Senior Flu Prevention and Taking Care of the Elderly

Note: The following article is courtesy of A Place for Mom.

Getting the flu can be a nasty experience, no matter what your age or general health, and each year flu shots are a major public health initiative. But, because of the risks to the elderly, senior flu prevention is especially important.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), each year more than 200,000 people will be hospitalized because of the flu, and 36,000 of them will die.

“Disproportionately it’s the elderly,” explains Debra Beauchaine, MN, ARNP, and geriatric services director at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. Seniors in their seventies and eighties are at higher risk from the flu than seniors in their sixties, because of declining immunity to illnesses as they age.

Seasonal (or common) flu is one of the most highly contagious illnesses. It is spread by “respiratory drops”—coughing and sneezing. Someone may touch something with the flu virus on it—such as door knobs, telephones or shopping cart handles—then unwittingly touch their mouth or nose.

And it’s not enough to simply stay away from other people who feel sick. “People may be contagious one day before they develop any symptoms, and for up to five days after becoming sick,” Beauchaine says. “That’s part of the problem; people don’t realize they have the virus before they actually feel sick.”

Flu symptoms include fever, chills, runny or stuffy nose, headache, sore throat, cough, extreme fatigue, and muscle aches. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are sometimes present, but rarely prominent.

Flu season typically runs from October through the end of February, but some years it runs into March and April as well. It is estimated that 10 to 20 percent of the U.S. population contracts influenza each year. Once someone gets the flu, the only real “cure” is to rest and drink plenty of fluids, although a doctor may prescribe Tamiflu® or Relenza®, both anti-viral medications which can keep the influenza virus from spreading inside the body and shorten the duration of symptoms. Both must be taken within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms, and neither is a substitute for a flu vaccination.

While otherwise healthy adults can be laid low by the flu for a full week, senior citizens are at risk for becoming much sicker. “They are more vulnerable, once they get the flu, to develop complications,” Beauchaine says. “Because the flu is really a pretty severe illness, they may not have as much of what we call ‘physiological reserve’ as a younger adult. So, seniors will feel very sick from a case of the flu and that puts them at greater risk for complications.”

Dr. W. Paul McKinney, associate dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Louisville, explains that one of the more serious complications is primary viral pneumonia or a secondary bacterial pneumonia. Most hospitalizations and deaths from the flu are a consequence of pneumonia and other respiratory disorders. Also, if a senior has any chronic health conditions, such as congestive heart failure, chronic lung disease, even diabetes or renal failure, those could be exacerbated by the flu. And another common complication of the flu is dehydration, so drinking plenty of fluids is especially vital for the elderly.

Staying away from work or crowded places while sick is important to prevent spreading the flu to others. But that’s not an option for seniors living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, making senior flu prevention that much harder at these communities. “When you congregate large numbers of people in close quarters, transmission is a lot easier,” McKinney says.

However, Beauchaine points out that nursing homes usually require all employees to be vaccinated, which is the single most effective way to guard against getting the flu. And, it’s important to get a flu shot every year, because the virus changes slightly from year to year. Getting a flu shot one year and not the next, will not protect someone from that year’s particular strain.

“They should make every reasonable effort to get vaccinated early in flu season,” McKinney says, but don’t do it too early in the season, because occasionally the immunity will wear off before flu season ends, especially if the season lasts into March or April.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seniors covered by Medicare Part B pay no coinsurance or deductible for their flu shot, as long as they receive the shot from a Medicare provider.

What if a senior is otherwise healthy and doesn’t feel they are “at risk?”

“There is no reason a healthy senior should defer a vaccine,” McKinney says.

A University of Michigan study found that boosting elderly flu vaccinations could save as many as 6,500 lives over ten years. In fact, research from Johns Hopkins University shows that annual flu shots reduce the number of deaths among hospital patients by one half.

While vaccination is the most important senior flu prevention, it’s only 70 to 90 percent effective, so some people who receive the vaccination will still get the flu.

So, for at-risk populations, it’s especially important that everyone around them also gets vaccinated. That includes everyone involved in taking care of the elderly. And like nursing homes, some hospitals, such as Seattle’s Virginia Mason, require all employees to be vaccinated.

