Elder Caregiver De - Stress: What Type of Elder Care Do I Need?

What elder care services are available in Sierra Vista?

You know you need help with elder care, but do you know what kind of help you need? What services, equipment, and facilities are available locally? There are many choices, including some very non-traditional, completely out of the box ideas.

Home assistive equipment, in-home care, home health care, independent living facilities, assisted living facilities, hotels, cruise ships, nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities, adult day care, small elder care group homes, dementia care facilities, and hospice are some options available to you.

Below is a summary of each with links to more information. Also take a look at my previous?post
Senior Care: Where To Find Help?.

Tools and Devices

At first, you just need a little help, so home assistive devices are a great way to make your life easier and more active. Do not settle for restricted mobility when you can have help. Reduced mobility causes a cascade of health issues that you do not want. You need mild exercise to lead a healthy senior life.

Devices can also?remind you to take your medications, or monitor and report your whereabouts if you wander off confused, or can call a relative or emergency services if you have fallen. Guardian Medical Monitoring? is a quality company that has been providing this kind of service for many years.? Go with experience.

Lift chairs or cushions, walkers, and?toilet seat risers are among the many tools available to you. These are available in local stores and online. For information on what is carried at local pharmacies and medical supply retailers see my post,?Durable Medical Equipment.

Check out You Tube for information about all kinds of equipment and monitoring devices, as well as video communication devices that are kept simple for the elderly.

Take this Mobility Quiz to asses whether you are operating with too many restrictions.

Meals

You are tired of cooking for one or two people, or you can not manage the chore any longer.? What to do?

Frozen Meals from the grocery store, dollar store, or home food delivery truck.? The frozen foods section provides the good and the bad.? Look for meals that are nutritious, without too much salt.? You can always add salt at the table.

Frozen Meals Online:? There are a number of senior meals that can be ordered online.? They are supposed to be delicious and senior-nutritious.

Meals On Wheels provides seniors with nutritious frozen meals.? Contact SEAGO-AAA about this service.? http://www.seago.org/ .

Restaurants:? If you still drive, you can take yourself to one of the many restaurants that provide senior discounts. ?Many seniors do this once a day for their main meal.

Home Care Aides:? You can utilize one of our in-home caregivers to do your grocery shopping and cook your meals.? The caregiver can cook a little extra to freeze for later use.

Home Chef Services are available in town as well.? These gourmet cooks come to your home with all the supplies, cook several tasty meals, and put them in the freezer for you.

Use this Nutrition Quiz to assess whether you have been eating well lately.? Maybe those easy snacks you are using in place of meals are taking their toll on your health and energy.? The nutritional problem is eating too much of the same thing without variety.

In-Home Care

When you need help that equipment can not provide, home care services help you stay home.

Non-medical services include custodial care, personal care, attendant care, homemaking, and respite care. ? A wide variety of services are available to help you stay home. Light housekeeping, grocery shopping, home-cooked meals, recreation, errands, transportation, help with bathing and hygiene, dressing and grooming, and overnight services, are just some of the ways we and other non-medical services can help you at home or in facilities.? Non-medical post-hospital care can also be provided.? Non-medical care can also fill in the gaps that Medicare funded home hospice services cannot provide.

There are roughly twenty non-medical care providers in this area, most of which do not advertise. My service, Comfort Keepers of Sierra Vista, has provided quality service for over ten years. Only two other providers have been here that long. I suggest going with experience as mentioned in my post, The Plunge: Care In a Crisis.

You may visit my office at www.comfortkeepers.com/office-194, or call 520-471-2000, or toll free 1-877-841-8248, and ask for Sandra or Esther. You are also welcome to drop into the office on the northwest corner of Highway 92 and Foothills Drive in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

I admit to being far to protective of my business to list my main competitors. But the Directory of Elder Resources listed below will bypass my bias for you.

Home Health Care

When you return home from a hospital stay with medical needs or have aging related medical issues, home health care can provide you with home health aides, certified nursing assistants, and skilled nursing services. These services include setting up medications, blood pressure checks, blood sugar monitoring, hospice, and wound care. Some home health companies also provide physical therapy, respiratory therapy, and home infusion therapy.
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While there are several home health care providers here, my favorites are Bright Star, Legacy Home Health, and Copper Valley Home Health. Bright Star provides nursing services through the Veterans Administration, and through medical insurance. Legacy and Copper Valley provide Medicare services, and most likely also bill medical insurance.
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American Geriatrics Enterprises? A.G.E. provides in-home skilled nursing services and house calls by an M.D.

Bright Star

Copper Valley Home Health

Legacy Home Health

Moving Out

When you are tired of working on all of your own house repairs, yard care, meals, and more, it might be time to consider moving on. Of course, I prefer that you let my home care service provide your housekeeping and meals. But you still need to call repairmen and gardeners. ?So if you are moving out where do you want to go? Senior Housing

Several apartment complexes are within walking distance of the grocery stores. ?Some of them have managers who look out for their elderly residents. ?One even has an elevator for use by the elderly who are in second floor apartments. ?The Directory of Elder Resources, below, ?lists several of these apartments.

