Caregiver

The living room of Leslie Jorgensen’s basement in Alpine tells the story of how much her life has changed during the last five years.

Technology has revolutionized how Americans manage chronic diseases, empowering us to monitor important health indicators in the comfort of our own homes. From monitoring blood pressure and blood oxygen levels to the electronic transmission of health information, technology is helping us take better charge of our own health.

Years ago, it was common for three or more generations to live together in one home. When aging family members needed care, they had plenty of people willing to pitch in to help out. Choosing to send a parent or grandparent to a nursing home was a last resort.

Wandering, a complex motor, cognitive and behavioral disorder, is a common symptom among patients with dementia. A contemporary definition for wandering is: “A syndrome of dementia-related locomotion behavior having a frequent, repetitive, temporally disordered, and/or spatially disoriented nature that is manifested in lapping, random, and/or pacing patterns, some of which are associated with eloping, eloping attempts, or getting lost unless accompanied.”

The sun was barely up when Evelyn Volk, bleary-eyed with toothbrush in hand, tossed a pile of clothes into the washing machine, the first of several loads of the day. She glanced at the wall clock that was deliberately set 10 minutes fast.

What does Massachusetts have against spouses? Judging by reactions on Beacon Hill, this is not a “spouse-friendly” state. I have been on a campaign for years now, urging state lawmakers to add spouses to the list of family members who can be paid caregivers. Under Medicaid rules, a person who wants to hire her aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, son, daughter, grandmother or grandfather---can pay them for personal care services at home. But not their husband or their wife.

The old-fashioned house call is starting to make a comeback as part of an effort to improve care for some of Medicare’s most frail and expensive patients.

By Leslie Anderson, Contributing Writer REGION - Home is a place like no other. It is the place where a person’s life foundation is constructed....

There are 40 million Americans, 844,000 in Massachusetts, who help care for aging parents, spouses, or loved ones, helping them to live independently in their own homes. These family caregivers provide unpaid care valued at $11.6 billion annually. Caregivers have a huge responsibility and can take some common sense steps that would make the world of difference to them. That’s why AARP Massachusetts urges passage of The Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act to better support family caregivers as they help seniors stay safely at home.

Part one of a three part series  By Micha Shalev   Most of us dread the thought of permanently moving a loved one into a skilled...