The CDC’s target groups for vaccination keep expanding, recently adding children aged 2–5, and lowering the seniors’ age range from age 65+ to 50+. The CDC estimates 218 million Americans fall into the at-risk groups that should be vaccinated. “That’s over two-thirds of this country,” McKinney says. “This year we’ll have 100 million doses of the vaccine, so we won’t even be able to vaccinate 50 percent.”

According to McKinney, the U.S. should not face a vaccine shortage this year. “Unless someone is in a very remote, isolated area, there shouldn’t be a problem getting the vaccine,” he says.

While it’s not possible to get the flu from the standard injectable flu vaccine, which is made from a killed virus, some people will experience a sore arm for one to two days, and possibly a fever. (The newer nasal spray vaccine is made from a live attenuated virus and recommended only for healthy, non-pregnant people between the ages of five to forty-nine.)

Although some people believe certain foods or vitamins can ward off illness, Beauchaine says that while they may make you healthier in general, they aren’t effective for senior flu prevention.

During flu season, practicing good hygiene can help people avoid catching or spreading the flu. Wash hands frequently, especially after touching door knobs and stair rails in public places. Always cover nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, and immediately wash hands afterward. And, of course, stay away from people who are sick. People taking care of the elderly especially need to follow this type of common sense senior flu prevention.

Finally, don’t confuse influenza with avian flu. While bird flu gets a lot of press these days, it is extremely rare, occurring when a human has direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces contaminated by secretions or excretions from infected birds. Vaccines to protect against bird flu are being developed, but are not yet available.

Senior Flu Prevention and Taking Care of the Elderly | A Place for Mom

What is the Best Medical Alert System for Mom or Dad?

Researching the best medical alert systems for seniors can be overwhelming: there are so many choices, that it can be challenging to decide what the right system is for your needs. Because of this, understanding how home medical alert systems work is one of the first steps in choosing the best system for your aging family member.


Most home medical alert systems fall into two different categories: those that come with 24/7 monitoring services, and those that provide equipment only, but no service. Let’s take a brief look at the two options.

Medical alert systems with a monitoring service provide the first response if the senior’s alert device is activated. When the monitoring system is notified, they in turn contact the designated people and/or emergency personnel. Since there is a monthly fee charged for this service, this type of system is typically more expensive than one without a monitoring system.

The response centers of the best medical alert systems for seniors will offer a highly trained staff offering 24/7 support in order to be available at all times for any emergency that arises. In addition to initial training, there should be extensive follow-up training and performance reviews. Thorough training insures that the staff is highly skilled and able to handle each alert call rapidly and professionally. The monitoring center should also be UL listed, which means that their facility meets the high standards of Underwriter's Laboratory, the recognized standard for all monitoring centers.

LifeStation’s commitment to training and customer support makes them one of the best medical alert systems for seniors with a response center. So that each alert call received is given the utmost attention, every medical alert emergency call is handled by two specialists in the monitoring center: one stays on the line with the senior, and the other contacts emergency personnel and the senior's contact list. LifeStation's monitoring center also offers a 24/7 customer support line that is available in addition to the monitoring center, to assist with technical or equipment problems, support, or questions.

However, not all seniors require a monitoring service, and in this situation, a system with just an equipment purchase will be a more affordable option, since there is no monthly fee. In this type of system, when the device is activated, the emergency call goes directly to family, friends, or possibly emergency personnel.

The best medical alert systems for seniors that do not utilize a monitoring system will offer simple to use, affordable, and reliable equipment. In addition, it should be simple to set up the emergency contact phone numbers. Two popular systems like this, the Freedom Alert and its sister the Guardian Alert, provide for automatic dialing directly to pre-programmed numbers, and the senior and his/her family have complete control over the numbers that are selected. The main difference between the two is that the Guardian Alert will only contact 911 when activated, whereas the Freedom Alert provides up to 4 phone numbers to be programmed, which can include 911, but doesn’t have to. And in both cases, since there are no contracts, activation fees, or monthly fees, the initial purchase price is the only cost, making them affordable options.

While worrying about the safety and security of your aging parents may keep you up at night, a good emergency response system can provide you peace of mind, and help for your elderly loved one if needed. LifeStation, Guardian Alert, and Freedom Alert are among some of the best medical alert systems for seniors. Careful research of each type and understanding how they work, will help you to choose the best medical alert system for your senior's needs.

