Today, we have more seniors in our Minnesota communities than at any time in history. As a result, a much higher percentage of adult children of seniors than ever before are managing their parents’ personal care and home care. Often the senior parent has a passionate wish to remain in their own home, rather than move to senior housing. Typically, one or more adult children of the senior must act as caregivers to provide the companion services and assistance the senior needs to live as independently as possible.
What Are the Costs of At Home Senior Care?
The “costs” of at home care for elderly parents include not only financial expenditures, but many other costs for care giving adult children. These costs include:
• Fears and worries, especially when providing in home dementia care. Minneapolis home care givers report that dementia care can be incredibly stressful, especially when the senior does not have round the clock supervision. Concerns for children of parents providing Alzheimer’s care include falls, injuries, and an inability to call for help when needed. While seniors with mild Azheimer’s may be able to remain at home, the fear that the status could change or worsen at any time is very real.
• Time demands, which increase with a change in health status due to illness or declining health. Often the caregivers work full time and must manage fluctuating schedules, doctor’s visits, and other senior care needs in addition to a full time job. And when these caregivers also have young children of their own, the demands on their time can be especially stressful. Research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network revealed that in 43% of families, one sibling shoulders the primary responsibility for the senior parent’s care.
• Strained family relationships, which may suffer under the burden of adult senior care. Family conflicts may arise if some siblings are unwilling or unable to assist in providing senior care. Minnesota adult children of seniors often have siblings residing in other states, meaning they must shoulder the daily challenges involved in caring for the senior. According to research conducted for Home Instead Senior Care, in 46% of situations where relationships between siblings have deteriorated, the responsible caregivers report that their sisters and brothers are not willing to help provide care to their parents.
• Inheritance, which may be tapped to help cover the costs of respite care for the Minnesota based siblings who are managing the senior’s care. This may be the case when the senior’s needs become unmanageable, and it becomes imperative to hire an aide or attendant, if financial resources have not been established to manage long term care. For example, trained assistants may be required for seniors needing Parkinson’s care, Alzheimer’s home care, or round-the-clock care due to an inability to manage toileting and other personal care needs.
How to Cope with the Costs of In Home Care
How do adult siblings cope with these “costs” of at home senior care? If you find yourself in the situations described above, you may want to review the following resources to help manage the challenges and emotional turbulence you and your family may be experiencing.
1. Visit www.caregiverstress.com to find caregiver advice, tips and resources.
2. Download the brochure describing the 50/50 RuleSM available at www.solvingfamilyconflict.com. This 50/50 RuleSM is a public education program that was developed by Home Instead Senior Care to help caregivers cope with the challenges and stresses of caring for senior parents.
3. Consider bringing in respite care to help manage the senior’s personal care needs. If you are responsible for your elderly parent’s care, it’s important to take care of yourself as well to ensure you can last the distance! Many resources are available and can be found by internet searches on terms such as “home care Plymouth MN” and “in home care Minneapolis.” Or contact Home Instead Senior Care of Minnesota to obtain the senior care services you need, and get peace of mind.
Managing the needs of a senior can be a truly joyful and rewarding experience when you have the assistance and support you need.
Sharing Senior Care
Tips to Help Sibling Caregivers Plan and Work Together
Brothers and sisters don’t often share. Mind blowing…right? How can siblings who once couldn’t agree on household chores now be expected to create a fair plan for taking care of their now senior mom or dad in their Minnesota home? The answer…they’re not expected to tackle caregiving alone. Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis can help.
According to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network, sharing the care of elderly parents can put a strain on the relationship between adult siblings. In 43 percent of U.S. families, one sibling has the responsibility for providing most or all of the care for Mom or Dad, according to a survey of family caregivers. In only two percent of families did the siblings split the caregiving responsibility equally.*
“Senior caregiving can either bring families together or cause brother and sister conflict,” says sibling relationships expert Ingrid Connidis, Ph.D., from the University of Western Ontario. “In some cases it can do both. These issues can be very emotional.” Connidis has worked with Home Instead Senior Care to develop the 50-50 RuleSM public education program to help siblings deal with the many issues of caregiving. Following are tips on how siblings can better share the care.
1. Talk and listen. Research shows that seniors are so concerned about maintaining independence that they forfeit getting support. That’s why it’s important to communicate, preferably before your family is in the midst of caregiving.
