Because of our aging population, more people over the age of 65 are facing caregiving & employment struggles. A significant portion of people at retirement age are at risk of having to care for a parent. Some of these workers may also be caring for a spouse.

Caregiving is largely an unpaid, family responsibility. However, this responsibility is already causing a decrease in employment, productivity, and innovation. Neither of these facts is sustainable.

Currently, 22% of retirees left the workforce early due to competing caregiving and employment struggles. Additionally, 25% of Alzheimer's caregivers are sandwiched between caring for parents and children.

At first glance, it would be understandable if corporations thought being part of the solution was expensive. Thankfully, the opposite is true. Organizations can gain a competitive advantage by becoming a caring corporation with little financial outlay.
What Can Corporations Do?
Good news amongst such a challenge. The purpose of this episode is to spark conversations on solving this growing crisis. A study by Harvard Business School (Focus on Work) lays out 6 suggestions. Most of the suggestions add to duties already in practice. One of the most important things a corporation can do is listen. Employees need to be open about their caregiving and employment struggles.

The study suggests that employers understand that caregiving employees are committed to their jobs. We still have outdated assumptions that this is not the case. Allowing workplace flexibility is crucial for employees at all levels of caregiving. This can include child-rearing and eldercare.

For hourly employees do away with no-fault absenteeism policies. Understanding their struggles will differentiate dedicated employees from others. Knowing that they are dedicated to their jobs, just pulled in many directions makes a difference.

Provide education and training about having caregivers on the job. Also important, train managers to understand caregiver discrimination. This benefits the organization in many ways, not just the employee.

Offering eldercare support, resources and referral services can help tremendously. Most family caregivers end up in their situation due to an emergency. This situation does not allow for planning or research. The availability of these resources is nearly a no-cost benefit with huge rewards.

Implementing recruitment practices that recognize the unique variety of skills caregivers acquire. Understanding these unique skills will benefit organizations tremendously.

Regardless of the industry, all organizations can easily become caring companies. Coupled with being the morally right thing to do caring companies can also gain a competitive advantage.

Related Episode
Giving A Caregiver Help
Where Else To Find Fading Memories
Be sure to share this podcast with other caregivers! Thanks. You can find us on social media at the following links.  Facebook    Instagram    Twitter

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Activities are important for keeping someone living with Alzheimer's engaged and productive. However, as their disease progresses activities they once loved become impossible to manage.

Activities offer important benefits like cognitive stimulation, the opportunity to connect with another person, relaxation and more. If you're caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's you may struggle to find activities that they are capable of doing without adding stress to your day. What options do we have to keep them busy and happy?

Finding the right balance between what is good for them and what is good for you is an endless challenge. It's a challenge that is fraught with emotional struggles. Is it even worth bothering?

Taking what they once loved and simplifying the task is a great start. Unfortunately, our being aware of what they can actually accomplish. Sometimes we have to take a step back and see if we're expecting more from them than they are capable of handling.

Tune in to learn more about activities for people living with Alzheimer's.

Get Judy's book!

Senior Delight Boxes
Where Else To Find Fading Memories
Be sure to share this podcast with other caregivers! Thanks. You can find us on social media at the following links.  Facebook    Instagram    Twitter

Also, check out our new YouTube channel where you can see us in action!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 

Tea is my go-to drink every day, every part of the day.  Having read that regular tea drinkers may have better cognitive health I knew I had to do my own research and learn more. I was excited to learn that drinking black tea regularly may give us better cognitive function than non-tea drinkers.

In this episode, I discuss the research and many of the lesser-known specifics of brewing and enjoying this brain-healthy drink. I wanted to bring you this lighter topic as part of my brain health episodes. Taking care of ourselves when we're caregiving is a challenge. It's nice to find simple ways to do good things for ourselves.

The main research studies were on the effects of reducing cognitive decline. It focused on the structure of the brain and how it’s organized.   Structure and organization work together to produce brain function. In other words, the organization of the brains' structure works together for proper brain function.

There are two components of tea that seem to help maintain a healthy brain. Caffeine and L-Theanine. We know how caffeine affects us but L-Theanine is an amino acid that has calming effects. This combination is also only found naturally in tea. This combination is one reason that Monks drink tea before settling down for a long meditation session.

Tea's Wikipedia Page

Interested in more brain-healthy advice?
Where Else To Find Fading Memories
Be sure to share this podcast with other caregivers! Thanks. You can find us on social media at the following links.  Facebook    Instagram    Twitter

Also, check out our new YouTube channel where you can see us in action!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Dementia dogs are an asset I wasn't aware of previously.  Having had dogs all my life I was surprised to learn that many breeds make great caregivers for those living with dementia.

