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Preparing Your Home for Hospice
If the loved one we care for is in the advanced stages of a disease and we’ve decided that we would like them to be in as much comfort as possible in familiar surroundings, home hospice may be the right choice. However, arranging a loved one’s home or our own for a hospice stay takes some thought and preparation. We likely don’t want the place to look like a hospital, but we need to have all of the necessary equipment the loved one we care for requires.
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Caregiving, the Holidays and COVID
The COVID pandemic roller coaster has been operating since March, forcing us onto the ride and refusing to let us off. We have made adjustments: we restrict our outings into the community, wear masks when we do go out, maintain 6 feet distance and wash our hands until they turn red. We have been forced to accept that the pandemic is as much about loss as it is about health. And while we got used to a little taste of “normalcy” during the warmer months, just as the holiday season approaches, we are again asked to limit our travel and minimize contact with others. Now, rather than anticipating gatherings with friends and family, we must instead ask ourselves: “Should I?”, “Can I?” and “How can I possibly face another loss?”
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Tips to Prepare Your Older Loved One for Winter During the Pandemic
After getting by for most of the year under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have been able to adapt to this new normal. However, the coming winter will reintroduce challenges not seen to the same extent since the early months of the pandemic, such as the return of cold and flu season and limited opportunities to interact in safer outdoor environments. The holiday season is also approaching, forcing all of us to consider how our usual celebrations and traditions will have to adapt to the times.
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Coping with an Older Loved One’s Sleep Issues
While chronic health conditions and medication interactions may also affect the sleep patterns of older adults, living under the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic has further added to these challenges. Activities and finances have been disrupted, isolation has made people feel depressed, many are less physically and mentally active, fears around health and contact with others dominate public thinking and uncertainty has filled every aspect of daily living.
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How to Find Respite as a Caregiver During COVID-19
Carving out time in our day dedicated to ourselves with no outside distractions is challenging enough during the best of times. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these distractions are coming from inside—and with ‘inside’ being the safest location to be, it may feel next to impossible to get away from them. Those who are sandwich generation caregivers may be juggling work tasks with 24/7 parenting and managing the care of an older loved one, leaving no moments of the day set aside for personal time and self-care. For others, loved ones may need more frequent support if their adult day programming or senior center activities are still canceled or reduced. Or, many of us may simply be struggling to find avenues of self-care and respite when the relaxing activities we previously enjoyed—going to the spa, scheduling a vacation—may not be as simple as they once were.
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