2020-11-20_amanda_HomeCareNovember_Draft2_20Nov2020.docx

Let there be light: 3 tips for the darkest days of the year
Big picture view: Article 1

There’s no denying the darkest days of the year are officially here. Most of us don’t realize just how much we need the light until it starts to slip away. As the sun sets earlier, many people feel a real dip across a whole range of health factors – from mood to sleep. Seniors are no exception.

Keeping these three key tips in mind as November turns to December can help you light up a senior’s health, and importantly, morale:

Explore the power of bright-light therapy. Research shows sun lamps can help the body regulate melatonin (a hormone that plays a big part in controlling the sleep-wake cycle), as well as serotonin (which ties in to mood). That’s way bright-light therapy can be an effective piece of the treatment puzzle for folks suffering from seasonal affected disorder (SAD), non-seasonal depression, dementia, and a host of other conditions.  If you – are a loved one – seems to be feeling the impact of shorter days and longer nights more than usual, consult the doctor, and be sure to ask about light therapy options. Prescribed right, they can make a real impact on anyone’s quality of life, including seniors.

Don’t underestimate the impact of sundowning. It’s not uncommon for seniors suffering from various forms of dementia to report behavioural and mood disturbances in the afternoon or early evening hours. Coined as “sundowning” because its’ associated with fading light, studies show symptoms can worsen in the fall and winter as cold weather keeps seniors inside. Staying on the look-out for symptoms of sundowning is particularly important this year, with social distancing measures driving up isolation for older demographics. You can mitigate the impacts of sundowning by planning ahead and using light to your advantage. Steps as simple as turning lamps on earlier, using timers to ensure a senior has enough light at the right times of the day, or moving activities like dinner or bathing up into brighter periods can make a difference as part of a broader management plan.

Go all in on twinkle lights. With the holidays just around the corner, families are wondering how to celebrate safely as the pandemic surges on. Across Quebec and Canada, a host of municipalities are urging residents to join them in switching holiday lights on earlier than ever before. Why? Psychologists say flipping the switch on holiday lights enables many people to zero in on happy memories. In fact, holiday lights and décor can provide a healthy distraction from the headlines, and build positive anticipation around upcoming celebrations. Of course, not everyone associates the holidays with positive memories. But for seniors who do, there’s no harm in putting a little extra effort into getting those lights up early. Safely decorating for the holidays with a caregiver can spark conversations, stimulate memories, and give people something upbeat to think about. That goes a long way at a time like this.

Closing thoughts

Light plays a fundamental role at the heart of so many cultural and religious holidays. At its most basic level, light makes us feel good. In a clinical setting, the right kind of light treatment can support overall care plans meant to combat everything from depression to dementia. Finding ways to help a senior light up their life right now could have a lasting effect on their health and wellbeing just as many of us could use the boost.

Facebook

Seniors feeling the weight of darker, shorter days should consider these three tips to make the most of the power of light. Read Home Care Assistance Montreal’s monthly tips here.

Instagram

Ready to shine a little light on someone you love? Check out Home Care Assistance Montreal’s three tips for leveraging light to boost mood and morale now. Link in bio.

4 guiding principles for where seniors hang their hat

Caregiver Rx: Article 2

This month, we sat down with Home Care Assistance Montreal founders and father-son team Tim Thomas, and Timothy Thomas, to tackle the classic question: should we keep mom at home, or move her to a seniors’ residence?

In a year that’s been anything but typical, more and more clients are weighing the pros and cons of life at home or life in a residence. As you consider the options, Tim and Timothy recommend putting these four core tenets at the heart of your decision:

There’s no one right answer – just what’s right for the individual.

Tim: “There are pros and cons to any living situation. The key to making the best choice for your loved one is to zero in on them as a person. What are their specific health needs? What social activities can they participate in? How much support do they need around tasks like preparing meals, bathing, hygiene? We tend to look outward at the options available to us but I prefer to flip the paradigm, and look inward first. Listing out your loved one’s specific needs, determining how many hours of daily support they require (and the kind of support that entails) is a great starting point. From there, you can weigh the options available to you and see which ones align best to the individual’s unique needs. Some can be met at home with support from a caregiver who comes into the house. Others might do very well in a seniors’ residence setting. The decision should start and end with the person at the heart of the matter, always.”

Dive deep to understand what a seniors’ residence does, and doesn’t, provide.

Timothy: “Even within the residence setting, there’s a sliding scale of options for how much support someone can access, and what that support looks like. Many of our clients are surprised to hear that 50% of our caregivers are working with clients who live in a residence. That’s because not all options are created equal, and sometimes getting the right balance requires a hybrid approach to senior care. As you compare staying at home with moving into a residence, be sure to ask how many hours a day a caregiver will be with your loved one. Qualify that further by asking what, specifically, the caregiver will be doing during that set number of hours. Is it mostly transactional? Medication and meal drop-off, for example? Or do caregivers provide more of a relationship and connection through activities, walks, hobbies, and other activities? When you know exactly is included, you can assess whether that aligns with a given senior’s specific needs – especially around meaningful connections, one of the most important factors in caregiving success.”

Never underestimate the importance of caregiver fit.

Tim: “Finding the right fit between a caregiver and a client is absolutely essential. Even now, we’ve implemented a host of COVID-19 precautions to ensure we can get to know a family, and the senior, fully before we match them to the right caregiver. There are a lot of ways to ensure a senior has everything they need to thrive. Knowing there’s a reliable caregiver on-hand to take care of the big things, while still doing little things, can make all the difference in someone’s quality of life. Maybe that means building on a senior’s interest in the arts by the occasional trip to a museum, or recognizing someone’s love for music by finding new ways to bring that into the house. Many see the organized social activities as a definite upside at a senior’s residence. That’s certainly a factor to be consider. Same goes for caregiver fit. With the right caregiver, a senior can have a truly fulfilling day, whether living at home, or in a residence setting.”

COVID-19 has changed many things but the fundamentals still count.

Timothy: “Understandably, we get a lot of questions about our COVID-19 protocols, and how we’re mitigating risk for our clients right now. Everyone should be asking about safety, no matter what type of residence or homecare you’re assessing. Safety is tantamount and for our team, that means building up the number of minimum hours a caregiver works with a client. That’s a key way we’re nurturing one-to-one relationships, and limiting the number of contacts a caregiver has. Finding out how that works should play a big part in any family’s decision about whether to stay home or move to a residence. That’s especially true if you’re weighing the benefits of moving someone with age-related or other cognitive challenges, who could feel the impact of a change more deeply. A staged approach that gradually builds more care into the private home before ultimately moving someone into a residence can help families take progressive steps, without going zero to a thousand. Across that journey, asking the right safety questions is absolutely essential.”

Closing thoughts

Seeking care for the senior in your life is an intimately personal decision that looks different for every family. By focusing on individual needs, getting the full picture of what’s included, carefully assessing caregiver fit, and putting safety at the core of your decision, you can’t go wrong.

Facebook

Keep mom at home? Or move to a seniors’ residence? Any family facing these choices will find a wealth of pros and cons to consider. This month, we’re offering four key principles to keep in mind as you determine the best next step for the senior you love.

Instagram

Pros and cons become personal when you’re making decisions around where your beloved senior will live. Home Care Assistance Montreal’s Tim Thomas and Timothy Thomas share four key principles to keep in mind as you assess options now. Link in bio.

Caregiver of the Month
TBD

Tim’s personal LinkedIn
TBD