Work, Life and Caregiving - Four Strategies to Manage Fatigue

If you are an employee and a caregiver, you are one of over 14 million people in the United States trying to stay afloat in a tumultuous sea of shifting personal and professional responsibilities. It is estimated that one in every seven employees is taking care of a chronically ill or elderly loved one. If you are a caregiver and employed, how do you make it work? How do you care for work, your loved one and yourself without strangling by the three-way life rope?

Regardless of whether you are providing hands-on care, paying for professional caregiver assistance or a combination of the two, managing a chronic illness of another individual takes its toll. There are many facets to consider - the disease itself, the prognosis, the changing care plan based on the prognosis, the personality type and communication styles of the loved one and yourself, grief and acceptance during the care experience, and role-reversal between the parent and child. In addition varying sibling support, financial management, sleep deprivation of the caregiver and/or the family, delivering the actual hands on care, medication management and care oversight of outsourced care assistance adds to the challenge. In some instances, extended family members and friends distance themselves creating additional emotional strain on the caregiver. Somewhere in the milieu is maintaining employment to support your own financial obligations and career. You still have to show up to work on time and perform to meet job expectations and many times go the extra mile in difficult economic times.

Individuals who volunteer or accept the life challenge as caregiver for a family member take on significant changes that affect work/life balance and family. Caregiver fatigue can easily ensue if precautions are not taken to care for the caregiver and the caregiver family. Work performance may insidiously decrease or the caregiver may struggle to maintain performance but burnout and potentially compassion fatigue may occur. Many times these changes may happen without the caregiver even realizing it.

What can you do?

Be aware of signs and symptoms of burnout and fatigue. Many caregivers begin the caregiving process enthusiastically and with great zeal. They believe in their herculean effort to care, problem solve and manage the discretionary effort it takes to care for others in extraordinary circumstances. Over time, as personal and professional demands outweigh the perceived resources, caregivers may begin to feel irritable, cut corners, avoid contact or become very distant with friends, family and colleagues.

Accept your humanity as a caregiver. Provide self-compassion for yourself. Give yourself that much needed mental break to empower yourself, fill your own cup back to at least half-full so you can continue to help others and complete your feedback loop. Think about it. We live in a world that requires us to meet specific expectations, quietly prefers we exceed expectations, values perfection and zero defects. Yet, we are imperfect humans. Think about being a fly on the wall of the universe and view how difficult it must be for imperfect humans to try to exist in a world that requires perfection.

Allow others to help. Ask. Delegate. Accept. Many times caregivers feel they can do it all themselves and consider using others assistance as a sign of weakness. In reality, we may actually be denying the spiritual opportunity for others to express their compassion by reaching out and giving.

Maintain open communication with your direct supervisor or manager. Many people fear sharing personal information at work in fear of discrimination, i.e. being looked over for promotional opportunities or stretch assignments for career growth. Yet, open communication is the path to obtaining flexible work schedules and other strategies to bring relief at home and restore productivity at work.

Lisa Boesen, MAOM, PHR, is the creator of Creating Compassionate Connections™. With over 30 years of clinical, management and human resources experience in the healthcare industry, Lisa brings these insights and experiences into her publications, engaging presentations and interactive workshops. She is passionate about working with visionary organizations and individuals who believe in the power of empathy and compassion in the organizational experience to create and sustain excellent internal customer service and patient-centered care.

Visit http://www.lisaboesen.com/products to download your F*R*E*E copy of Define Your Destiny - 70 Tips from a Collection of Experts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Boesen

Aging Parents and Their Self-Esteem: Why it Matters

Most of us are familiar with the importance of self-esteem. We know how it matters to the healthy growth of young children, and we are aware of how it affects the lives of adults, both personally and professionally.

But have you ever thought about how important it is to the elderly? And why, if you are caring for an aging parent, you need to think about how to help Mom or Dad feel good about themselves?

Elder Care Cafe has some thoughts:

For most people, their sense of self-worth comes from their independence, their ability to take care of their family while feeling like they have a useful place in society.


In their senior years all of that disappears in what seems like an instant. In the eyes of the senior citizen, they go from being the hero to their kids to being a pitiful old man or woman being taken care of like they were a child. Their feeling of being useful vanishes and is replaced by a feeling of being unnecessary and a nuisance.


Everything they invested in themselves that are symbols of their success including their house and possessions, their ability to drive, and their work all go away in rapid succession one after the other. Small wonder senior citizens undergo a tremendous drop in self-confidence. When you go from thinking highly of yourself to not liking who you are at all, you stumble into a formula for depression and low self-worth.


