HomeChoice Network » Well Being

Information Checklist for Medical Emergencies

HomeChoice — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:02:43 +0000

Medical emergencies don’t follow a schedule or give advance notice. Nothing can be more frustrating than searching through files and piles of papers to find “necessary” documents for someone in a medical crisis. If you are the designated responsible party you should have a conversation with your loved one regarding the location of certain documents and information. Likewise, you can prepare this information for your spouse or adult children who will be required to manage your care during times when you are ill or incapacitated.

The following is a checklist of essential information which is routinely requested in order to authorize care or to pay for treatment. Use this check list to identify the documents you have and where they are located.

Personal Information

Full Legal Name
Social Security Number
Birth Certificate
Marriage Certificate
Death Certificate (Deceased Spouse)
Divorce Decrees
Military Records

o   Branch of Service
o   VA Identification Numbers
o   Veterans Military Service Record (DD-214)
o   Dates of Service

Driver’s License
Passports
Citizenship Papers
Will
Trusts
Life Insurance Policy/Policies
Disability Insurance Policy/Policies
Longterm Care Insurance
Security Deposit Boxes

o   Location
o   Number
o   Key Location

Church Membership and Contact Information
Waiting List(s) for Retirement Communities, Assisted Living Communities, or Nursing Facilities
Information on Cemetery Plots and Funeral & Burial Arrangements.
Care for Family Pets

Health Care Providers

o   Physicians
o   Clinics
o   Pharmacy
o   Therapists

Living Will
Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
Medicare Number and Card
Medicaid Number and Card
Medicare D Prescription Program Information
Health Insurance Policies
Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR)
Advance Directives

This list is only a guideline. Please discuss any special case circumstances with your responsible parties.

HomeChoice Network serves residents of Moore County, North Carolina. We serve individuals who live in Southern Pines, Pinehurst, Aberdeen and surrounding communities. HomeChoice brings non-medical services to the home, enabling senior adults to meet the day-to-day requirements of independent living while continuing the activities they enjoy.

Contact HomeChoice for more information about elder care in Moore County, North Carolina

How to Avoid Spreading a Cold

HomeChoice — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:24:44 +0000

Now is the height of the cold season. One of the best ways to limit the spread of a cold is to follow a few common sense steps, when you are ill. We’re all taught as children that sharing is good, but when it comes to cold viruses, we’re all better off keeping them to ourselves. Here’s how to help avoid spreading the latest bug to family and friends.
Steps:
Stay home if you are sick and keep sick kids home from school. Don’t spread the germs around your friends’ houses, churches, or businesses. You probably weren’t going to enjoy getting out with your head stuffed up, anyway. You’re better off staying home, getting plenty of rest and fluids, and going out in a day or two when the symptoms subside.

When you are sick stay at home and don’t go out – not even to see friends or family.
If there’s something that can’t wait, can you call from home and ask a friend to fill-in for you for a day?
Remember, you’ll just slow everybody down even more if you give this cold to several friends or relatives
Use tissues if you’re sniffling, sneezing, or coughing and throw them away immediately when you are done. Even if you usually carry a handkerchief, use tissues for colds and dispose of them. Don’t put them in your pocket. If you find that one tissue is too big, cut them in half.
Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. A tissue is ideal, but if none is handy, sneeze or cough into your bent elbow rather than into your hand.
Wash your hands often, after blowing your nose or using the restroom and before handling food or dishes. You should be doing this anyway, but take special care now. Remind others who live with you to do the same.
Clean surfaces that you handle often. Doorknobs, light switches, keyboards, mice, and telephones are good places to start, but watch what else you touch. This is a good job for one of those disinfecting wipes or a bit of spray cleaner on a soft cloth.
Wash clothes, bedding, and towels. As the symptoms start to subside, a bit of extra laundry can go a long way toward keeping the rest of the family healthy.
Open up. Try to get a little bit of extra ventilation into your home, even if it’s winter. Use your judgment.

Holiday Crime Prevention Tips

HomeChoice — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:56:17 +0000

The holidays are a time of joy for most of us. But the holidays are a prime time for residential crime, especially with the downturn in the overall economy. You can help prevent holiday tragedies by remembering these crime prevention tips.

Holiday Shopping

Don’t carry large amounts of cash. Never display the cash you carry.
Be aware of your surroundings. Avoid dark or secluded areas where you could become a crime victim. Park in a well lighted area as close as possible to an entrance.
Put all packages in the trunk. Do not place packages or bags on the seat or on the floor of your vehicle, where prying eyes can see them.
Be sure your vehicle is in good operating condition and has plenty of fuel.
Keep your vehicle locked at all times.
Keep your purse closed and carry it securely under your arm. Never place your purse on a counter, leave it in your shopping cart, or let your children or grandchildren carry it.

Holiday Travel

Be sure all your property is marked.
Ask a neighbor to watch your home while you are away, and to pick up mail and package deliveries. Make sure neighbors have a phone number so they can reach you in an emergency.
Set automatic timers to activate your lights and other appliances to give your home an occupied look.
Be sure your home is locked and that the shades, blinds, and draperies are in their normal position.

