SENIOR HOME CARE:

Dementia Holiday Activities That Lower Stress and Raise the Joy. Great ideas in this article!

"Make 10 Christmas Cards, drop off to any retirement community, and ask the activities director to give them to the loneliest residents." A very sweet idea! This would be especially easy for those who have aging relatives living there already. It might also be a good addition to the Dementia Holiday Activities. Even if a relative with dementia can't write, perhaps they could draw a picture or add stickers.  Via @AgeWiseLiving

7 states of dementia.

WOO HOO – We senior home care givers are worth A LOT! The price of unpaid senior home care exceeds total Medicaid expenditures or total sales of WalMart! Via @ElderCareRN

10 Tips for Preventing Dementia Sundowning. Via @Carebuzz 

Interesting info at EldercareABC Blog Carnival including slip and fall info. 

Study shows 'Name Game' hints at Alzheimer's Disease. Via @SafetyNetSource

A very interesting article, Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) vs. Lifecare Community – are they the same? from @PattyGrace.

For Elderly in Rural Areas, Times Are Distinctly Harder (NY Times). Via @caregiving

Mental tasks and exercise may help lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. Via @RetireLife

Very handy – especially for aging parents – No slip hand towels for the kitchen or bathroom. 

I'm putting this last in this section as it deals with both senior home care AND fun with the grandchildren – The latest Boomers & Seniors: News You Can Use. I especially enjoyed the articles about Senior Travel Smarts and Pie Dough Fun with Grandchildren!

GRANDPARENTS:

More than 70 million strong , grandparents are one of largest and most powerful consumer segments in US!  Via @Carebuzz.

Here's a great Advent/Christmas project for our grandchildren's homeschooling programs!

GREAT WAYS TO SAVE MONEY:

25 days of Christmas – free mp3 music downloads,  including Christmas Praise and Worship,  from Amazon. Please note, though, there are also a couple of songs that are not appropriate for all audiences, including one with an explicit rating! So do check each one out to be sure it's something you want.

Free classical Christmas mp3 downloads from Amazon as well. 

10 frugal gifts.

Charming VIntage Tins…Packaging GIfts from the Kitchen. Very delightful and frugal ideas!

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

The Angel said to Mary: "You will bear a Son and you shall name Him Jesus..He…will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High."

As for you, Bethlehem…from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago. From the days of eternity 

 “We leave traces of ourselves wherever we go, on whatever we touch.” ~Lewis Thomas. Via @ShaynePacker

Words to encourage – The Lord is good.

BABY BOOMER GENERATION:

I love Charles Swindoll's Bible teaching. He has a new book out, "Insights on Romans . " This is the first in a series from 45 years of teaching those 27 books of the Bible. What a great Christmas gift this would make.  

Aging members of the baby boomer generation face a caregiver shortage. Via @Carebuzz 

"For Some Ages 55 to 64, Medicare health insurance for seniors – and maybe now for younger than seniors – Will Cost Too Much.

Moving Changes Like Bambi, Beauty, and Rental Property Insurance at SandwichINK Real Estate Info  

Yummy recipe from Jenn Fowler – Chinese Takeout Style Chicken Wings!  

Christmas appetizers and snacks. Via @njfamilymag Yummy!!!

28 *invaluable* holiday baking tips from TipNut!  Via @eMom

Talking about baking and holidays, wait til you see these Gingerbread Houses – the Most Elaborate in the US!!! Via @mike_gamble 

Senior Home Care Giving:

Retirement Workout Ideas you’ll actually enjoy.   @Seniors4Living

Benefits of Pet Therapy for Seniors. @GlenboAZ

Chronic pain found to increase risk of falls in older adults. @CaringTrans

Hope for Adult Day programs in PA. Great idea for all Adult Day Programs. @PattyGrace

Employers’ Best Practices for Workers with Senior Home Care Giving Responsibilities. @ElderCareRN

Excellent, Thoughtful Approach for Alzheimer’s Disease – Principles For a Dignified Diagnosis. @CarePath @mike_gamble

‘Medicare Advantage’ at Issue in Senate.  @caregiving

Be sure to check out the Holiday Survival Guide for senior home care givers at Caregiving.

Vital info regarding Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia and Medicare.

There’s a great new Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use blog carnival this week.

