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>>Lori Casey: Welcome to Being Well I'm your host Lori Casey
and today I've got Jean Shobe from the Family Care Giver Resource Center part of the Lifespan
Center in Charleston/Mattoon sort of between Charleston and Mattoon, correct?
>>Jean Shobe: Yes.
>>Lori Casey: Well tell us a little bit for people who don't
know what the Lifespan Center is can you explain what it is and some of the services that are
provided out there? >>Jean Shobe:
Okay. The Lifespan Center came to be from two different senior centers we took the Mattoon
senior center and the Charleston senior center and brought them together at the Lifespan
Center. We're kind of centrally located that way and it's easier for us to provide services
all being under one roof instead of two and it was four years ago that we came to the
Lifespan center. We provide several programs under the offices of the counseling on aging.
We have the RSVP program, we have the tele-care program, we have dial a ride, we have trip,
and we have the family care giver resource center.
>>Lori Casey: For which you are the head of.
>>Jean Shobe: Yes I'm the program director for that one.
>>Lori Casey: Okay. Which is why we brought you here today
because our topic is dealing with aging parents and that is that's what you're area does.
So talk to us about your job and what sort of areas do you cover in your position.
>>Jean Shobe: Well the family caregiver resource center
is just as it says it is a resource center for caregivers of individuals over the age
of 60. So we you know if it's a caregiver who's 18 caring for their grandmother. As
long as the older adult is over the age of 60 we can provide services for them. We don't
turn away anyone else we still provide those services, but because of funding that's the
definition of a caregiver. We also provide services for grandparents over the age of
55 raising grandchildren. >>Lori Casey:
Oh so it goes the reserve way as well? >>Jean Shobe:
Right we have two sets of caregivers that we provide services for and we do information,
assistance, referrals, of course resources, we have some support groups, we do training
and education sessions and in some instances we are able to find some financial assistance
to help in whatever the case may be. >>Lori Casey:
Alright well let's get in to our topic here and what are some signs that and we're going
to be going from the perspective of the child caring for the aging parent. What are some
things that we should be looking for signs that maybe our parent needs some additional
assistance? >>Jean Shobe:
First and foremost I would say watch for falls or injuries if there's more frequent happening
or occurrence with falls or if their coming up with lumps and bruises that they can't
explain you need to look into that a little more to see what may be causing that. Whether
it's a medical issue or you know something around the home that's causing it to make
sure the home is safe, no throw rugs things like that. Also finances if you keep an eye
on finances to where they are not getting delinquency notices on their bills, or their
not paying the same bill twice, notices from the bank, issues like that that come up with
finances. The third thing I would say to watch for would be hygiene as far as personal hygiene
or housekeeping you know hoarding issues things like that that are coming up if you notice
there's more of a frequency for those things. Keep an eye out for that.
>>Lori Casey: So as the child if you come over to mom or
dad�s house and you see some of this stuff how do you start the conversation with mom
or dad about that because it can be a sensitive one. They want to maintain their independence
so what advice do you give to people on how do you even approach that subject?
>>Jean Shobe: It's and as you said it is a delicate situation
a lot of times we would recommend that honesty be the best policy of course, openness making
sure they are aware that you're not looking for a reason to take away that independence,
and their comfortable with talking about the situation sometimes you know their fearful
of what could be the outcome of that conversation so just being open and honest I think would
be the best way to handle bringing those situations up.
>>Lori Casey: So do you have clients that come into your
office and say my parent is so resistant to this?
>>Jean Shobe: Absolutely.
>>Lori Casey: How do you address that?
>>Jean Shobe: Resistance is tough because as the child we
want to fix it we want to just go in kind of steamroll and say just don't worry about
it I'll take care of it and we'll put it together and we'll fix it no problems you don't have
to worry about a thing. But we can't they have their right to independence, they have
their right to self-determination so it is a difficult situation whereas if it was our
child we could take care of it because they are an individual and adult there's more to
think about. >>Lori Casey:
So sometimes some of this may come up because your parent is hospitalized maybe for a fall
and you may have someone come in social worker maybe that talks to you about maybe some future
care for your parent. In that situation what are some things that you as a child should
be asking you know about mom or dads future care, you know if they're in a hospital and
you're at that stage where you got to make some decisions they're maybe not going to
be able to go home. What are some of the good questions we should be asking if we're in
that scenario? >>Jean Shobe:
You always want to know about rehabilitation you want to make yourself aware of what they�re
going to be facing in recovery whether it's a disease process or whether it's an injury
caused by a fall or you know if they have a broken bone what can you expect as a caregiver
in the healing process. You also want to make sure that they individual the patient is aware
as well that you know it's going to take time and this is what they need to do. As the adult
gets older a lot of times that rehabilitation is accompanied by a nursing home stay and
that can be difficult. They're fearful again of what could happen and is this going to
be a permanent thing. >>Lori Casey:
I've got some people in my life who are in the middle of that situation right now and
it is very difficult and one of the difficulties that has come about is when there are siblings
involved and not everybody is on the same page. So how should we deal with maybe you've
got three siblings and the parent to get everybody on the same page so that every bodies giving
mom or dad the same information. >>Jean Shobe:
Because you have so many different dynamics and personalities involved with a family especially
with multiple siblings we can recommend a family meeting. If you can get everyone together
whether it's by phone conference or whether it's actually getting someone together or
getting everyone together in one room you can throw out those questions and concerns.
