) who responded to a Home Instead Senior Care® survey said that staying spiritually engaged is a challenge. One way an older adult can do that, even if they are homebound, is by helping others.*

Why not send letters and e-mails to those who might need a boost? A Million Thanks is a year-round campaign to show appreciation to our U.S. Military Men and Women, past and present, for their sacrifices, dedication and service to our country through our letters, e-mails, cards and prayers.

For more information about A Million Thanks, visit http://www.amillionthanks.org/.

* The Boomer Project (www.boomerproject.com) completed online interviews with 523 seniors in the U.S. and 358 seniors in Canada, and 1,279 U.S. adult caregivers, ages 35-62, with a parent, stepparent or older relative for whom they or someone in their household provides care, and with 407 adult caregivers in Canada.

Can I get paid for caring for my elder parent?

I am a single woman trying to work my job and take care of my father. I have scaled back my hours at work in order to care for him, but am suffering financially. I was told by a co-worker that I could get paid for taking care of my dad. Is that true?

It is possible for you to enter into an arrangement with your father where he would pay you for the services you provide to him. In New York State, when a child or spouse cares for a parent or spouse, it is presumed to be done out of “love and affection.” However, that presumption can be overcome by a showing that you are providing actual services to the care recipient and a true “employee-employer relationship” has been established. There are several things to consider when putting a pay-for-care plan in place within a family.

First, if Medicaid is ever needed, the Department of Social Services is going to consider the payments to be gifts to you of your father’s money, unless you have certain legal formalities in place. A Caregiver Contract, also known as a Personal Service Contract, can be drawn up wherein your father contracts with you to provide care to him at a specified rate and for a specified period of time. This contract must have particular provisions, and there are record keeping requirements that must be adhered to in order to demonstrate that the contract is valid employment contract.

Another consideration is that the income earned by the caregiver must be reported as earned income. In addition, appropriate taxes and withholdings must be taken out, with the care recipient paying his or her required share of taxes on behalf of the employee. Many times, the use of a payroll service is appropriate to ensure that all proper reporting and withholdings is happening.

A third consideration for the family is the intra-family dynamics. Is it appropriate to offer this type of arrangement to only one family member? What if that family member cannot provide services for a period of time due to illness? Does the entire family agree on the terms of the arrangement and the selection of family care provider? Sometimes these types of family arrangements can work out for the benefit of all – the care recipient is able to be cared for by a family member, the care provider is able to be honestly and fairly compensated for the efforts he or she expends on behalf of a loved one, and the extended family is relieved of the stress of worrying about outside caregivers. However, each family is different and the appropriateness of this type of care arrangement must be carefully considered and constructed in order to assure the maximum benefits to the care recipient, care provider, and family.

This information was provided by JulieAnn Calareso, Esq., an attorney practicing Elder Law at the law firm of Burke & Casserly, P.C. located in Albany, NY.  http://www.burkecasserly.com/

Active Body: Power Grip

Having the strength to grip can impact the everyday lives of seniors. Seniors can do this squeezing exercise with a tennis ball while watching TV.

Hold a tennis ball or other small rubber or foam ball in one hand.

1.  Slowly squeeze the ball as hard as you can and hold it for 3-5 seconds.
2.  Relax the squeeze slowly.
3.  Repeat 10 – 15 times.
4.  Repeat 10 – 15 times with the other hand.
5.  Repeat 10 – 15 times more with each hand.

Incorporate this skill by opening a jar of pickles or olives. Or suggest playing fetch with the dog before naptime. Keep hands and fingers limber by folding towels or the laundry.

Relevant News Articles for Seniors: Week Ending March 19, 2010.

Aggressive measures for diabetics prove to be...too aggressive.  As if diabetics don't have enough health issues to think about they are also at high risk of heart disease and stroke.  To combat this doctors have aggressively pursued lowering diabetics' blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.  However, a decade long study shows that this aggressive treatment may put the diabetic at an even higher risk of heart disease.  From the Los Angeles Times.

Blindness be gone!   Researchers working together from the United States and Israel have recently developed technology that can restore vision to people who have lost their sight from disease.  In less time it takes to read the morning paper patients that have lost their sight may see again with the help of an implant (about the size of a child's fingernail bed) and glasses.  Designed to work together, the implant and glasses function as a human retina.  Researchers hope patient trials with this new technology can begin as early as 2013.  From The Wall Street Journal.