Home for the Holidays

Do not place gifts and other valuables where they can be seen by someone looking in from outside your home.
Keep your doors and deadbolts locked at all times, even when someone is at home.
Never let a stranger enter your home.
Do not leave notes outside to indicate that you are away from home.
Don’t advertise your new microwave, stereo, or TV by leaving the empty boxes at the curb. Put all discarded gift boxes in trash bags.
A keychain whistle or panic alarm and deadbolt locks make excellent holiday gifts

How to Live with an Elderly Person

HomeChoice — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:06:48 +0000

With the traditional holiday season fast approaching many children and grandchildren will be spending extended visits with their loved ones. Often times the reality of living with an elderly person is daunting and quire frustrating. Here are a few steps towards making the visit a positive experience.

Living with the older person has unique rewards and may have challenges for all concerned. Patience is needed as well as understanding. They may well prefer to be self sufficient, and will certainly dislike being patronized. But there are some occasions when they may not be able to care for themselves or need help to do so. By being yourself and listening to them, being honest about your own limitations (of time, skills and resources), you can live happily with an older person and they can live happily with you.

Tip: The more active the person is, often the better their health is overall, so be aware you can do too much for them, as easily as too little.

1. Define boundaries with every one who shares a living space with you, both physical and mental. Don’t intrude through these without permission.
2. Learn to accept the person’s decisions. They may not be able pick things up if they drop them, clean up well after themselves, such as in the kitchen and bathroom, and may not be forgetful of turning off appliances and lights, and locking doors. Don’t presume that the person is careless or deliberately inconsiderate. Offer to do it for them if you can and wait to see if what you saw as an omission was deliberate on their part. For example they may prefer to leave a hallway light on at night.
3. Distinguish between what can be improved and what cannot be improved in terms of health, functional limitations and mobility. Today many researches show that not only can one maintain good health and function up to the last year of life, but that one can reverse certain conditions with physical and mental activities, nutritional supplementation and regular metabolic check. Ageism exists also in compassion and one should not fall into the trap of thinking “nothing can be done”.
4. Review any medications with them (with their consent). List the medicines and the drug interaction warnings, as well as the instructions for taking medicine which requires either fasting, or taking with food, and so on.
5. Watch for changes in mood or behavior. Often, an older person will not admit that something bothers them or that they are in pain, not sleeping, or having trouble with eating, and these can be indications for seeking professional medical help.
6. Keep the house organized and uncluttered, especially in a situation where the person has limited mobility, uses a walker, wheelchair, or other mobility assistance, or their eyesight is poor. Discuss installing mobility aids if you are able and the person can use them. This may include grab bars at the toilet and bath tub, a shower seat, or a wheelchair ramp and etc. Many of these devices are available on a rental basis for short term use.
7. Be aware of the temperature of the home. Older people can be very sensitive to cold, or at times, heat.
8. Understand special needs in diet, salt intake, and the like. Older people are often on restricted diets, and are tempted just like the rest of us. Sugar and salt are two common foods that are often limited.
9. Give the person respect and privacy as much as you are able. They may need help with personal hygiene, and that is not a comfortable thing for either of you, but when possible, they should have as much privacy and personal space as it is practical to allow.
10. Watch out for scammers and frauds that take advantage of and prey on older people. This may include conmen, salespersons, and people operating under the guise of religious organizations. Do not be offended if your own offers of help are scrutinized.
11. Keep careful records for them if they are not able to. This should include knowing where their medical providers are and how to contact them, emergency medical information, bank records, insurance documents, and other business information if they want you to.
12. Help the person if you are able with keeping their basic grooming presentable. Often elderly people cannot trim finger and toenails, comb or brush their hair, or put on and tie shoes.
13. Be respectful, courteous, and mindful of the person’s feelings and ideas. Avoid treating the person like a child. Older people have experienced life much more deeply than we often appreciate. Ask them questions, learn from their experiences, and encourage them to be happy.
14. Support the older person’s autonomy to make his or her own choices in life, and do not substitute your own judgment. Every adult has the capacity to make at least some, if not all, of his or her own decisions, so help enhance the person’s capacity to do and choose as much as possible for himself or herself. Don’t assume merely because of advanced age that people cannot manage their own affairs, even if you do not agree with them.
15. Understand the elderly person’s socioeconomic background and the significant historical events the person experienced. Living through events such as wars, economic depressions, disasters and political upheavals have a great impact on a person, especially during younger, formative years.