It is important to include your care receiver as well. So they're not thinking you're ganging
up on them you know that everybody met and talked about them, that they didn't include
them in the decisions. So it's important to keep them included.
>>Lori Casey: So you think that happens a lot where the
children sort of take over and treat mom or dad like the child?
>>Jean Shobe: They do and that kind of goes back to the
question earlier where it's difficult cause we want to fix it, we want to make sure mom
and dad are cared for the way they cared for us.
>>Lori Casey: Right.
>>Jean Shobe: And it's easy to try to take control and think
about what you want and not what they want. >>Lori Casey:
I would imagine if you if it's possible you may want to have a conversation with your
parent before they get to that state. Maybe before their in their 70's or 80's. Start
the conversation now what are some of the things that you should be talking about with
your parent and what different areas? >>Jean Shobe:
Advanced directives is a big one. >>Lori Casey:
Which means what? >>Jean Shobe:
Powers of attorney, living wills, your actual will all of those things need to be done ahead
of time. It's important for the caregiver or someone to have copies of all of those
papers. You know power of attorney isn't valid until the care receiver is ready or incapacitated
in some way, but you still need to have copies of those so when you're at the hospital or
wherever you can present that paper and say this is who I am. The will itself I know a
lot of times they don't want to divulge until you know the last minute, but it's important
to know at least where a copy of that is so it can be accessed if needed. Same with insurance
policies and things like that you want to make sure that the caregiver knows where those
things can be found. >>Lori Casey:
So if someone if given say in my situation I'm given the power of attorney over my parents
what does that mean. What kind of an authority do I have?
>>Jean Shobe: In the event that the care receiver would
become unable to make their own decisions, what's best for them, you know a lot of times
that means they're unconscious or they've progressed in a disease where they are not
able to make those decisions. That's when it comes down to their capacitated in some
way and it actually would give you the authority as the find in the document to make decisions
on their behalf. There's a list of things in the document that would be checked and
at the end you would sign what it would be for.
>>Lori Casey: So the power of attorney is completely separate
than someone who's the executer of a will, it's a totally different thing?
>>Jean Shobe: You're power of attorney can be for health
or it can be for finances there's two different documents.
>>Lori Casey: So when starting a conversation now before
your parents get to that you know state where you have to make those decisions, talk about
advanced directives. What else should we be talking to our parents about?
>>Jean Shobe: That's the big one making known what their
wishes are. >>Lori Casey:
Should you even get into talking about funeral choices and things like that?
>>Jean Shobe: Funeral choices is not a bad one, finances
is another big one. Making sure again that you know whether there's someone else on the
account or making sure all the accounts are known, the insurance policies again. Just
making sure that you are well informed, a lot of times that's difficult because our
parents don't want us to know exactly where they are financially or what the advanced
directives are saying you know well I can make my own decisions. But it's not always
the case so it may take a few conversations to get them to soften up and be receptive
to what you are trying to do. And again make sure that they understand that you're not
out to get them that it is something that you want to do to help them.
>>Lori Casey: Okay so we have in our community and a lot
of communities around central Illinois lots of different local resources for helping the
elderly. Can you talk about some of the resources that you direct towards people who come into
the Lifespan center for ways of helping an elderly person with maybe meals or housekeeping?
>>Jean Shobe: Most commonly it is requests for meals, housekeeping,
living situations as far as you mentioned assisted living or nursing home facilities.
The housekeeping seems to be a big issue because to remain independent like I mentioned hygiene
is a big one and you want to make sure their living conditions are safe. So those are the
most common ones another one we get are request for support groups where caregivers can go
and discuss what's going on. If it's normal if other caregivers are experiencing the same
thing. So those are questions that can be addressed in the support group and I for one
am a big advocate for that because they do draw a lot of knowledge from the other ones
in the room. >>Lori Casey:
We have here in our region we have resources for meals to be delivered. What do we have
here locally for senior citizens? >>Jean Shobe:
Yeah there are services to deliver it to the home and they can provide weekend meals as
well or evening meals. That way they are sure to have a fresh meal. I think the weekend
meals are frozen actually but then they would still have that to where they could pop it
in the microwave and still have food. >>Lori Casey:
So if someone is watching and they're in the middle of the situation now there are a lot
of resources out there you don't have to kind of go at it alone. There are ways of because
some times what might happen is my parents are 600 miles away. Which happens a lot the
parent here and the child is here they're too far apart so you've got to find local
resources until maybe you can get there. >>Jean Shobe:
We do have services that we can connect you with as far as area agencies on aging. That's
a network that every state has and we have a just match whatever county your parents
are living in to which area agency on aging is covered by that or covers that area and
then that would be your contact point to find local resources in that area.