A dog trained to be a caregiver can perform many tasks and be a substantial help to their human counterparts. A dementia dog can break repetitive behaviors, calm anxieties, give someone a purpose, or return a lost loved one home. These are just a few examples of what a furry caregiver can offer.

Since learning about canine caregivers in early 2019, I talked to the executive director of the residence my Mom lives in. I wanted to get his opinion on the practicality of having a dementia dog working in their community. Honestly, I suspected more hesitation than I got. In hindsight, this shouldn't have been a surprise since they allowed Mom to have her dog when she moved in.

While speaking to Alberto, he brought up additional tasks a service dog can provide for seniors. At the conclusion of our conversation, we both agreed that learning more about a community level dementia dog might be a good idea.

Stay tuned for a future episode when I learn what I can about dementia dogs.

Related Article

More on Dogs Here
Where Else To Find Fading Memories
Be sure to share this podcast with other caregivers! Thanks. You can find us on social media at the following links.  Facebook    Instagram    Twitter

Also, check out our new YouTube channel where you can see us in action!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 

Medication adherence is a fancy term for taking our medications as they've been prescribed. While adherence is an important part of our health care it is one that is often overlooked. It's too easy to improperly take our medications. Just the other day, my husband was out of town, and I realized I had neglected to give our oldest dog his arthritis medication for two days!

Talk about failure to manage medications properly. When I went to give him his morning pill he waited till I was out of his line of sight then spit out the pill. The simple act of giving my dog his pain medication and his reaction to the process is common. Too common.

When caring for someone with memory loss the possibility of not taking prescription medications properly skyrockets. Failing to take medications as prescribed contributes to increases in disease, mortality and health care costs. Some think that improving medication adherence would have a greater influence on our health than in the discovery of any new therapy!

Struggling to achieve higher rates of adherence may be due to a gap in our knowledge. Lacking a clear understanding of how and why the medications work may be part of the problem.

If you're looking for a simple way to manage your loved ones meds, keep listening to hear about DoseCast. DoseCast is a prescription management app.

Find DoseCast in your App Store

Pill Map Episode – Another Option
Where Else To Find Fading Memories
Be sure to share this podcast with other caregivers! Thanks. You can find us on social media at the following links.  Facebook    Instagram    Twitter

Also, check out our new YouTube channel where you can see us in action!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

When you love someone with dementia it's not uncommon to feel like you're losing your mind too. In this episode, I talk to Beth Friesen about practical tips for coping with this problem. Beth is the author of the book “I Love Someone With Dementia, So Why Am I Losing My Mind?”. She's also a nurse in a family of medical professionals. If their family struggled, we shouldn't feel bad about our struggles.

Some families have a member who doesn't fully understand the disease which leads to negative situations. Understanding how to be in “their reality” is a key survival tip for anyone who is caregiving. In fact, it took two years of explaining strange behaviors before it dawned on Beth that her Mother had Alzheimer's.

Learning practical tips will help caregivers feel less like they're losing their minds and more in control. One of the first fundamental things to understand is dementia is more than memory loss. I like to describe it as an old computer that fires up but really doesn't do the computing we need it to do. This old computer runs slowly, doesn't find files and doesn't work with modern apps and websites.

Once you've heard this episode be sure to check out Beth's book.

Living With Dementia Part 1

Living With Dementia Part 2
Where Else To Find Fading Memories
Be sure to share this podcast with other caregivers! Thanks. You can find us on social media at the following links.  Facebook    Instagram    Twitter

Also, check out our new YouTube channel where you can see us in action!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

One of the biggest caregiver challenges is managing difficult behaviors. People living with memory loss don't realize they're being unreasonable. Difficult behavior is an unfortunate by-product of their disease.

Navigating our loved one's behaviors and our own emotions is crucial to caregiving success. However, no one has a clear path to making that happen. This episode of Fading Memories dives into a few behaviors and how we might handle them.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Conflict is a natural part of human interaction. As we age, all of us face difficult decisions that affect our loved ones and often bring up strong emotions. Many of us avoid talking about the subject because we are afraid to cause a family conflict or even a legal battle. This delay can force us to make decisions at a time of crisis, the worst possible time for peaceful and effective communications.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The loved one you're caring for is still around yet you feel their loss. Some think this is depression but it's actually a form of caregiver grief. It's commonly referred to as anticipatory grief and it's very common when caring for someone with an incurable disease. This podcast episode is a discussion on how to cope with caregiver grief.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

At what point did we become the parent to our parents? For some of us, this transition happened slowly over time. Others have been thrust into the role because of a crisis. Regardless of how the role-reversal happened, it comes with a host of challenges we may not be ready for.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download