Columbia Aged Care

Easter is this Sunday. Are you struggling for gift ideas or activities to do with your loved one?

The best gift you can give your loved one is to spend time with them.

Holidays can be a lonely time for elderly people if they are unable to spend it with family. By visiting your loved one over Easter it will show them how much you care about them.

There are many activities you can do together to celebrate Easter. Many families attend church together or share a meal for lunch or dinner.

Here is a list of things you can do at home or at your loved one’s nursing home:

• Baking Easter treats: making biscuits or your own chocolate Easter eggs.
• Easter parade: Family or nursing home members can create their own Easter hats and parade them for everyone else to see.
• Sing Easter songs: Hold a sing-a-long with your loved one or attend a local Easter concert.
• Games: Play board games or cards with your loved one.
• Craft activities: Create cards, Easter baskets, paint Easter eggs or sew Easter bunnies with your loved one. Here is a link to make your own simple Easter bunny.

Buying Easter gifts for your loved one can be difficult because not all elderly people can eat chocolate. It’s a good idea to find out what foods they enjoy and buy them instead.

Here is a list of Easter gift ideas for your loved one:

• Books with large font
• Cross stitch kit
• Knitting set
• Painting set
• Clothing
• Crossword books
• Puzzles
• Plants for their garden

Great gifts are ones from the heart, so think about making your loved one something special for Easter.

Have a happy Easter!

Choosing the right nursing home can be difficult and overwhelming for many carers. You want to ensure that the nursing home you choose will provide the best care for your loved one. However, with so many nursing homes available, how do you compare them to ensure you make the right choice?

The first step to finding the right nursing home is to start searching for homes in your area. Once you have a list of potential nursing homes you should then visit each home to assess them.

The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has put together a Nursing Home checklist that will help you to compare each nursing home by asking the right questions.

Some of the questions on the Nursing home checklist are:

Staff

• What was the attitude of the staff assisting you?
• What training do the care staff have?
• How many staff members provide overnight care?
• What type of care or services cannot be provided?

Rooms

• Are single rooms available or will your loved one have to share?
• What arrangements are there to ensure privacy for residents?
• What furnishings and personal items can your loved one bring and what is supplied?

Food

• What are the meal arrangements?
• Is there easy access to well-maintained outdoor areas?

Other

• How can family and friends be involved in your loved one’s care?
• What transport is accessible for visiting shops and family?
• Can the nursing home meet your loved one’s medical and special needs?
• Do you or your loved one understand the costs associated with care?

You can also prepare your own specific questions to add to the checklist and remember to take a new checklist to every nursing home you visit.

Feel free to conduct second or third visits to each nursing home to ensure you make the right choice.

Hopefully with a little bit of preparation and by asking the right questions you can find the best nursing home for your loved one.

Read the full checklist here.

When your loved one is moved into a nursing home it is important that they don’t feel abandoned and that their close relationships continue.

However, many people can become uncomfortable or distressed when visiting a nursing home. Aged Carer has given some helpful tips to create a more enjoyable and comfortable environment for when you visit your loved one.

• If your loved one is immobile or cannot communicate, holding their hand, stroking their forehead or quietly talking to them will let them know you care.
• Share a meal with your loved one in the dining room or order take away.
• Bring a family pet to visit, go for a walk around the garden and show off the pet to other residents.
• Bring a grandchild to visit. If they have a favourite book have them read it out loud to your loved one or if they play a musical instrument bring it along and put on a mini concert.

A short visit can break up your loved one’s daily routine and for many residents in an aged care facility a family visit is the highlight of their week. Making your loved one feel important and a part of the family is the best way to ensure your loved one is happy and content.

To read the full article, click here.

Technology-gossip.com's article, 'Nintendo Wii and the Elderly Play in Harmony' reports how the elderly are benefiting from the advent of the Nintendo Wii in regards to their mental health and physical fitness.

The Nintendo Wii has hands down, without a doubt, truly transformed the way we play video games. No one game console has single handily revolutionised the way we use and interact with video gaming. The Wii is a massive hit with families, partners, and friends and now it seems it’s become a hit with the elderly in care homes too.

The Helen McArdle Care Home Group in the north east of England has introduced the Wii to the residents so they remain active, fit and healthy whilst receiving respite care. Popular games among the elderly residents include favourite old past times such as bowling, golf and tennis.

To read full article CLICK HERE

Admitting your loved one requires more help than you can provide them with is difficult to do. eHow's Jennifer S. Wright's article 'Reasons for putting elderly parents in nursing home' explores five reasons that lead to putting your loved one in a nursing home.

Ermony Street's eHow article, 'How to Prevent Osteoporosis' is very informative offering tips on how to prevent osteoporosis, a disease that results in a decrease in bone mass and density - a disease that is commonly found in the elderly.


 

When moving into a nursing home it can take some time before your loved one feels at home in their new surroundings. It can also be quite a confronting adjustment for you and other people who visit. AgedCarer.com.au has an article that offers '12 tips for nursing home visits'.

