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Wheels on the Beach 

Posted August 18, 2010 by Cheryl Barrett          

Don’t let your elderly or disabled loved one be left behind when going to the beach. This June with the record heat my sister broke her heal and has been in a cast and on crutches ever since.  We all figured that was the end of her summer, no beach for her.  Well, we were wrong.  Both of my daughters are lifeguards at a public beach and informed me that the town provides these special wheelchairs for the beach that go right into the water and float.  All we had to do is call ahead and make a reservation for one and they would bring one to the public beach of our choice in town.

I can’t tell you how easy it was.  The lifeguards bring the chair to the car and we just pushed her onto the beach and settled in for the day.  When she wanted to go in the water we just pushed her down into the water and we floated the chair all around.  It could not have been easier and made my sister so happy.  This allowed the whole family to go to the beach and have a fun day.

I found out that most towns with public beaches have these floatable beach wheelchairs.  Most people don’t know about them so they just sit at the bathhouses unused.  Call the local bathhouse in your town to see if they have them.  Everyone should be able to enjoy our beaches and these chairs make it possible.

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Sedentary Uncle pedals his way to the golf course

Posted July 19, 2010 by Cheryl Barrett
My elderly uncle comes up from Florida every summer and stays with my family.  I noticed this summer he wasn’t really getting around as much and his activity level had diminished drastically since last summer.  He always was scooting around and played 9 holes of golf on the weekends with his nephews’, but this summer he wasn’t golfing and was mostly sitting in his chair watching sports and financial shows.  I understand that at 80 years old and having COPD he is slowing down and it is getting harder to get around.  He had a checkup with his physician and we were told it’s a catch 22, he needs to exercise but the problem is the less he does that harder it becomes.

I thought about how we could get him exercising,  gyms were out because he wasn’t going to go any place to work out, DVD’s wouldn’t work because he can’t operate a DVD player and bulky equipment like treadmills and bikes would take up to much space. I then remembered how he told me one time when he did physical therapy he liked doing the recumbent bike.  Well, recumbent bikes are very expensive but I found him the next best thing an exercise peddler.  He can sit in his chair watching his shows and get some exercise in or he can sit out on the deck put it on the table and peddle with his hands.  It’s not bulky and easy to use.  Now, he does a little in the morning, some in the afternoon and if he’s up to it a few minutes at night. He is building up his cardio and now he is golfing on the weekends. It’s the best $100 I spent.

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Sometimes overlooked benefits found in your Health Plans or HMO’s

Posted May 18, 2010 by Maureen Koelsch

My family and I are members of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care plan.  Each season we receive their member magazine which highlights latest health topics and plan benefits.  Upon reading it, I was surprised to find they offer member savings and discounts on family support and healthy aging services.  Some of the aging services included, caregiving assistance, elder care locating and advocacy as well as home care services.    I would image it would be in the HMO’s best interest to keep you healthy and out of the hospitals to save them costs.  

Take some time to investigate and see if your health plan offers any healthy aging services that you could benefit from.   You might be surprised what you’ve been missing out on!

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Ever think you parents are “slipping” when it comes to day-to-day activities? – I surely have!

Posted   by Maureen Koelsch, May 6, 2010

When I refer to “slipping” I’m actually referring to early signs of dementia.  Dementia in Webster’s is defined as - impairment of the mental powers.
I recently went to a seminar hosted by the SS Hospital Home Health Care division and was enlightened to learn about how to look for the signs of dementia.   Dr Claire A. Levesque, MD of Quincy Medical Center spoke on the subject.  I was surprised to learn how easy they are to detect and possibly remedy.   So next time you visit your folks keep this is mind.
Their hearing could be off, and they don’t realize it, because they don’t know what their missing.  Secondly, their eyes may have changed and their glasses aren’t as strong as they need to be.  Medicines, and the combinations of them, or the lack of taking them could be affecting the body.  Herbal and natural homeopathic remedies and the mixing of them with prescribed medications could be a part of it.  And lastly, sleep deprivation causes you to lose focus and concentration, thereby affecting your memory.  
These factors coupled together could be making them depressed on top of everything.  Imagine walking around with all your senses impaired, you’d be in a fog and would not feel good about yourself either.    
So next time you visit the folks, and you start wondering if things have changed, do some simple checking of their senses, habits  and medications?  It makes pure sense.  Hope you find this helpful.

