Here are some helpful hints for increasing the food intake of persons with memory impairment:

• Finger foods are very helpful.  As your loved one is walking and pacing in the house give them chicken fingers, carrot sticks, apple slices with peanut butter. Crackers and cream cheese, and small grape tomatoes. Obviously not at the same time??
• Use a Sippy cup with juices for hydration.
• Try to get them to eat with another person who can redirect them when they forget what they are doing. Along with the memory problems comes the inability to focus on the task.
• You may add dry milk to most foods to increase calories.  Use butter, rich breads, scrambled eggs with cheeses and ,mini-burgers with extra eggs and bread crumbs.  Actually think of all the foods that we try to decrease calories and just add to them.  Chocolate milk is good.
• Routine is important and should be maintained when meal planning. Keep your meals to at least 5 each day.

Do try some of these foods and let me know if they are helpful to increase your loved ones’ appetite. Do remember to weigh weekly.

Check back for more recommendations weekly.

POST THE HOLIDAY VISIT

As we think about the recent holiday visit with our families, we often come away with unsettled feelings that everything may not be well. When we are in another town, our concern escalates as we reflect that the aging of our loved ones is becoming visibly noticeable. So noticeable that we no longer may be at ease. We want assurance that everything is under control, that those we love are able to manage their daily chores and manage the household needs and care for themselves. We need the comfort of making certain that our loved ones’ circumstances are stable – from many perspectives. Perhaps the comfort of an on-site right-hand that can make an uncertain situation in our loved ones’ homes newly safe and secure.

At that point of time, panic sets in and we must take action and look for local professional assistance. Usually we need guidance to find qualified services and experienced people to evaluate your loved ones in their home and coordinate any needed care.

An RN (Registered Nurse) Geriatric Care Manager can be the answer. The Care Manager will begin with a home visit and a lengthy needs assessment. An RN Geriatric Care Manager will collect all the needed medical records in order to clarify any problems. An experienced professional knows what to look for and can make recommendations that assist the family in making decisions with their loved ones that will be helpful and reassuring.
The Geriatric Care Manager can do all of the following activities in order to bring peace of mind to those who are far away from family as physical changes may require even small shifts in life as we know it.
1. Assessment
2. Care planning
3. Care implementation
4. Home management
5. Client/family education
6. Liaison with physicians
7. Crisis management
8. Advocacy
9. Medication management
10. Plan for socialization
11. Placement services
12. Benefit assessment and planning
13. Communication systems with families and other professionals

If we can help provide assistance that will give you peace of mind, knowing that your loved ones have some extra care at hand, call us at 410-823-3153 for a free 30 minute consultation.

Why The Type of  Home Care Agency Matters

Hiring the wrong type of home care help-by going through a registry or referral service or hiring help on your own-can expose patients to financial, legal, and safety risks, like liability for payroll taxes or on-the-job injuries, property losses, or care that is unreliable, substandard, or even abusive. Only a licensed, bonded, and insured home care agency guarantees your peace of mind-and good patient care.

Home care agencies:

Not all agencies are created alike. When hiring-or referring patients to-a home care agency, it’s important to know the difference between types of agencies. Some are licensed, bonded, and insured; others are simply referral services that try to match independent contractor home care providers with clients. Unknowingly selecting the wrong type of agency can expose you-or your patients-to financial and legal risks.

Key questions about any home care agency:

• Is it licensed, bonded, and insured?
• Are the caregivers employees or independent contractors?
• What type of background check does the agency perform on caregivers?
• Does the agency have someone on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

What a licensed, bonded, and insured home care agency does-in addition to providing excellent private duty care:

• Care is monitored and the agency responds to changing care needs.
• Agency supervision helps create positive working relationships between caregivers, patients, and families.
• As an employer, the full service agency pays payroll taxes for all caregivers. A registry isn’t an employer.
• The agency hires, trains, supervises, and conducts performance evaluations on its employees.
• If an employee is injured while providing care in the home, the agency’s insurance coverage-not the homeowner’s-applies.
• The agency conducts background checks-including reference checks, criminal background, and drug screens-on all employees as a routine part of the pre-employment process.
• If a regularly scheduled caregiver is ill or otherwise unable to come to work, the agency-not the patient-is responsible for finding a replacement.
• Provides peace of mind that the patient will receive the very best home care available.

Points to remember

• Only a licensed, bonded, and insured home care agency provides both high quality care and legal and financial protection for patients and families.
• Knowing what type of agency you’re hiring or recommending is essential for your peace of mind.

Ivory House Health Services are Geriatric Care Managers and Certified Nursing Assistants working together to allow seniors to live more safely in the comfort of their own homes. If not possible to remain at home, our staff is knowledgeable about the many options for varied assisted living facilities that are available in the Baltimore area. For more information about our Care for the Elderly and In Home Care in Maryland you can contact Ivory House Health Services by calling 1-800-704-3536.

Care Management Works

Fewer emergency room visits and hospitalizations with care management.

Recent research points to the decreased risk of emergency room visits and hospital admissions in 226 frail, high-risk, elderly patients who received geriatric care management services.

The chart on the left above details the decrease in emergency department visits from 1,500 visits to 700 visits over a 24-month period when patients received geriatric care management services.

The chart on the right above shows the decrease in hospitalizations when care management services are used, from 800 admissions to 400 over a 24-month period.

For more information on Ivory House Health Services Geriatric Care Management, Call Us at 800-704-3536.