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by San Diego Home Care

Four Fun Holiday Activities for Seniors and their Families

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Senior woman smiling at the holiday dinner table with family

For ideas on holiday activities for seniors, reach out to San Diego Home Caregivers, provider of elderly care and dementia care in San Diego & nearby areas.

Even though the holiday season is typically thought about as a time that is joyful, abundant with visiting loved ones who are near and dear to us and finding the perfect gifts, for older people, it can be anything but merry and bright. A blend of loved ones lost, memories of holidays past, health problems and more can impact seniors with loneliness and sorrow.

At San Diego Home Caregivers, we care deeply about making certain that seniors feel included in the celebrations and enjoy the holidays to the fullest. These fun holiday activities for seniors can help everyone enjoy the wonder of the holidays together:

  • Develop a cookbook with recipes from family members. Compile all the recipes together, and then make copies of your new family cookbook.
  • Take a drive to view holiday lights in an old neighborhood that your older family member remembers fondly.
  • If a senior has trouble with putting out holiday decorations, offer your assistance! This is a wonderful way to share memories of past holidays and the significance behind different decorations. San Diego Home Caregivers can also provide help with holiday decorating.
  • For a holiday that is truly relaxing, schedule time together at a local salon or spa. You can even request a local beautician or masseuse to come to the home if it’s possible.

Safety measures may also come up for the older adult, for a variety of reasons: elevated fall risks with all of the extra holiday decorations, problems with following a prescribed dietary plan, and for those with dementia, disruption to routine, additional visitors in the home, and higher noise levels can all lead to stress.

Bear the following in mind to be sure older adults remain safe and content:

  • Keep decoration safety in mind. Ensure that there are clear walking paths, and try to utilize simple, uncluttered decorations.
  • Subdued lighting can conceal things that the elderly could possibly trip over, such as extension cords.
  • Set aside a quiet area for the older person if the enthusiasm of young children, loud music and activities become stressful.
  • Assign someone to be the older adult’s “buddy” for the event, making certain his or her needs are fully met and establishing a bond that is wonderful for both.

The holidays can certainly be fun and relaxing for everyone. With just a little pre-planning and additional thought, seniors will enjoy the holidays as much as everyone else, producing new memories that the whole family will take pleasure in for a lifetime.

And, if in the middle of the holiday hustle and bustle you might like the help of a professional caregiver, San Diego Home Caregivers, a provider of elderly care and dementia care in San Diego and other surrounding areas, is here to help! Contact us at (619) 487-9000 to learn more about how our services can brighten the holiday season for you and your family and for more ideas for fun holiday activities for seniors to enjoy this season. For a full list of the cities we serve, please click here.

by San Diego Home Care

How Senior Home Care Helps Families Get Back to Enjoying Life Together

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senior man and caregiver laughing

Rediscover the joy of simply sharing life together with those you love by partnering with our senior home care team.

Fulfilling the care needs of an elderly or disabled loved one is a psychologically, physically, and emotionally demanding undertaking, and it’s essential for family caregivers to take routine breaks to rest and relax. Senior home care offers relief from the everyday duties of caregiving, enabling family caregivers to also care for themselves.

Here are a few basic principles of senior respite care:

  • Respite from everyday, ongoing care tasks assures older adults still receive the attention they need and deserve.
  • Respite care supplies family caregivers with care that is planned, temporary, intermittent and substitute.
  • Respite care can be provided from part of one day to ongoing scheduled routine relief.

How you can help a family caregiver:

  • Offer to share caregiving tasks. Even if you are only available to help out once in a while, it shows the family caregiver that you care about his/her health.
  • Offer to assist with the family caregiver’s own personal chores. Family caregivers have their own lives too, and taking time to manage their own laundry, grocery shopping, and housecleaning chores can be tricky.
  • Chip in to hire respite care services from a professional home care agency, like the senior home care experts at San Diego Home Caregivers. Often, family members who live at a distance want to contribute to a loved one’s care. Helping to pay for respite care services not only helps the senior, but the family caregiver too.

How family caregivers can find needed support:

  • Request assistance. Other family members often want to help with caregiving, but aren’t aware of what help is needed. Involve them in the respite care plan so you can take a break when needed.
  • When family members are not available, schedule respite care with a senior home care agency, like San Diego Home Caregivers. Professional caregivers can help family care providers take the time away they need while providing quality care for their older loved ones.
  • Talk to the person in your care. A change in daily routine, such as by introducing a new caregiver, can be taxing for the senior, so take the following steps to alleviate any concerns:
    • Make sure you have a respite care plan ready to go in advance.
    • Remind the older adult regularly that your break is approaching and someone will be coming to provide care
    • Introduce the older person to the new caregiver if he/she is not another family member.
  • Follow your plan. Taking time away from caregiving is critical to your health. Make sure that everyone involved in your respite care plan are on the same page so that you can take time to care for yourself.