Do All Doctors accept Medicare/MassHealth?

Posted May 5, 2010 by Cheryl Barrett

I help my elderly uncle with his health care needs, so when he told me his back has been bothering him I thought we needed to see an orthopedic physician.  He went and saw his primary care physician in Florida and he agreed that it was time to see an orthopedist.  My uncle lives up here on the Cape all summer so I thought it best that we find an orthopedic physician up here on the Cape.
I started doing my research trying to find just the right orthopedic doctor for my uncle and was awakened with a stark reality.  NOT ALL DOCTORS ACCEPT MEDICARE/MASSHEALTH!  A matter of fact there were more orthopedic doctors in our area of the Cape that didn’t accept Medicare/MassHealth than did.  So I was faced with a dilemma, do we go with whoever accepts Medicare/MassHealth or do we go with a orthopedic physician that best fits my uncle’s needs and pay out of pocket?
The message I am trying to get across is: “Beware” when trying to find a doctor, especially doctors that specialize.  You will be surprised at how many doctors don’t accept Medicare/MassHealth, be prepared to either pay out of pocket or try and find a doctor that does.

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Dad gets his first cell phone at 83 thanks to Safelink Wireless

Posted May 3, 2010 by Maureen Koelsch

Thanks to Safelink Wireless Lifeline Service, I was able to get my Dad his own free cell phone at age 83.  Although he didn't want one, my siblings and I wanted him to have access to a phone when he was out driving in his car.  It also acts as a backup in case his land line goes down.  Now if we could only teach him to keep it charged and ready.  He thought the idea of a cell phone was crazy, but it has come in handy, even he admits to that!   Those old dogs, it’s hard to teach them new tricks.  
Your loved one might be eligible for this free cell phone service.  Check it out at Safelink Wireless website.

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Long Term Care Insurance for Mom

Posted April 21, 2010 by Cheryl Barrett

 My mom raised 5 children all by herself and we all went on to have successful lives with families of our own.  Mom worked hard all her life to support us and put a roof over our head and provided us with a decent life.  She still lives with two of my sisters in the home we that she raised us in.  We are all very close and all live close by.
 Mom retired at age 63 so that she could enjoy her life and her grandchildren.  She has always been in reasonably good health and is still active at age 74.  She has had knee replacement and has severe arthritis, but over all she gets around pretty good. She is a strong willed person and would never want to be a burden on us. She hates asking for help and will usually try to do things herself before she asks for help.
 When she retired all 5 of us (her children) got together and decided to get a Long Term Care Insurance Policy for her. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information at least 70 percent of people over age 65 will require some long-term care services at some point in their lives. This LTC Insurance lets her and we have the peace of mind that if something happened to her and she needed help in her own home she could get it, without her being a burden to her children.  We would never think of her as a burden and would gladly do whatever was needed for her to remain in her home if something happened.  But in her mind she would see herself as a burden and feel terrible asking her own children for help.  She would look at this as her taking us away from our own jobs, families and children. 
 My mom has always been the one to take care of everything and everyone.  With the LTC Insurance in place it is a way of us taking care of her while still letting her have the control and independence she needs. Knowing that if she at some point needs help she can afford and get it is comforting to all of us.
 The Long Term Care Insurance Policy gives us all peace of mind. I would recommend it to any baby boomer to get for themselves and parents.  There are many different kinds of LTC Insurance so do you research and get the one that’s right for you. A good place to start is looking at the Met Life Long Term Care Insurance website.

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Aging in Place – It all comes down to proper planning.

Posted April 7, 2010 by Cheryl Barrett

If you plan ahead, “Aging in Place" will allow you to have control over your Care, Comfort, Dignity, Independence and Quality of Life. You must acknowledge the fact that you most likely will need help down the road remaining independent in your own home. Therefore, planning ahead makes the transition less stressful. Take the first step and evaluate what your needs are to remain independent in your home. Don’t wait until it becomes a crisis and you have no time to prepare. If you can answer these questions now, it will save you time, money and energy later. Ask yourself the following:

1. Do you have the resources in place to remain in your home? (i.e.: home care providers,Personal response systems, transportation, etc…)
2. Is your home prepared for your current and long term care needs? (i.e.: all one level, Handicap accessible, home safety, home maintenance, etc…)

Did you Pass the test?