Exercise as a social outlet?  If the endorphins themselves don't make you run to the gym (yes, pun intended), how about thinking of the gym as a social outlet.  Couples have started going on "gym dates" to walk/run/bike next to one another.  Don't be surprised if you pass a group on the track discussing the latest best seller - yup, book clubs have combined with their walking clubs to keep the mind and body fit.   The concept of combining a workout with a social outing isn't new.  I can remember my Grandmother's weekday early morning walks around the mall with some girlfriends.  However, if you are prone to avoiding the gym, thinking about it in a new light may help you get there.   From The New York Times.

Irony in osteoporosis medication.  Drugs prescribed to fight osteoporosis and bone loss may actually put you at higher risk of having a hip fracture further down the road.  Women are often prescribed these drugs after menopause - even if healthy and active.  Now many are left wondering, 'Is what's good for me now harmful to me later?'  From USA Today.

Eldercare - What is the best option for right now?  Although we all know that seniors want to live in their own homes, there does come a time when you have to begin asking a few questions.  Is my home still safe?  If so, can I get some help inside my home?  If not, what are my options?  What can I afford?  Are there resources that can supplement the costs?  From The New York Times. 

These questions are best asked (and answered) when there isn't an emergency situation.  More often than not, my office receives calls from an adult child frantic because their Mom/Dad is being discharged from the hospital within hours, and they can't take care of him/her all alone.  Imagine how much easier this same situation would have been to handle if the caller had discussed this with their Mom/Dad when not in a crisis.  Home Instead Senior Care developed the 40/70 Rule to open doors for tough conversations when Mom/Dad is 70 or the adult child is 40 - or at least when everyone's still healthy.  Visit The 40/70 Rule for more information.

Active Mind: On Call

Many older adults have a telephone that is programmed with the numbers of family and friends. So all they have to do is hit a speed dial button to make that important connection. A senior can attempt to recall all of the numbers in the telephone directory and make a list.

A senior may want to think of a different telephone number each day this week that she might need and memorize that number. At the end of the week, review all the new numbers.

Incorporate this new skill by asking your loved ones to try to remember the ingredients and directions of a favorite recipe. (Your loved one might want to double check the cookbook to see how well she did.) Or think about a hobby he or she hasn’t done for a long time. Suggest they remember the steps and write them down.

Activities for the Mind, Body, & Soul: Introduction

Join me Mondays and Wednesdays over the next few weeks as I post 15 activities that you can use to keep your senior loved ones active - mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Below explains why Home Instead Senior Care developed the Activities for the Mind, Body, and Soul cards.  To view all activity cards at once or to download them for yourself visit http://www.getmommoving.com/.

Both seniors and adult children agree: staying physically active is a major challenge for older adults, according to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care network.* But what does that mean to a senior’s everyday life and to family caregivers looking to help and motivate their loved ones?

For many older adults, inactivity is the first step down a road that leads to frailty and decline. Family caregivers as well as seniors want to do everything possible to keep that from happening. The National Institute on Aging says that seniors are more likely to stay active if they:

1. Think they will benefit from activities
2. Participate in activities they enjoy
3. Believe the activities are safe

Keeping an older adult’s mind, body and social life active can prevent or even reverse frailty, experts say. Family caregivers assisting seniors are in a unique position to help them figure out what activities will work best, according to Stephanie Studenski M.D., M.P.H., an authority and researcher of mobility, balance disorders and falls in older adults, who serves as director of clinical research for the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging.

Dr. Studenski says, “A key is simple activities that seniors find pleasurable or enjoyable. If possible, engage frail older individuals in what they’d like to do. And don’t separate the mind, body and soul activities. Seniors need to stay active doing things they find meaningful and helpful to others, even if they can no longer get out of the house."

The National Institute on Aging Exercise and Physical Activity Guide points out that regular exercise and physical activity are important to the physical and mental health of almost everyone, including older adults. They can help maintain and improve endurance, strength, balance and fitness; help improve the ability to do things; help manage and prevent diseases like diabetes, breast and colon cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease; and help reduce feelings of depression. Being active may also help improve mood and may maintain some aspects of cognitive function, such as the ability to shift quickly between tasks. Emerging data also suggests that engaging in social and productive activities may help maintain well-being.

*The Boomer Project (www.boomerproject.com) completed online interviews with 523 seniors and 1,279 adult caregivers, ages 35-62, with a parent, stepparent or older relative for whom they or someone in their household provides care.

Home Instead in the News!

From the Post Star

Seniors help each other stay independent
By LYDIA WHEELER

QUEENSBURY -- MaryAnn Manfrini bowled four 300 point games last week.  At 78, Nintendo Wii bowling is one of the many ways Manfrini stays active and independent.