Grandparents:

Fun Christmas ideas for Grandparents.

For a creative and funny bunch of ideas to do with and for your grandchildren, pop over to @ShaynePacker ‘s site.  They are very adorable.

Words of Encouragement:

God is the rock of my refuge.

God is my salvation.

God is our helper.

God is the strength of my heart.

Baby Boomer Generation:

Surprising analysts, Bank of America says it will fully repay $45 billion taxpayer aid soon. Good news about one of my favorite banks!  On the other side of the coin, with the repeal deadline approaching, House votes to extend estate tax (45% rate). There’s been no action yet in the Senate.  @SoundMindInvest

Yummm. If you have a Christmas party planned this year for friends, neighbors, or grandchild, here’s a delish-looking Candy Cane Fudge recipe!

Moving is a tough job! Moving also tends to cause us to get behind on important details and such is the case this week as I JUST realized an interesting new Boomers & Seniors: News You Can Use came out last week! Not only that, EldercareABC had two informative blog carnivals on October 7 AND 14! The fact that I was caravanning cross country during most of this time period, with limited web use, could have something to do with this lapse on my part.

Well, now that I’ve discovered all this interesting info, here’s a brief review of each to whet your appetite, along with the encouragement to join me in exploring them fully to help us on our joint journey of Sandwich Generation senior home care giving and grandparenting!

Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use

I especially enjoyed the article by Patty Grace on hospice and palliative care. As I commented there, we were very blessed by both of these during my dad’s last few weeks on earth. They were wonderful, and walked us through everything step by step, but her article is an excellent overview of both systems.

Another article that caught my eye was Memory Triggers, a book to help us communicate better with our aging parents who have dementia.

You’ll find interesting articles dealing with fun ways to exercise which can help lower your cholesterol, ways to communicate with aging parents who have dementia, tips on coaching, social security and retirement, and more at Ageless-Sages, who wonderfully hosted this particular Boomers and Seniors!

EldercareABC Blog Carnival – October 7

The October 7 issue has a fascinating pair of articles by Derrick Grant explaining what SLUMs is and how it can help us with parents who may have started struggling with dementia, along with versions of this test in several different languages.

You’ll also find articles on the lack of a cost of living raise for Social Security, how to deal with senior assistance resistance, and more!

EldercareABC Blog Carnival – October 14

I found several interesting articles about caregiver stress and coping strategies in this post. I was also especially encouraged by the personal essay, The Two Millies. It was so sweet to read about this sweet friendship that developed in a care facility between two aging mothers and their families.

All in all, three interesting blog carnivals with plenty of useful information! Which was your favorite article?

Great resources for Sandwich Generation home care givers and grandparents! Two of my two favorite senior / boomer blog carnivals have brand new issues out and they are full of useful information for all of us.

Carebuzz is hosting the Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use and there you will find, in addition to an article from SandwichINK as well as an article from SandwichINK Real Estate Info:

• Adult day care…the best kept secret in eldercare
• Exercise Improves Spatial Memory in Seniors
• A Timeline Tool For When You Are In The Emergency Room
• Top 50 Oncology Blogs
• 50 Social Sites to Connect With Other Patients Online
• And several more interesting articles

After you’re done there, you’ll find that, among other things, EldercareABC is discussing:

• A thought-provoking article – Mean Girls at the Senior Center A New Frontier for Bullies
• 10 Senior Help Tips for an Emergency
• An article offering you a free download - “Caring for a Person with Alzheimer’s Disease” Guide for Caregivers, Professionals and Support Groups – definitely one of those great ways to save money! 

Both of these blog carnivals are great resources for those of us in the Sandwich Generation and we definitely appreciate Carebuzz and EldercareABC for their hard work on these interesting issues, along with Gina LaGuardia of Seniors For Living and her continued great leadership and coordination of the Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use.

Twelve years after his diagnosis, my dad experienced some new and major Parkinson’s Disease symptoms. One of the more noticeable things he experienced was a dramatic change with his voice, going from a fairly normal volume down to almost a whisper. It turned out that was a fairly common problem for Parkinson’s Disease patients.

Now researchers are working on various ideas to help with that and Jessica Huber has found an interesting technique that is helping many. As Redorbit’s article explains, [Parkinson's Disease patients] are being retrained to speak louder using an interesting recording called “multitalker babble noise.”  Well worth reading the article! That’s something I would have asked our doctor about immediately.