The bottom line is, no one person can do everything alone, and there is skilled and compassionate help here for you through San Diego Home Caregivers’ senior home care team! Providing home care in Carlsbad and nearby areas, call us at (619) 487-9000 to learn about how we can help you.

by San Diego Home Care

Can Your Aging Parents Pay for Long-Term Care? Helping Them Starts Now

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Retirement Home

The right time to help aging parents plan for future long-term care needs is before care is needed.

Millions of people in the U.S. struggle with the decision of whether their senior parents are able to cover the cost for long-term care. Monetary issues can be a delicate subject, and when it is time to begin thinking about long-term care needs, having an open and honest discussion about how your parents will be able to pay for aging care services is essential. To that end, San Diego Home Caregivers, the leading provider of elderly care in San Diego and the surrounding areas, has gathered together the following questions to help you get started:

  • What are your parents’ assets? A good place to begin is to determine approximately how much funding your parents have available in cash, investments, and Social Security. This provides a foundation for covering long-term care expenditures.
  • Do your parents anticipate needing financial assistance? People are living longer than ever before, meaning more people are outliving the resources they have designated for retirement. Ask your parents if they have enough funds to sustain their needs for the balance of their lives. If not, how much support will be necessary?
  • Do your parents have insurance? Find out if your parents have a long-term care insurance policy, as well as life insurance. Review to gain a solid understanding of their policies.
  • Can you access their passwords and account numbers? Ask for account and password details, and maintain a copy of this information, along with contact information for your parents’ attorney and financial advisor. This will make it an easier process to work through affairs when the need arises.
  • Do your parents have a power of attorney? Suggest to your parents that they select and finalize paperwork for a power of attorney so they are assured that there is a dependable, trusted person to make decisions for them in the instance of a medical emergency.

Planning in advance for long-term care is essential, and easier to accomplish while your parents are independent and thriving. Gaining an understanding of their finances now will help you be more prepared for their future care.

At San Diego Home Caregivers, we realize that discussions about long-term care and finances can be difficult, and our professionals are always available to offer help. Contact San Diego Home Caregivers, the top provider of elderly care in San Diego and the surrounding areas, at (619) 487-9000 to learn more.

by San Diego Home Care

Your Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance Begins Here

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Long-Term Care Insurance

Maximizing the benefits of long-term care insurance begins with understanding your policy.

Long-term care insurance can provide extraordinary peace of mind, but utilizing those benefits can wind up to be a perplexing experience for seniors and their family members. To help lead families through the process, San Diego Home Caregivers provides this helpful overview.

Which services are covered?

Prior to filing a claim, it is important to carefully review the long-term care insurance policy in order to gain an understanding of the types of services the policy covers. If you do not have a copy of the policy, get in touch with the provider to ask for one.

Although all policies differ in what they cover, long-term care insurance usually covers non-medical services in the home with the condition that support is necessary for two or more activities of daily living, or the policyholder has been diagnosed with some type of cognitive condition, such as dementia. Examples of the type of care that long-term care policies might cover include:

  • Personal care, such as bathing and dressing
  • Transfers and ambulation
  • Using the bathroom and incontinence care
  • Meal preparation and feeding if needed
  • Housekeeping
  • And more

If you or a senior loved one would like assistance understanding the details of the policy, an insurance agent, elder care attorney or financial planner can help.

Are all of the costs of care covered?

While individual plans vary, every plan details the permitted monthly coverage, which is identified as the “present daily allowance,” and frequently has a specified lifetime maximum. Policies also usually identify a particular duration of time for which the benefits are accessible, such as five years, or the coverage may be effective for the policyholder’s lifetime.

It’s also important to check the long-term care plan’s elimination period. The elimination period is the time during which the cost of care is paid out-of-pocket until a predetermined amount of time has gone by. Although some plans identify a zero-day elimination, which means cost for care and coverage begin immediately, other policies might require up to 120 days of care first.

Choose your care provider carefully.

If you plan on filing a claim for long-term care insurance, it is important to work with a home care company with experience in billing long-term care insurance providers; otherwise, there is the possibility that the claim may not be reimbursed. San Diego Home Caregivers has experience with helping families obtain their long-term care insurance benefits and can provide the documentation needed to help clients file claims properly.

How can claims be filed?

In order to file a long-term care insurance claim, the following documents are usually required:

  • A claimant’s statement (or policyholder statement) describing the reasons for the claim
  • A statement from a doctor, verifying that care is warranted
  • A prescribed care plan and nursing evaluation
  • A provider statement, completed by the home care agency
  • An authorization form

Once completed and submitted, a phone interview is scheduled with the insurance company’s claims department.  In the next step, the claim is either approved or denied.

If you are looking to receive home care services through a long-term care policy, call San Diego Home Caregivers today at (619) 487-9000. You can feel confident in knowing that we have years of experience in not only providing exceptional care in the comfort of home, but also in assisting families with long-term care insurance claims and getting the most out of their plan. To learn more about our premier options for senior care in San Diego and surrounding areas, please contact us today.