>>Lori Casey: You know so what being a caregiver can be
stressful for an elderly parent do we have support groups, you said through Lifespan
there is a support group for caregivers. >>Jean Shobe:
There are a couple different support groups for caregivers in the area. We have a couple
that are disease specific for Alzheimer's and then we have a couple that are just strictly
caregivers for individuals with all kinds of different diseases and needs. We have one
that meets in Charleston, one that meets in Mattoon and then the two Alzheimer's groups
meet at the Lifespan center. >>Lori Casey:
Okay so what kind of advice would you tell people who are caregivers, you know it is
it can be stressful; it's hard how can they continue to provide the care that they need
for their parent and still have a life for themselves and sort of find some level of
balance between all of this. >>Jean Shobe:
Care giving is hard to find balance in because it is it's kind of like having children of
your own. You want to make sure everyone is care for everything is just right. So finding
that balance and managing the stress that goes along with it I recommend finding any
resource you can. Again I go with the support groups because they are a huge help and then
just taking one day at a time because depending on what the caregiver is dealing with the
one day at a time, one step at a time is the best that you can do. Just know that you're
not in it alone that there are other people doing the same thing.
>>Lori Casey: Are there you had mentioned earlier in the
interview that there are things that we should be looking for in our parent may need assistance
you said falls, injury, finances, hygiene I would think another one might be forgetfulness,
early signs of dementia that comes in all different levels. So how do you recognize
that what are some of the maybe early signs that it's something beyond just mom's getting
up there in age and can't remember certain things?
>>Jean Shobe: I'm not an expert on dementia or dementia
type diseases, but a lot of the caregivers that we connect with are dealing with that
and they are just they get concerned early on. I would just recommend that you keep an
eye on it, check in on them if you think it is more of a concern, try to talk to medical
physicians, nurses just let them know. I know with the confidentiality it's difficult to
get any information from the medical field but you can let them know what you've observed
and then it would be helpful for them in making their decisions too.
>>Lori Casey: What sort of things if you're able to accompany
your parent to the doctor for their regular visits what are some of the things that you
as the caregiver should be taking notes on and being aware of to sort of help them in
their to be an effective caregiver. What are some of the questions that we as caregivers
should be asking the doctors? >>Jean Shobe:
That's difficult because a lot of times when you're sitting there you are sitting there
with your care receiver and it's hard to put out the questions honestly without you know
you're afraid you're going to offend the person you're providing the care for. And questions
that you could ask or not necessarily questions but things you can point out are things that
have happened in the past that you may be concerned about. Now they may just kind of
put it under the rug that oh that wasn't a big deal, but the physician at least is aware
that those types of things are happening. >>Lori Casey:
I would imagine another area that's important to keep track of is the medications that your
parent is on and keeping that list handy to make sure that they are taking the right dose
at the right time. >>Jean Shobe:
Yes medication is tricky sometimes a lot of caregivers will pull in their home makers
or housekeepers to do medication reminders if they are with an agency they can do that,
but in a crisis situation you want to make sure to have all of those listed and the dosages
and how many time they take them. One other thing I wanted to point out about going to
the doctor with the parent is that when you go to the doctor you've got your questions
and things you want to ask but it's important to write things down that the doctor says
because when you get out of the doctor�s office your parent may not have comprehended
or heard everything that was said because they had so many other things on their mind.
So it's good to take somebody with you so you have a second opinion basically.
>>Lori Casey: Or two sets of ears hearing.
>>Jean Shobe: Exactly exactly.
>>Lori Casey: Are there other as we rap up here are there
other things that you know tips or something that you could help us with as we leave to
sort of make that transition from child to caregiver a little bit easier because we do
want to care for our parents they cared for us we're just returning the favor, but it's
a difficult process. What can we do as the children turned into caregivers to make that
a little bit easier on mom and dad? >>Jean Shobe:
I think it's important to maintain that respect level and just respect that they do have rights
that they do want to remain independent as long as they can, be open and honest and remember
that you're not the only person going through this. There are resources that can help and
then there are other people going through it as well. So don't be afraid to reach out
and ask for help because it's not a sign of weakness if you can't handle everything. I
mean that's actually a smart decision to know that you can't do it alone that you need the
help and support of others. >>Lori Casey:
There are probably a dozen other people going through the same thing you are.