Uh Oh! I must admit I’m not happy about this story from CNN. “Heart Group Urges Daily Limit on Added Sugar.” Apparently, not carefully limiting our sugar intake not only hurts our weight, which in turn can lead us straight into being diagnosed with Diabetes which then requires a Type 2 Diabetes diet which has even less sugar! Added sugar is also

“’associated with risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, and high levels of C-reactive protein, which has been linked to oxidative stress and inflammation,’ says Linda Van Horn, a registered dietitian and chair of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee.”

Of additional importance for those of us in the Sandwich Generation is the example we are setting for our grandkids. I have to confess I am bad about my sodas. I have started using more diet sodas, though there are concerns about those as well. I will have to think about this. How about you? Are you ready to give up on sugar?

Last but definitely not least is the news that the latest Boomers & Seniors: News You Can Use blog carnival is out. With articles on such topics as what the Baby Boomer Generation is doing to accommodate aging parents who want to stay in their own home along with the other side of the coin: info about geriatric care managers as well as non-profit nursing homes vs. for-profit nursing homes, you’ll find plenty of useful news! There’s even an interesting post about AARP members who are upset with AARP’s stance on the health care proposal and have left AARP and turned to a brand new option, meaning we have choices. I’m definitely going to be looking closely at that! And be sure to keep your eyes open for a couple of articles from SandwichINK.   See you there!

Welcome to the April 7, 2009 edition of Boomers and Seniors – News You Can Use! We have some interesting articles in store for you. Among other things, you will find information and encouragement on subjects such as dealing with Caregiving for Aged Parents, Having Fun With Grandkids, Alzheimer’s Awareness, Helps and Hints for Seniors, and more! I’m excited, as this is SandwichINK’s first time hosting this Blog Carnival. Once again, WELCOME, and off we go: SandwichINK presents two articles to inform and encourage you. First up is an important reminder to caregivers. Caregiving in general can be be very demanding. As members of the Sandwich Generation, we are often caring for more than one person and more than one age group which gets downright complicated. SandwichINK wants to remind you that What We Don’t Read Can Be Harmful To Our Pocketbooks ! This article is an important reminder to all of us to make sure to read all your mail, deal with it in a timely manner, and toss what is unnecessary. Then do the same for any elderly parent you provide care for. Letting it stack up, no matter how busy you are as you juggle caregiving, work, grandkids, etc., can be hazardous to your financial health!

Since SandwichINK focuses on the needs of the Sandwich Generation, those caring for elderly relatives and grandkids as well, you’ll also find many articles here written specifically for grandparents and grandkids. Since it’s Easter break for many schools, and there are a lot of grandparents helping out with the grandkids this week, 25 Ideas for Rainy Day Fun with Grandkids should be a help, even if it’s not raining or snowing where you live. Senior Care/Caregiving SeniorsforLiving.com’s Editorial Director Gina LaGuardia presents Young Professionals Unite for Alzheimer’s Awareness , posted at Seniors For Living . Even twenty-somethings care about Alzheimer’s awareness, and are raising awareness in a big way. "Learning to shift your beliefs and flip a negative thought is the buzz in personal growth these days. But how do you learn to do this in highly emotional relationships, such as being a caregiver to your parents? Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC offers some ideas to clarify your intentions in Facing Elder Phases , posted at Ageless-Sages .

Senior Housing

Gina LaGuardia also found quite an intriguing story. Quite the Experiment: Experiencing Senior Living at 43 , posted at Seniors For Living is about the 43-year-old publisher of two major mid-Atlantic based senior resources who wants to lend more authenticity to the information he provides. So he’s moving in!

Read about the growing trend of non-traditional retirement communities. Dale Carter presents Age in Place with Nontraditional Retirement Communities , posted at Transition Aging Parents .  “Groups of like-minded seniors come together, enjoying similar benefits of a retirement community but with the great plus of ‘aging in place.’" Victoria Powell writes, "People spend years building and spending their hard earned money and time on their homes.  But how many think about making an environment that is senior friendly?" Explore that question at Making Your Home Senior Friendly , posted at VP-Medical News . Victoria Powell also writes about ways to allow our aged parents to continue living in their own homes longer. In Sensors for Seniors , posted at VP-Medical News , she writes, "A new flurry of technologies now exist to enable seniors to live independently and avoid expensive trips back and forth to the emergency room.  Wireless sensors have been used in the beds of nursing home residents to alarm the staff of potential falls.  These same type of sensors are now available for the home."