Manfrini and Gertrude Zang, 87, are both residents at the Glen at Hiland Meadows, an independent and assisted retirement living community, and they recently started a Wii bowling team called the Alley Cats. In October, their team competed against 17 other teams from five local independent senior communities in a Wii Olympics and won.

Both women said they consider bowling on the Wii a great form of exercise and a way for them to stay active.

"If you don’t use it you lose it," said Manfrini.

"It’s so easy to do nothing. It’s going to cause cobwebs up above. You have to realize you are getting older. It’s inevitable, you have no choice," she said.

According to Home Instead Senior Care, a home health care agency, fear of frailty is a concern not only for Saratoga, Washington and Warren County area seniors, but for the adults who worry about their elderly loved ones.

A survey by the Home Instead Senior Care network showed that seniors worry most about losing their independence, their health, running out of money, not being able to live in their own homes and having a spouse or other family member die.

"Falling is one thing because we’re all prone to fractures that would set us back. Becoming ill would also be a major problem," Manfrini said.

Manfrini said she moved into The Glen with her husband, but he died a year and a half ago.

"It’s so easy to do nothing after loosing someone that’s been a major part of your life," said Zang, whose husband passed away less than a year ago.

Zang, who is considered legally blind and suffers from macular degeneration, has been living at The Glen since it opened about eight years ago. She said she and her husband moved in after taking care of their own home became too cumbersome for them and their children.

"We didn’t want to be a burden on them so we moved here. I wanted them to live their own lives without having to watch out for me and my husband," she said.

The Glen is an independent-living facility, but Manfrini said it offers a sense of security for its residents.

"I think for a lot of aging adults, their biggest fear is the loss of independence," said Cory Seelye Dixon, social coordinator at The Glen at Hiland Meadows.

"I think that is a fear that scares people about moving in here. The idea of a retirement facility, especially in the Northeast, is still foreign. Everyone immediately thinks nursing home," she said.

But Manfrini said she feels very independent at The Glen, more so than if she had moved in with her children.

The key to maintaining independence as you age, said Cindy Harrington, a spokeswoman for Home Instead Senior Care, is to stay active.

To help seniors like Manfrini and Zang stay engaged and fit, local senior care experts have launched a program called Get Mom Moving.

The Web site http://www.getmommoving.com/ includes practical tips for seniors and their family members for exercising the mind, body and soul.

"If you’re taking care of those pieces, you’ll live a longer life," said Harrington.

The Web site offers activities, exercises, warning signs of declining health in aging adults, the reasons why seniors become frail, and lists other sites on the Internet to visit to help with senior aging issues.

Although staying active helps you live a longer, healthier life, Dick Sage, 88, said he believes there is a lot of luck involved.

Sage and his wife, Rita, 87, both live at The Glen.

"We’re fortunate we both still have our marbles — or most of them. That makes a bid difference," he said.

As he ages, Sage said there isn’t anything he’s afraid of in the years ahead of him.

"We recognize we have to be more careful. I don’t drive at night. I try to be reasonable in the things we do. It’s not a fear, it’s a recognition that we’re not 25 anymore. They aren’t fears, they are just things we don’t want to happen," he said.

Manfrini said that for her, aging is all about a state of mind.

"It’s the way you feel. Physically, your body tells you you’re getting older, but it’s how you handle it. There’s a lot to life here yet," she said.

Relevant News Articles for Seniors: Week Ending March 12, 2010.

Miracle drug for Alzheimer's Disease turns out to be no miracle.  For those of us that have faced Alzheimer's Disease head-on any new hope is worth pursuing.  Unfortunately, one drug that originally had been found to slow down cognitive decline, even improving some cognitive function in some patients, just underwent it's first late-stage clinical trial and the results were not the miracle researchers were expecting.  From The New York Times.

How many reasons do we need to exercise?  Exercise makes us healthy, makes us feel good, makes us look good, and makes us less stressed.  Exercise also boosts our memory?  Yup, according to recent findings exercise is also great way to improve your memory.  So put down the Sudoku, grab that leash, and take your dog for a nice long walk.  With weather recently in the 50s you have no excuse. Your body and mind will thank you!  From The Dallas Morning News.

Scam artists love to prey on the elderly.  It is estimated that each year seniors collectively lose $2.6 billion (yes billion) to scams (either by a scam artist or their own family members).  Last year I had the privilege of having Maurice Padula from the New York State Attorney General's office come to my office to present tips on avoiding scams.  His presentation was especially pertinent to my field of work because scam artists seek out those that are more vulnerable, particularly seniors.  Maurice informed us of one scam, The Grandparent Scam, in which a scammer convinces the senior that s/he is the senior's grandchild and has gotten themselves into trouble.  "Hi Gram.  Can you send me $1000.00 (or more) so I can get out of this mess.  Send it to my friend Johnny.  Oh, and please don't tell Mom and Dad, they'll kill me!" This scam as well as 4 others targeted at seniors are highlighted here.  From Bankrate.com.