Talk with mom or dad about what they need and want as they age. Would they prefer to stay at their Minnesota home? What type of home care would they like? Do they have a will or medical directive? All of these issues are better handled before a crisis occurs. To begin, schedule a meeting or telephone conference. Listen to each other’s questions and concerns then list the resources that your family will need through this journey.
2. Research options. When you and your siblings have identified the types of services, interventions or care options that your senior needs, research elder organizations and resources in the Minneapolis community that can help. Try to divide the tasks so everyone has input and the opportunity to share their ideas. A good place to start is by doing online research on websites such as http://www.IHLCaregiver.com and www.caring.com.
Those sites can help you identify resources in your Minneapolis are community such as volunteer networks and senior service providers. Your parent’s doctor or a geriatric care manager can be of assistance as well. Contact us to get a copy of the book “Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions,” for more resources and information about the changes you can expect to see in your elderly loved one.
3. Plan ahead. Once home care needs and senior care resources are identified, you and your siblings will have a better idea what will be required of your family. For example, if your loved one wants to stay at home, consider whether someone in the family will be supplementing that care or if you will divide those duties among siblings. If you will be contracting for outside resources for your dad such as meals on wheels or in-home care, not as much hands-on care will be required of your family, but someone will need to coordinate that schedule. Remember that inheritance issues and estate planning disagreements also can lead to family conflict so contact a professional in those areas.
4. Be flexible. Needs of a senior change as they age. Your family’s lives will change too. If dividing caregiver tasks equally isn’t feasible, consider a division of labor that takes into account each family member’s interests and skills, as well as their availability.
5. Be honest. Even siblings who live in the same Minneapolis community can find it difficult to stay in touch and be candid about what’s happening to their senior loved one. It’s important to remain in regular contact with your brothers and sisters to avoid miscommunication and hard feelings. If you have become the primary caregiver and it’s getting to be too much, make sure your siblings know that you need help. Discuss specific tasks they can help you with such as grocery shopping or running errands. If you don’t live in Minnesota, check in often with the primary caregiver to see how it’s going. A geriatric care manager can serve as an important third-party mediator if conflict arises and an in-home care company such as Home Instead Senior Care can provide respite and hands-on support.
* The study, conducted by The Boomer Project, included 711 adults in the U.S. ages 35-64 with living siblings or stepsiblings, who said they either currently provide care for a parent or older relative, or did provide care in the past 18 months.
Happy New Year!
The New Year brings NEW programs to Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis. We are rolling out a new transitioning program. It is called Hospital to Home -(H2H)
The idea of Transitional Care benefits both the discharge planners in hospitals, TCU’s (transitional care units), and Rehabilitation facilities along with the discharged patient. Home Instead Senior Care wants to prevent unnecessary readmissions because a patient doesn’t have reliable help at home to help them recuperate. We can be there to help- from Hospital to Home! Our team of Home Instead Senior CAREGivers that have been trained in H2H and been assigned to a specific location are waiting to assist and encourage as a patient takes the next step toward recovery.
Transitional care often falls to the family and then falls through the cracks. Home Instead Senior Care’s transitional service assumes much of that responsibility which would normally be assumed by a family member – an aging spouse, and employed daughter or son or,surprisingly often, a next door neighbor.
Hospital to Home provides the family with peace of mind, reduced stress, freedom from employment conflicts, and the opportunity to maintain balanced lives and regular communications about the transitional care experience of their loved one.
Call us today for information!
#(763)544-5988
Santa Comes to TOWN!
The time has finally come! Months and months of planning, organizing, collecting, and reaching out has come together! IT IS SANTA TIME! We have already visited 7 facilities. Santa has greeted and wished a Merry Christmas to countless appreciative seniors. The look on their face is as joyful as a child. It is an amazing event to be involved in!
Some of the visits were actually holiday parties. Our office got to see the seniors open these gifts that the community has donated! You cannot imagine the generosity. These gifts were spectacular! Some of the ornaments had VERY specific gift wishes. The expression on their faces when they opened the gift and GOT THEIR WISH…..PRICELESS! If everyday we could have such an outpouring of community giving, what a world it would be!