Independent Living Facilities
Independent living facilities? provide you an apartment, fun activities, dining room meals, and transportation. Some housekeeping and laundry services are available.? If your needs progress beyond this, we and other home care providers can help you with bathing and grooming needs and extra transportation needs at these facilities.

Mountain View Gardens in Sierra Vista, Arizona is across the street from the mall. It is a very nice facility.

Assisted Living Facilities

Let's say that you have progressed a little farther with your needs. Either you need more in-home care, or you need to move to an assisted living facility.? If you anticipate needing more personal care, but are not quite in need of it yet, you may choose an assisted living facility rather than an independent living facility.

These are nice facilities for people who need personal care. A staff nurse provides medication sets and monitoring of the residents' health and needs. Caregiving staff provide help with grooming, dressing, showers, and hygiene. Residents have their own apartments, plus dining room meals, laundry and housekeeping services. For extra one-on-one service, such as overnight care after a hospital visit, we and other home care services can provide you with a caregiver in these facilities.

Prestige Assisted Living in Sierra Vista, Arizona is a very nice facility.

Bee Hive Homes?has a smaller, cozy setting that several of our former clients enjoy.

There are more facilities listed in the Directory of Elder Resources, noted below.

Non-Traditional Facilities

Cruise Ships

A cruise ship, believe it or not, can be used as a lower cost independent living facility that comes complete with an on-board physician, exercise and recreation facilities, fun destinations, and great food. Many seniors live from cruise to cruise.

Hotels

Some hotels actually have such good service that a senior can live there with meals and amenities not available in senior housing or facilities.

Adult Day Care

These are useful for adult children who work but have elderly parents living with them. Several assisted living facilities and nursing homes?provide care for your elderly relatives while you work. They also provide temporary care and housing, day and night, when you need to be out of town or just need a vacation.

Villa Vista? provides this type of temporary residence as well as permanent residence.

Small Elder Care or Dementia Care Group Homes

There are several small group homes that provide care for their residents.

Golden Oaks has three facilities in this area. I have heard good reports from people who have utilized their services.

Garden Terrace Assisted Living is a small home facility.

Dementia Care Facilities

These are large facilities or small group homes that provide care for people with dementia and Alzheimer?s. Meals, personal care, and?activities are provided. Prestige Assisted Living, Villa Vista, several group homes, and nursing homes provide dementia care.

We, and other home care providers, can also provide help in these facilities, should your elder need transportation to appointments, or some extra recreation.

Nursing Homes and Rehabilitation Facilities

When your elder needs more skilled nursing care, or cannot afford some of the other options, these facilities may be able to provide services funded by Medicare and medical or long-term care insurance. Many of these facilities also provide dementia care and post-hospital rehabilitation care.

Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation - Hacienda

Life Care Center of Sierra Vista

Quiburi Mission, Benson, Arizona

We and other home care providers can send a caregiver into these facilities to provide one-on-one help for your elder. We can help with simple feeding, fetching, dressing, and recreation, among other assistance. There are safety restrictions; some care must be provided by the facility staff rather than our caregivers.

Vacation or Respite?Care

You are an adult child with an elderly parent living with you. You need a vacation, or you job calls you out of town or TDY, and you need someone to care for your parent while you are away. A number of options are available to you.

We and other home care agencies can provide caregivers who either stay 24/7 in your home, or come every few hours to provide the most needed services, such as morning routine, meals,?bed time routine, showers, etc. for your elder. ?We can also provide transportation to medical appointments and recreation.

Villa Vista, and some of the nursing homes and group homes can provide temporary residence for your elder while you are out of town.

Hospice

Hospice can be provided in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, or in your home. Hospice is covered under Medicare. We can also help you by providing services at home that Medicare does not cover.

Casa De La Paz Hospice

I have found the staff at Casa De La Paz to be kind, caring people. Some of our clients have used their services.

Valor Hospice

I do not know Valor as well, but they appear to provide good services. Some of our clients have used their services.

Directory of Elder Resources for Cochise County

For more services and information, use the SEAGO-AAA Directory of Elder Resources, down loadable from www.seago.org/ .

This directory includes information, telephone numbers, and web sites for elder abuse and fraud, adaptive devices loan programs, assisted living facilities, social security and veterans services, dental services, diabetes education, dialysis services, senior discounts, food pantries, senior meal services, guardian and conservator services, hearing needs, home health, hospice, hospitals, independent living facilities, senior housing, in-home supportive services, legal services, medical insurance, Medicare, Medicaid (AHCCCS), medical clinics, medications, mental health services, nursing homes, police and emergency telephone numbers, scams, senior centers, disability transportation services, veterans' transportation and clinics, and vision services.

Just A Few Options

I doubt I have covered every option available, but this is a start. If you provide, or know of local facilities and services that I have not mentioned here, please leave a comment.

How To Pay For Elder Services

When you have settled on the care you need, you may wonder how you are going to pay for it. I summarize a few funding sources available in this post, Alternative Payment Sources.

Problem Solving

If you have a need that I have not covered here, give the office a call, 520-417-2000 or 1-877-841-8248, and ask for Sandra or Esther.? We can help you with some problem solving, and suggest?resources.

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