Visiting a loved one in a nursing home can be confronting for many people. Residents of nursing homes can feel particularly vulnerable and isolated from close friends and family.

It is important that a family member does not feel abandoned in a nursing home and close relationships continue.

If you feel uncomfortable visiting a nursing home there are many things you can do to ensure your visit is enjoyable for the whole family. Remember to call ahead and arrange a convenient time to visit. 

12 Tips for nursing home visits

1. If a family member is immobile or unable to communicate simply holding their hand, stroking their forehead and talking quietly lets them know you care.
    
2. Talk about recent outings, bus trips or events at the nursing home.
    
3. Bring photos or a family movie of recent special events. Watch a DVD together and bring some snacks.
    
4. Share a meal with your family member in the dining room or order take away food. Call the nursing home ahead of time to organise a table.
    
5.  Bring grandchildren to visit. Ask a grandchild to read from a favourite book or to brighten a room with current art projects.
    
6.  Help a family member write a letter to a friend. Receiving a letter or card in return will lift their spirits.

To read full article CLICK HERE

There are a number of things you can do to make your loved one feel more at home at the nursing home. An article on eHow talks about one thing you can do and offers tips on 'How to Decorate the Nursing Home Room of a Loved One'. 

Just because your loved one has to live in a nursing home doesn't mean they cannot have some of the comforts of home. Adding personal touches around the room will remind your loved one of home.

Step one: Bring in family photos. Collage frames, which hold multiple photos are a perfect way to display family photos. Grandchildren, children, photos from when your loved one was young and raising a family are all great reminders of the love that surrounds them.

Step two: Display favorite collectibles. Shelves and curios work great to display family treasures. Shelves can also house wedding photos still in the original photo frame.

To read full article CLICK HERE 

 

As we get older our choice of what to wear may change. Our wardrobe sometimes needs to be revisited to bring in styles of clothing more practical and appropriate. Love to Know's Senior section has an article on how to choose clothes for elderly women. 

Special Fashion Needs
Senior and retirement living often means a change in fashion needs. As a woman continues to age, several factors may affect her fashion needs and might cause the need for more revisions in her wardrobe:

• Health issues – Changes in energy levels and reactions to medications can make it difficult to dress and perform personal care activities.
  
• Cooler body temperatures – Older women often find it harder to stay warm and they look for warmer clothes.
  
• Movement challenges – Arthritis, muscle weakness or medical issues can make it complicated, if not impossible, for a woman to get dressed and to operate bra closures and buttons.
  
• Mobility challenges – A woman may need clothes that are easy to get on and get off from a seated position.
  
• New environment – Activities in an active adult or golf retirement community require a wider range of fashions than if a woman has health or mobility issues that require her to be in an assisted living or nursing home situation.
  
• Change in peer group fashions – Often a woman wants to make changes in her wardrobe to more closely follow the styles worn by a new peer group.
  
• Downsizing a living situation – Less closet and storage space might cause a woman to want to reduce her wardrobe.
  
• More leisure time – A woman may find that she needs wardrobe changes to accommodate her increased involvement in casual activities such as travel, classes and exercise such as chair exercising, strength training or Tai Chi.

Selecting Fashions for Elderly Women
It is important for a woman to feel that she is maintaining her independence and that her personal needs are being met with her attire, even if she is not personally selecting the fashion items.

If selecting clothing for someone else, continue to seek her input and pay special attention to her comments about what she enjoys wearing and fashions worn by other women with whom she has contact.

Look for fashions that:

• Match her personal style. – She will probably want to wear the same styles and colors that she has worn for many years. If she liked classic styles when she was 50, she will probably still want to wear classic styles. If she was proud of her avant-garde style when she was younger, she will probably not be comfortable in soft colors with teddy bear appliqués.

To read full article CLICK HERE
 

It is important to take care of our feet. There are many pressure points in the foot that some say can affect our whole well being. 

Does your loved one have dry and painful cracked heels? There are a number of remedies about at the moment to help soothe dry heels. Treating your loved ones heels could improve their comfort and quality of life.

 The Aged Carer website's 'How to treat dry cracked heels' offers a number of tips to assist in preventing and treating dry, cracked heels.

Treating dry cracked heels

Fortunately there's lots you can to prevent dry cracked heels. People who suffer from diabetes, peripheal vascular disease or the frail aged should have their feet checked regularly by a podiatrist.
 

Foot care tips for dry cracked heels:

• Wash and dry the feet thoroughly every day, paying close attention to between the toes.
   
• Keep skin soft and supple by using a specialised heel balm. Normal moisturisers generally do not penetrate thick dry skin.
   
• See a podiatrist for treatment of calluses, corns and deep cracks.

• Wear protective shoes that cover the feet and prevent skin damage.

• Keep an eye out for small ulcers and cuts that could lead to infection.
   
• See your doctor if the skin on the feet or heels appear red, is hot to touch, swollen or painful. 

 To read full article CLICK HERE