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Stories and Strategies to Help You Juggle the Challenges of Long-Term Care

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Tech Tips for Helping Seniors from a Distance

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As people get older, they tend to need a little help. Most seniors can function just fine; it’s just that sometimes, support from loved ones can make a positive difference. That’s why you are ready to help your parents or elderly friend.

Decades ago, you had to live near a senior in order to help them. If you lived far away, there really wasn’t much you could do. However, technology has changed a lot since then. These days, you can provide some assistance to a senior even if you live some distance away. Before you can delve into tech like this, it helps to understand what kind of help seniors often need.

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Image Source: Pixabay

Problems Faced By Seniors

Lumen Learning has a free course online that describes the unique challenges faced by seniors. These include:

  • Financial problems brought on by less income and more healthcare expenses.
  • Ageism, or discrimination and prejudice based solely on the senior’s age.
  • Mistreatment or even abuse by people who should be providing care.
  • Loneliness and few opportunities to socialize.
  • Depression and similar mental health issues.

But one of the biggest challenges faced by seniors is health. Thankfully, people are living longer than ever. The consequence of that is having more health problems. As Everyday Health explains, many seniors face the same medical conditions:

  • Arthritis
  • Heart disease
  • Cancer
  • Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
  • Osteoporosis
  • Diabetes

To make matters worse, an aging immune system means “simple” problems like the flu can be much more serious.

Apps & Sites To Help You Support Seniors

Then how can you help with these problems? Technology has advanced a lot these days, and there are apps, sites, and individual pieces of technology that can help.

For example, video chat can help alleviate some of the loneliness. It can also strengthen bonds between the senior and their family or loved ones. Video games can provide the mental stimulation needed to help fight dementia and can even be a source of socialization as well. There are even health trackers that share information with you over the internet. All of this can be done without needing to live near the senior.

Technology like this isn’t just reserved for you. You can buy helpful technology online and ship it to your senior friend. Some must-have technology for seniors include:

  • Tablets and iPads for photos, music, video chat, and more.
  • Hearing aids to help with the loss of hearing that often comes with age.
  • Wireless home monitoring systems in case of medical emergencies.
  • Assistive technology such as LED lighting or stove shut-off systems.

Home Services

There are other ways to help besides providing technology options. The internet allows you to set up many home services despite living far away.
Nutrition is crucial for seniors, especially if they have difficulty getting to the grocery store. Caring.com lists meal delivery services that can give your senior friend the food they need to stay healthy. This can mean regular groceries or complete meals to cook at home.

If the senior has a pet dog, you can even help with a dog-walking service. You can set up an appointment and pay online, and a trained dog walker will visit your senior when it’s convenient.

Technology Can Help

It’s hard to take care of a senior from afar, but technology is making things much easier. Once you know the typical problems faced by seniors, you can help by using online services and even helping the senior have some technology themselves. This way, you can support seniors despite not living nearby.

For more information on ways to help from afar, download this free PDF on Smartphone apps. https://maryleemacdonald.lpages.co/smartphone-apps/

Night Sky Fireworks: Caregivers, Look To The Sky

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Even when caregivers can’t leave home, they can still take a mental break by gazing up at the heavens. Paying attention to what’s happening in the sky is one way to escape the brain freeze that comes from being indoors all day and from taking care of a sick person. When you step out onto the porch, can you see the moon? Do storm clouds cover the entire sky, or are the stars peeking through?

What about astronomical events that happen only rarely: a solar or lunar eclipse? Mark Twain built the plot of his novel, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, around the day the sun went dark and spread fear throughout the realm. To observe a solar eclipse, you need to make special preparations. Meteor showers happen more often. If you have a van with a lift or an RV, a campground is the perfect place to see this spectacular display.

In 2015 the Perseid meteor shower began on August 12 and continued till August 26. If you didn’t make it this year, read this article from Star and Telescope and get organized for the next one. And, here’s a calendar that will give you dates for the next two years of meteor showers. Nothing is more fun that lying in a sleeping bag, all warm and toasty, and looking up at nature’s fireworks-display.

The most exciting astronomical event of August 2015 is the Perseid meteor shower. The shooting star event that peaks in mid-August will light up the night sky offering a spectacular sight for the astronomy enthusiasts. Here is a guide to all the […]

Stargazing Apps to Navigate the Night Sky

Now, here’s the real reason astronomy fascinates me. Four years ago I began writing a historical novel, The Vermillion Sea. One of the main characters is the French astronomer Chappe d’Auteroche. He is frantically trying to reach the tip of Baja California in time to set up for the Transit of Venus observations of June 3, 1769. Two weeks before that date, he lands on the desolate beach near San Jose del Cabo. His diary records his joy as he stares up at the stars. Of course, Baja would be an extraordinary place to see them. A cloudless sky. No doubt Chappe could identify all the major constellations.

The night sky is a big place, and if you’re like me, you can probably find the Big Dipper. I was at my sister’s house recently, and she showed how her iPad could bring up the constellations. I’m using an app to backtrack to the date in 1769 that Chappe would have found himself on that beach. To write the scene accurately, I need to know what Chappe saw when he looked up.

Here are a couple of places to find apps for iOS and Android devices. If you have an iPad, check out these ten apps. If you have a favorite app that lets you track the stars, please leave a comment. Also, where have you had your best view of the night sky? On vacation, at sea, or in the mountains? Did you have trouble identifying the constellations, or do you know the main ones? As for me I envy people who can identify the signs of the Zodiac. It would be so comforting to look up there, and in all that vast expanse, know what I was looking at.

Where Will Babyboomers Find Caregivers?

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According to Michael Birt, Director of the Center for Sustainable Health, the United States will “experience a dramatic shortfall in the number of family members who can supply caregiving services.”

Director of the Center for Sustainable Health, Dr. Michael Birt believes technology can help long-distance caregivers deal with their loved ones' health issues
Direct of the Center for Sustainable Health, Dr. Michael Birt believes technology can help long-distance caregivers deal with their loved ones’ health issues

He cites AARP’s recent Care Gap Report, which says that when baby boomers reach their eighties, they will face a sharp decline in the “caregiver support ratio.” In 2010 the ratio was 1 eighty-year-old to 7 potential caregivers. By 2030 the ratio will be 1 to 3.

Birt recommends a team approach, using technology and social networking. The same approach will work in any scenario where caregivers have to step in. Staying organized and sharing the load will lighten your load and increase your sense of control.

Michael Birt, Ph.D., collaborated with Slate magazine, the New America Foundation, and ASU for a series of magazine articles called “Future Tense.” In that article he explains the demographics of long-term care. An aging population and fewer young people will cause a shortage of caregivers for baby boomers now nearing retirement age.

Read “It Takes A Village, Part II.” It’ll make you think about where we’re all headed. I’m curious what caregivers think. Is technology going to do all the things caregivers do? What happens when it’s not just a matter of reminding the forgetful to take their medicine and turn off the stove? Do you think society will soon be living in three-generation households?

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