Taking blood thinning medication? Are you one of the over 4 million Americans currently taking a blood thinning medication. If so, you should know how to take the prescription safely. Some medications as well as some foods can have bad interactions with your blood thinner. Always let your doctor (or doctors) know that you are taking a blood thinner, especially if they are prescribing you a new medication. Also beware of any severe pain in your abdomen or head, any unusual bleeding or bruising, and have your blood checked regularly.  From Parade.

Too many screenings a bad thing? The American Cancer Society once again is challenging the frequency of cancer screenings recommended by doctors. This time the ACS is asking men to reconsider having a yearly PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer. Is the ACS moving us in the right direction in our fight to end cancer? From USA Today.

Too Close For Comfort: Financial Affairs

Financial Freedom or Household Headaches?

Managing household finances can be complicated when sharing a home with a senior parent. Following, from Adriane Berg, author of “How Not to Go Broke at 102!,” CEO of the boomer consulting company Generation Bold, and a founder of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, are financial considerations:

1. Compute the costs. To do that, Home Instead Senior Care and Berg have created a calculator, located at http://www.makewayformom.com/, which features 15 questions about your expenses and living habits. Answer those questions and the calculator computes the results to help you determine whether living separately or together is the best option.

2. Share but beware. Share overhead costs such as heat and water, but beware of the tax implications of combining households. A tax adviser should be consulted before such a move.

3. Keep money separate. Maintain separate bank accounts if the senior is of sound mind. Seniors who stay in control of their finances thrive.

4. Consider caregiving. While a healthy senior can serve as a grandchild’s caretaker, an unhealthy older adult will need care. That can be a disruption of a household as well as loss of work income. You must factor that into your budget.

5. What about deductions? You may qualify for a dependency deduction for your older loved one if they’re living with you, however, seniors may lose a homeowner’s deduction if they move out of their own home.

For more information and tips on the financial ramifications of intergenerational living, log on to http://www.makewayformom.com/ for the free “Too Close for Comfort?” handbook.

Too Close For Comfort: Comfort and Safety

Safe Haven or Parent Trap?

Adult children who move a senior into their home, or who move into a senior’s home, should ensure that their loved ones are safe by conducting a physical inventory with an eye toward safety and comfort, according to Dan Bawden CGR, CAPS, GMB, owner of Legal Eagle Contractors in Houston and the founder of the Certified Aging in Place Specialists (CAPS) program. Consider these suggestions for quick fixes and affordable remodeling projects:

1. Lower the peephole. Osteoporosis changes the height of some seniors, making it difficult for them to look through a door’s peephole. Why not add an additional, lower peephole to your front door for about $40.

2. Install outside shelves. Seniors coming to the front door with groceries or other packages can be at risk of dropping their merchandise or falling. Construct a shelf on the outside of the house on which to set keys and packages. Shelves and brackets can be purchased at home improvement stores. Cost is about $75 including installation.

3. Combine kitchen faucet and hose. Kitchen faucets with a pull-out spray hose nearby may be replaced with an all-in-one faucet and spray hose for easier use. A soap dispenser can then be placed in the hole that once held the spray hose. Cost for the improvement, about $350.

4. Install commercial carpet. If replacing a family room carpet, select a low-pile commercial grade that is cheaper than conventional carpet, which can run $35 to $40 a square yard. Commercial carpet also is easier to keep clean and safer for walkers and wheelchairs.

5. Create attic storage. Turn your attic into a store room for your senior’s possessions by attaching plywood boards to attic floor beams. Cost of the remodel: about $2,000.

For room-by-room suggestions to make your home senior-friendly, log on to http://www.makewayformom.com/ for the free “Too Close for Comfort?” handbook.

Too Close for Comfort: Emotional Issues

Challenges or Rewards?

Intergenerational living seems to generate positive feelings of care and accomplishment combined with stress. That’s what recent Home Instead Senior Care research indicates. Consider this:

1. Those who live with their senior loved ones say the best thing about being a caregiver is providing the best care possible (30 percent), followed by a sense of accomplishment (27 percent) and staying connected/becoming closer (22 percent). Seventy-two percent of these caregivers believe that caring for their relative has been rewarding.