It has truly been our pleasure to make the holiday season a little brighter for some seniors who are isolated, financially struggling, or without family. Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis has had the blessing of hearing the laughter and seeing the smiles.
A BIG Thanks to all of the community outreach!
Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis would like to THANK the good people at all 14 Byerly’s and Lund’s –Prairie Stone Pharmacy locations. We set the trees up the week of November 8th. The names of seniors who were isolated, with little or no family, or struggling financially started coming into our Maple Grove office. The ornaments had gift wishes written on them, one senior at a time. Meals on Wheels and Little Brother Friends of the Elderly also were key participants in the Be a Santa to a Senior program.
Another exciting addition this year were the other community groups wanting to participate in the entire process. Twin West Chamber in Plymouth had a tree at their location along with Sunrise of Minnetonka. Sunrise was exceptionally touching because it was seniors giving to seniors. In this senior living community, the joy of giving came full circle. I was able to speak to a resident at Sunrise and he expressed that he has always lived with “plenty” and it felt “rewarding” to give to those seniors who go without. He said next year he wanted to be a volunteer and participate in the entire process.
Meadowbrook Orthopedics chose to help in the entire process this year. Not only did they take several ornaments and purchase the gifts but they asked if they could be involved in the delivery process. They wanted to see their participation in the program through to the end when the gift goes into the seniors arms. Their smiles. Their tears of gratitude. It doesn’t get better than this!
The spirit of giving is upon us. It is an amazing feeling to be able to go with Santa and deliver those gifts! Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis wants to make sure that EVERYBODY that participated in any way for this cause is acknowledged. Know that you have made a difference in a life. The magic of the holiday spirit is powerful and our goals can be even larger next year! Express your interest early!
The extra work and organization of the participants is much appreciated.
Besides doing their job, they kept the process running smoothly. They would call
us when the gifts started to pile up and we frequently picked up truck loads
of gifts. The process is complete all that’s left is spreading cheer with Santa!
THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU
Be A Santa To A Senior
Be A Santa To A Senior is going on RIGHT NOW! This program is nationwide. In 2009, Home Instead Senior Care gave its one millionth gift to a senior who was identified to us as being isolated, having little or no family, or struggling financially during the holiday season.
Around this time of year there are so many programs aimed towards children and gifts that sometimes the other end of the age spectrum is over looked. We feel that seniors have just as much need for a gift and recognition during the season of giving. The level of participation in our Minneapolis office alone has exponentially grown these past three years. We had 600 names last year and 300 names the year prior. So the fact that we have 1300 names this year is phenomenal! This could partly be due to the fact that our community partnerships have increased. In the Minneapolis metro area, we have trees up at all 14 Prairie Stone Pharmacy locations in the Lund’s and Byerly’s stores. We also have connected with Meals on Wheels and Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly.
This program reaches out to everyone in the community. To be involved with Be A Santa To A Senior , is to make a difference in the life of a person who has the wisdom of many years and bountiful appreciation in their heart.
If you want to know other ways to participate in this program call 763-544-5988 to get more information.
Home Instead Senior Care, Minneapolis
Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis, MN would like to welcome you to our new blog site. I am John Stuck, owner of the Minneapolis franchise. I got involved with senior care because of my own story with an elderly family member. We provide non-medical care to wherever the client calls home in the Minneapolis area and western suburbs. We are there to encourage, engage, and stimulate so that our senior clients can stay in their home environment. Our Mission is to relentlessly pursue positive ways to make seniors more comfortable and secure in their homes. Home Instead Senior Care offers a variety of services that also provide relief for stressed and over-worked family caregivers such as personal care, companion services and respite.
With this blog, our hopes are to reach out and share our Minneapolis community involvement and news of upcoming events that would interest seniors and their families. We want to share stories of our journey helping seniors successfully age in their home one at a time. The CAREGivers and staff at our agency all have a story to tell of somebody close to them. We hire quality CAREGivers and provide continual educational practices to better aid them in providing quality home care.
In the upcoming months we hope to launch and promote more programs that will benefit seniors. These programs promise to assist in your decisions when it comes down to choosing the best home care company. We want to provide resources that allow a wider scope of capabilities within our ability.
We are Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis, Minnesota and we are here to make your life better because to us, it’s personal.
Home Care MN and Senior Care Information in Minneapolis 