Financial Issues

Patrice Jenkins presents On and Off Days , posted at What Will I Do All Day , saying, "Retirement offers a well-deserved break from the stress and demands placed on you when you were working. Finally, no one is making you do anything you don’t feel like doing. If you want to sleep until noon, fine. If you want to dawdle around the house all day, it’s up to you. Same clothes every day—no one is keeping track. While this may sound like paradise, be careful. Retirement can be too easy. When this is the case, life will soon become boring and you’ll be boring. In order to cherish the days off, you need to have some days on! You need to do something that makes retirement harder.”

"In this tight economy, it is very difficult to afford many of the more expensive prescription drugs. But there are a few simple ways in which you can save a few bucks on prescription drugs. I have detailed those in this article," writes Ishanbansal in How to Save Money on Prescription Drugs , posted at Save Few Bucks . Super Saver presents Claiming a Parent as a Dependent on a Tax Return , posted at My Wealth Builder . "With more children caring for or providing financial support for aging parents, the question of whether a parent can be claimed as a dependent sometimes arises. I’ve investigated the possibility and here is my understanding." Traffic accidents can happen to any of us. Those of us with aged parents or teenage kids/grandkids are at a higher risk. John Russell offers some excellent information to help us if that sad event happens. 14 Auto Insurance Secrets They Don ’t Want You To Know , posted at The Low Cost Auto Insurance Guru , explains, "If your car is “totaled” after an accident, do you know how your insurance company determines your car’s present value? The answer may surprise you!" John Russell also presents Gap Insurance – Should You get It? , posted at The Low Cost Auto Insurance Guru , saying, "Gap insurance is an additional insurance policy that is usually tacked on to your monthly lease payment or finance payment if you are financing your car." With many of our elderly relatives living in the same home for decades, you’ll appreciate reading Jacqulyn Richey’s article, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Tax Credits , posted at Las Vegas Real Estate News . "New tax credits for energy efficiency and renewable energy home improvements under the Obama administration. Some prior tax credits have been expanded and had the cap removed….If you live in an older home, these tax credits are targeted at you."

Health and Wellness

Brain Blogger discusses upcoming changes in the pharmaceutical industry that could have a direct impact on our medical bills and those of our elderly parents. In Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Industry , posted at Brain Blogger , we read "with the intensifying call for transparency in corporate America, several pharmaceutical companies have announced plans to jump on the proverbial bandwagon early. In anticipation of the passage of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act in the U.S. Senate, Eli Lilly and Merck have announced plans to establish online registries of payments made to physicians. Additionally, Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca will disclose charitable giving and change the way they financially support educational programs." "The key to living a longer and healthier life can be found by studying the people that live in Okinawa, Japan. They live the longest and are among the healthiest people in the world…" Read more of this intriguing article by Pat Evans, Five Keys To Living A Longer And Healthier Life , posted at Life's Instructions .

hjo’s article, Easy Exercises that Help In Getting Rid Of Wrinkles , posted at Health Journal Online , will be of great interest to those of us developing those lovely little laugh lines around our eyes, more commonly known as wrinkles. "Under eye wrinkles are caused by stressful actions but there are ways to deal with them. The least expensive options are assorted exercises. The most effective way to avoid furrows is free and is just a muscle workout, which you can do when it suits you. Because it is facial lines that are the most obvious, here are the exercises which will help those creases best." How To Lower Cholesterol Naturally , posted at Health Journal Online , is another interesting health article by hjo. "If you need to lower your cholesterol you can always take the medication route. There is no doubt that medication works to lower cholesterol in the body but doctors prefer the individual to take more responsibility for their own well being. Get more details on dealing with cholesterol and the importance of good cholesterol levels…"

Join Us Next Time… That concludes this edition. We have really enjoyed your visit and looks forward to seeing you again at the next blog carnival. Submit your own blog article to the next edition of Boomers and Seniors – News You Can Use! using our carnival submission form . Past posts and future hosts can be found at “What Is a Blog Carnival, Anyway?”