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How To Stop Feeling Like Your Life Isn’t Good Enough

HomeChoice — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:55:45 +0000

In recent times, it seems there are only three measures of success: Money, looks, and fame. If you don’t have one or all of them, you just don’t measure up. But you’re a senior citizen, and it’s hard to feel self-worth, self-respect, and self-esteem when you don’t go to a job, raise children or possibly don’t drive anymore.. Perhaps you need to overcome feelings of regret and sorrow. Well, you can overcome your feelings… How do you find a sense of significance in a world that seems so very shallow?
STEPS
1. Cultivate a grateful heart. Gratitude is the one thing that most people who feel a low sense of self-worth lack. If you can look outside your own world, and see how good you really have it, you will feel much more like your life is a worthwhile thing. If you don’t have a terminal illness, have had something to eat today, have a bed to sleep in tonight… materially speaking you have it better than 70% of all the people in the whole world. If you’re reading this on your own computer, you’re better off than about 90% of everyone
2. Know when enough is enough. Take the advice of Mary Poppins. She says, “Enough is as good as a feast.” Think about that for a moment. You can only eat so much, no matter how good the food is, or how much there is. It doesn’t matter if your meal is served in a fancy restaurant at $1000 a plate, or in your own kitchen at $2.79 a plate. When you’re full, you’re full, and if you try to eat more, you will very likely get sick. When you have enough, it’s exactly the same as having sat down to a tremendous feast and eaten your fill. Mary Poppins is right. Well, she is practically perfect in every way, after all.
3. Learn to value deeper virtues. The media seem to be overflowing with images of the young, rich, and beautiful, and unless you fit that mold, you feel less worthy of good things in your life. But those things are so fleeting – youth and beauty fade with years, and in a short while, those celebutantes won’t be so pretty (or at least it won’t be cheap for them to be so pretty). Fortunes can be lost. But love is eternal. Honor lasts. Truth abides. Beauty comes in all forms: a butterfly is beautiful. So is a waterfall, and the ocean, and the sky on a starry night. Learn to appreciate natural beauty, good character, honesty, your family
4. Be nice. Believe it or not, this can be the first step to feeling your own power. Feeling a little … ordinary… can make you feel like it isn’t worthwhile to care about the feelings of others. You don’t realize just how much power you have. Your lousy mood is contagious. It casts a pall over everyone you encounter, from your family to your friends to your co-workers. Instead of being abrupt and surly, try giving each person a smile. Take a moment to make eye contact. People enjoy talking about themselves or those closest to them. So give them an opportunity to do so. Try to remember names, and ask about their loved ones. You don’t know what’s happening in their lives – you might be the one and only person to treat them like a human being today. You may not realize how just one kind word, even from a stranger, can refresh someone’s spirit. Try it and see. It may be very nice to be important. But it’s much more important to be nice. In some circles, this is called ‘projecting loving kindness’ and it takes practice.
5. Realize that being part of your family is important. You may not have family, in this case you must cherish the relationships with friends. If you have children, a spouse, siblings, parents who depend on you, everything you do for them is a good deed, a mitzvah, as they say. When you help your mom find her milk, which she put in the cupboard instead of the fridge, even if she doesn’t remember it 10 minutes later, you’re doing something so valuable and important for her. Let your life with your family and friends rejuvenate you with the feeling that you are with people who love you no matter what.
6. Be humble. Of course if you go around bragging about how amazing you are, people are going to try to knock you down. Plus, people who talk themselves up to others are usually covering up an internal feeling of inadequacy. Just look at celebs – no sooner are they hot than the rumors start and the sniping begins. It’s called “Schadenfreude” – getting shallow satisfaction from the misfortune of those seemingly more fortunate than you. No matter how much you want to feel important, it won’t help you unless you can appreciate it when it happens for the right reasons. By exercising humility, and refraining from all the brag and swagger, you free people to praise you when it’s appropriate instead of hogging attention when it isn’t.
7. Help others. There is nothing that will make you feel like you are valued, needed, and essential like volunteering to help and serve others who are less fortunate than you. This really goes along with the “humility” thing well – stepping up to help the elderly, coach at an after school children’s center, feed the homeless, help build a home for someone (Habitat for Humanity), collect toys for orphanages at Christmas time – these things allow you to be of service to others, and nothing will make you feel better. Give a gift in secret. Tell no one of your deed. Let the satisfaction of helping another stay within your heart by holding on to your little secret. The first time a little child brings you a hand-drawn card and throws her arms around you to thank you for helping her family, it’s practically guaranteed you’ll feel tears of joy flow from your eyes and a big lump in your throat. And that’s when you know your life is not just “good enough” – it’s awesome.
TIPS
• It’s hard to feel impressive if you do nothing to impress yourself. Go out there and do something wonderful, not just for yourself, but for someone else.
• For some people, it helps if you have a reality bigger than yourself to believe in. If you are a praying person, allow your faith to help you work through this time in your life. If you are agnostic or atheist, you may find solace in meditation.
• Never use someone else’s life or accomplishments as a measuring stick for the worth or value of your own. It’s just like running, or your looks: there will always be someone faster (and someone slower). There will always be someone prettier (or you may be prettier than someone else). There was a song from an old musical that talked about running a race. It encouraged you not to be sad if you didn’t come in first, because “someone else who is last is sure to think you are fast.” Your life is your own. Rise up and live it. If you have enough, despite the fact that you aren’t rich or famous, enjoy the fact that you are not wanting for essentials, that you have family and friends who love you, and that your health is good. You can work for more, as long as you want to!
• Turn off the TV and the radio. Listen to your own thoughts and explore what is inside. Internal dialog is not a ticket to an institution but rather a chance to really begin to make positive changes within.