You can read the entire article here.

Family Conflict and Helping Your Aging Parents

One of the most challenging aspects of adult children caring for their aging parents, is when siblings don't agree. Often it is because one adult child has the primary responsibility, and the rest, due to distance, or other issues, simply don't know all the details of caring for Mom or Dad. But other times, the conflict arises from sibling issues that have existed since childhood.

Whatever the reason, family conflict is not uncommon when dealing with eldercare. AgingParents.com  has some thoughts on how to deal with it:

Imagine this. Your aging parent took a fall. You get the long distance phone call. Mom is in the hospital. Suddenly, you and your siblings have to talk together, as Mom will need help when she returns home after rehabilitation. Who will watch over her care at home? Who will decide how to pay for her care? Who’s in charge, anyway?


These scenarios are all too common and growing more so. Whether our aging parent has planned ahead or not, the adult children have a new responsibility thrust on us. Sometimes, siblings are scattered across the country. Sometimes, even if they live in the same area, they don’t get along. It’s an uncomfortable feeling trying to make decisions with siblings we don’t trust, and maybe never did.


(I’ve certainly experienced this in my own family!)


Family fights can turn an already stressful situation into a nightmare. I’ve known this stress personally. But, there is something we can do about it. It’s called elder mediation.


The concept may sound odd to some. Many think of mediation as a thing to use for labor disputes or international peacemaking. But mediation can be used at home with families, too. Elder mediation is emerging as a way to address issues in families and with institutions about the care of elders and the conflicts among and with their caregivers. The issues are often about money, control, and the work of caring for aging loved ones.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Thinking Ahead About Caring for Elderly Parents

For most adult children of the elderly, finding themselves in the position of caring for an aging parent happens abruptly, and often in a time of crisis no less. This is exactly what happened to me, and they were challenging circumstances to say the least.

Elder Care Cafe has an interesting discussion on how to ease into caring for aging parents:

What most adults do not usually think about as they go about their daily lives is that, unless their parents pass away when they are younger, the adult child will more than likely become involved in their care as they age. Caring for aging parents isn’t normally on anyone’s mind when they and their parents are enjoying their years as adults. It certainly wasn’t on ours.


Unfortunately, life passes much too swiftly and the day comes when the younger adult realizes their parents are no long as self-sufficient as they were at one time. Sooner or later, the adult children find themselves as a caregiver for their elderly parents. Where in the world did time go?


Suddenly single?


For many, the time when you suddenly become a caregiver is just that – sudden. It happens often after the death of a parent and the widowed parent suddenly needs your help.

It might be strange to look at it this way, but the more you can ease into care giving, the more time you and those around you have to get used to it. And if you can step in and make a few minor changes to the environment of your aging parent, you may be able to delay the time when they become totally dependent on you.

If your parent or parents are still living in their own home, here are a few steps you can take to make their living space more accessible and safe....

You can (and should) read the rest of the article at Elder Care Cafe here.

Are You in the Sandwich Generation?

So many adults have found themselves in the difficult position of caring for their children and their aging parents at the same time that a label has been created to describe this group: the Sandwich Generation. And I think that anyone who is in this situation, understands completely how correct this description really is.

I read an interesting article from Elder Care this past week that describes some of the unique challenges of being in the Sandwich Generation:

Ever feel like a Dagwood sandwich?


In fact, some of us often feel more like a Dagwood sandwich, a huge sandwich piled high with many ingredients popularized by Dagwood Bumstead of the long running Blondie comic. We often feel like we have too much on our plate and are squeezed between the two generations. The result is a fair amount of stress on us as moms and dads with all the demands that rising children, teenagers, or maybe even the children of our children, can put on us adults.


At the same time, caring for aging parents can be even more stressful and difficult on the Sandwich Generation from an emotional stress point of view. The stress we realize when our parents begin to age is a new concept for us.
Plenty of support for raising new babies!


In addition to great support such as parent training classes and educational books, the arrival of a new baby in the house is a source of joy. There is great hope at the arrival of a new child and taking care of our children carries with it that creative element of doing something for the future. We see in our children our legacy so seeing them succeed and helping them overcome difficulty is exciting as we do all we can to “launch” the next generation of our family....

You can read the rest of this excellent article at the Elder Care blog.