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Dreaming, a thing of the Past - Planning - Now For the Future

As I was spinning this morning I was enlightened by Aerosmith’s song   - Dream On.
If you’re a rock ‘n’ roller, you must remember it. It debuted in 1973, and was a major hit!  At that time, our lives were much simpler for us boomers, we were only interested in having fun and Dreaming On!
 Now, 27 years later I still enjoy the song, but at this stage in my life it’s time to “PLAN ON”, no more “dreaming on”, life moves too quickly.  Take a few minutes and read through the lyrics.  How true they are!
 
Every time I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer 
The past is gone.  It goes by, like dusk to dawn 
Isn't that the way. Everybody's got their dues in life to pay 

Yeah, I know nobody knows where it comes and where it goes 
I know it's everybody's sin You got to lose to know how to win 

Half my life is in books' written pages, Lived and learned from fools and from sages 
You know it's true All the things come back to you 

Sing with me, sing for the year Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears 
Sing with me, if it's just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good lord will take you away
Dream On,  Dream  On, Dream On . Dream until your dreams come true 
Dream On,  Dream  On, Dream On.  Dream until your dream comes through
Now relating the lyrics to our present day lives, we just need to replace “Dream On” with “Plan On” and instead of sing it must be plan.   Small changes can make a big difference.  If we don’t take a pro-active stance for our retirement years, they won’t be so much fun.  It’s up to us.
I bet Steven Tyler never imagined this song would still be appropriate for us baby boomers 27 years later.  What a difference a few word substitutions can make!  A special thanks to the band Aerosmith for all their music, and I wish Steven Tyler well in getting his later years back on track.

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Long-Term care -  Are you ready to pay

Posted by Maureen Koelsch, March 19 2010

To ensure quality of life and dignity when the time for long term care arrives, people must make the effort today to understand what kind of financial options are out there, such as the VA benefit, life insurance settlements, credit programs, reverse mortgages, long term care insurance and other sources of private funding. 

I want to bring to light the unavoidable trend of reducing the amounts of money that are available for Medicare and MASSHEALTH.  You might ask why this is important, because us baby boomers are reaching retirement age at the same time that our country's economy is under siege and entering unfamiliar territory.  At this point the federal and state governments have no choice but to figure out how to make do with less.  The way I see it they have two tools to work with:

1.  Make it harder for people to qualify for Medicare and MASSHEALTH 
2.  Reduce what is available for those who do qualify

We need to arm ourselves with information about how each system works and what kind of funding options or limitations they have to work with.  It will not pay to wait to plan for your long-term care.  It is inevitable that as we age, or become frail, we need someone to help care for us.  That care will cost money, and that money has to come from somewhere.  As government makes it harder to access funding, people need to prepare to bear much of the financial burden on their own. 

It is so important that we understand these early warning signs of what is to come.  The federal and state budgets can only accommodate so much, and when dollars are shrinking at the same time that the population is growing it becomes pretty simple math to see something has to give.  If history is our guide, then it will be the individual who ends up giving the most.  For boomers to come even close to meeting their expectations for a quality level of senior care and housing, it will require a knowledge of various options available.  Now is the time to prepare by understanding the funding options that are available to you.  Take the time now, control your own destiny, don't wait for the government to help you. 

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Earn up to 18k, tax free, as a Caregiver

The program Caregiver Homes of MA, was born out of the necessity for the Commonwealth to seek new and less expensive approaches to long-term care of its elders. The program is a federal/state funded program run out of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, contracted with Seniorlink and supported by local ASAP agencies. Some highlights of the program include:

• 1. A family caregiver can earn up to $18,000 per year, tax free
• 2. Caregivers are not required to have a health care background, and receive training.
• 3. Caregivers are supported by case managers and a web-based medical record system.
• 4. The caregiver can be a family member of the individual, with the exception of a spouse and dependents.

To be eligible, the individual must be at least 16 years of age, need 24-hour supervision and daily assistance with physical care and must be on Masshealth, or eligible for the Frail Elder Waiver under MassHealth regulations. This program has only been in existence for 3 years now, but it is a win-win situation for both the state in saving money and for the elder to ensure theyreceive the range of services needed to stay comfortable at home and in their communities. For more information contact Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

Do you know of anyone currently involved with the program? If so, please leave a comment and let us know how its working out for them. 

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