>>Jean Shobe: Exactly:
>>Lori Casey: So seek out those resources here in the Coles
County area we have Lifespan Center, communities around have other similar resources. So Jean
we want to thank you for coming on Being Well and we appreciate the information you provided
us. >>Jean Shobe:
I thank you. [Music]
When temperatures go up, so does your risk of heat-related health issues: dehydration,
heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Paying attention to the heat is especially important if you
have a chronic illness such as Diabetes. Here�s what diabetics need to know about staying
healthy in the heat. I gotta give you a decent pitch.
To Teresa Brown, there�s nothing like a family game of backyard baseball.
Nice hit
Teresa has type 1 diabetes. She has to be careful when the sun soars.
If we know we�re going to be doing anything active, then I need to plan ahead.
Diabetes patients are particularly susceptible to the heat. Not only do they have to worry
about their health, they also have to worry about the impact of hot weather on their equipment,
their medications and supplies.
Mayo Clinic Dr. Curtiss Cook says dehydration can happen to diabetic patients quickly in
hot weather.
Because many times they lose their ability to cool themselves it the heat.
And high blood sugar levels also put them at risk of dehydration.
If you get really warm and you�re not hydrating like you need to - I think it gets blurry
to tell � am I just feeling this way because I�m really warm, or am I feeling this way
because something�s going on with my blood sugar?
So Teresa stays hydrated.
Drink plenty of water
And checks her blood sugar before�
It�s actually a little high right now. It says 194.
And after playing in the sun.
This is good. I�m heading in the right direction.
Teresa is on an insulin pump that constantly delivers medication. It�s essential that
she keep her medication and equipment cool. Heat can damage the technology, even the test
strips, and it can make insulin less effective.
The insulin�s going to break down and it�s not going to work like it needs to in my body.
Insulin helps Teresa�s body metabolize glucose � sugar.
Makes it more fun if you have to work for it.
So she�s vigilant. And takes care to stay healthy in the heat. So she can pitch a perfect
game to her family. For Medical Edge, I�m Vivien Williams.
If you're heading to the beach you probably don't have water quality concerns at the top
of your list.��But some beach water is dirty and may even make us sick.��Elizabeth
Cohen takes a look at how our beaches are faring in 2013.
The latest report card on the health of America�s beaches finds that for the 3rd consecutive
year, there have been more than 20,000 closings and advisory days due to dirty water.��
The report is put out each summer by the national resources defense council.����
The numbers of closures and alerts for 2012 are actually down from the year before because
we had less rain and therefore less runoff, one of the major sources of pollution to our
waterways.�� About 80 percent of these closures were issued
because bacteria levels exceeded public health standards.��Raw sewage may be partly to
blame.�� Illnesses linked to swimming in contaminated
water can include upset stomach, skin rashes, ear, nose and throat problems, pink eye, respiratory
infections, and hepatitis.�� Young children and older people are most at
risk.�� About 7 percent of the beach samples from
across the U.S. had unacceptable pollution levels.��The worst offenders were those
in the great lakes region and the healthiest were found in Delaware and parts of Maryland
and Virginia.�� To find out how your beach rates, you can
go to www.nrdc.org/beachesand then plug in the zip code.��
For today's health minute, I�m Elizabeth Cohen.
Heart health may be the latest reason not to start your day on an empty stomach. According
to a new Harvard study, having breakfast may keep you from having a heart attack. Researchers
studied 45-to-82 year old men who work in the medical field. They found those who skipped
breakfast showed a 27-percent increase in heart attacks and coronary heart disease risk.
Even though the study was done on older men, researchers say the results will likely apply
to the broader population. The men who skipped breakfast were also more likely to smoke,
be less physically active, and drink more. Stress can play a huge role in your health.
Studies have found a stressful life can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity.��
That's right; stress can even cause weight gain.��Why?�� Here's Mary Ellen Hopkins
with more. No doubt about it, we live in a stressful
world.�� And doctors say, when we're stressed, we may
not eat as well as we should.�� Psychologists at the mayo clinic have found
that during very stressful times, people tend to eat to fill an emotional need even when
they are not hungry. And that can include snacking on comfort foods
that are often high in calories and fat. It is sometimes referred to as emotional or
stress eating.�� Doctors say there are ways to handle emotional
eating. First get a handle on the stress.��
People who are in control seem to stick to better eating habits and exercise more.
What's the best way to handle stress, try these tips.
Recognize stress, and the warning signs like anxiety, irritability and muscle tension.
When eating, ask if you're really hungry or just eating to eat.
Don�t skip meals, especially breakfast. Don�t have comfort food, like potato chips
and candy, available in your home or office. Practice relaxation exercises, such as yoga
and meditation. And get plenty of sleep.
Doctors say, feeling more comfortable with your inner self, can cut down on inner stress,
and therefore cut down on emotional snacking. For today's health minute, I�m Mary Ellen
Hopkins. [Music]