2. The worst thing about being a caregiver is finding no time for themselves (41 percent). Seventy-two percent of those who said they lived too close to their loved ones rated their stress as a 5 on a scale of 5.

Matthew Kaplan Ph.D., Penn State Intergenerational Programs extension specialist, and Home Instead Senior Care, offer these tips:

1. Take a family partnership perspective. Everyone needs to be informed and to give input into household arrangements.

2. Set expectations right away. Avoid conflict by working to ensure upfront that family members see eye-to-eye about each person’s roles and responsibilities.

3. Ask for help. Engage children in responsibilities around the home and make it clear to adult siblings that you want them to be involved. If extended family will not help with respite care, arrange for a professional caregiver service.

4. Make family unity key. Strive for routines, rituals and traditions that bring the family together including family movie night or a walk.

5. Find threads of common interest and build on those to develop family activities that are conducive to building deeper relationships. Focus on something very simple that seems to generate a common bond, such as ethnic cooking, family history, health or wellness.

6. Keep lines of communication open. Recognize the importance of private time and family time for every member of the household. Visit www.4070talk.com for more information.

7. Distinguish between private space and shared space. Shared space should be stocked with material inviting for all ages and items that could stimulate discussion, such as a child’s project or “brag book” of photos. Make clear rules regarding the private spaces set aside for each member of the household.


For more about the emotional issues of intergenerational living, log on to http://www.makewayformom.com/  for the free “Too Close for Comfort?” handbook.

Too Close for Comfort?

It’s happening in the White House and in homes throughout the United States.  When President Obama’s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, settled in with her family in Washington last year, they became part of a growing national trend.

The increasing number of seniors now living under the same roof with at least one other generation is more than just political news. According to a recent survey conducted for the local company Home Instead Senior Care, 43 percent of adult caregivers in the U.S. ages 35 to 62 reside with the parent, stepparent, or older relative for whom they or someone else in their household provides care.1 The Census Bureau confirms this growing trend: In 2000, 2.3 million2 older parents were living with their adult children; by contrast, in 2007, that number jumped to 3.6 million3 – a 55 percent increase.

The challenges that can arise from intergenerational living have prompted Home Instead Senior Care to launch a public education campaign to help families determine if living together is a good idea and to provide tips on how to make such an arrangement work well for seniors as well as their family caregivers if they do decide to combine households. This campaign will help adult children begin to address such issues as the stress of caregiving under one roof, adapting a home for two or more generations and merging household finances.

Several factors are driving this trend.  We see families coming together to share family caregiving duties for economic reasons and emotional support. Sometimes the seniors need care, but in other instances the older adults could be providing care to their own grandchildren. Seniors may feel they need the emotional support of an extended family and, in these difficult economic times, financial assistance. Regardless of the reasons, combining households is a big decision. Some families may decide that maintaining separate residences is the best alternative.

At the center of the campaign is a handbook, available free from the local Home Instead Senior Care, which addresses the emotional, financial, and comfort and safety aspects of intergenerational living.

The handbook was compiled with the assistance of three national experts: Matthew Kaplan Ph.D., Penn State Intergenerational Programs extension specialist; Adriane Berg, CEO of Generation Bold and a consultant on reaching boomers and seniors; and Dan Bawden, founder of the CAPS (Certified Aging in Place Specialists) program for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). A Web site http://www.makewayformom.com/ provides additional support and information, including a calculator that will help families compute and compare whether living together or maintaining separate residences is the best financial option. In addition, the Web site features a virtual tour of an intergenerational home where visitors can hear from a real family and see firsthand how they’ve adapted their home.

Penn State’s Matt Kaplan said that families should approach decisions of combining households from a partnership perspective. “Ask yourself, ‘Can I get the whole family behind the idea?’ When a decision is made to combine families, expectations must be set right away. Family members must listen and become engaged in conversation. The more the entire family buys in at the beginning, the more likely they will be to come up with great ideas,” he noted.

“People need independence, but seeking interdependence and family unity are important as well, particularly in today’s hectic and demanding world.”

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1. Survey Methodology: The Boomer Project (www.boomerproject.com) completed online interviews with 1,279 U.S. adult caregivers, ages 35-62, with a parent, stepparent or older relative for whom they or someone in their household provides cares. Of the 1,279 family caregivers interviewed, 548 live with the senior receiving care.

2. U.S. Census Bureau; online at http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P027&-format=&-CONTEXT=dt

3. U.S. Census Bureau; online at http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B09016&-format=&-CONTEXT=dt

For more information about Home Instead Senior Care’s campaign including additional research results and an executive summary, log on to http://www.makewayformom.com/.