Photo: Jeff Abbit as Count Miniscula — a cute little sucker

And now for more Halloween treats . . . .

What is a vampire’s favorite mode of transportation?
A blood vessel.

What type of dog do vampire’s like the best?
Bloodhounds.

What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman?
Frostbite.

What is a vampire’s favorite sport?
Casketball.

Know why vampires drink blood?
Because coffee keeps them awake all day.

How can you tell if a vampire is lazy?
He uses leeches.

Where does Count Dracula make his withdrawals?
At the blood bank.

What’s a vampire’s favorite holiday?
Fangsgiving.

What did one ghost say to the other ghost?
“Do you believe in people?”

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To Everyone in the TLeC community, have a fun-filled Halloween and a wonderful weekend! Keep smiling.

Our popular Family Caregivers Communication Class will resume on Monday, November 3rd with Part 4 — Talking with Hearing Impaired Aging Parents.

Photo Credit: zappowbang’s photostream

Missing children grab headlines, but missing senior citizens are far more common. In the United States there are currently more than 5 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease and that figure is expected to grow to as much as 16 million by 2050.

According to an article by Alex Johnson, an MSNBC reporter,

“About 60 percent of such patients wander away from their homes or care facilities at some point, according to the Alzheimer’s Association; about half of those who are not found within 24 hours suffer serious injury or even death.”

The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons instituted the Silver Alert program in November 2007, inspired by Amber Alerts for missing children. Of the nearly 40 alerts issued in North Carolina, all but four of the missing persons were found alive, the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety said. The numbers are almost identical in Texas, where a similar program was also implemented last year.

Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, who cared for his own father as he struggled through the final stages of Alzheimer’s, noted that few states have senior alert programs — only 11, with others considering them. At the time of my writing, there is a bill on the Senate floor sponsored by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, which would establish a national Silver Alert communications network to coordinate search efforts and give grants to states to take part.

Police and policy-makers said they would welcome the help, saying in general, it is harder to find a missing senior citizen than it is to find a missing child. People may think it odd if they see a child walking alone and approach them, but most people may not think it out of the ordinary if a senior is walking alone. Or they do not want to embarrass the Golden Oldie or invade their privacy if they’re outside on their own.

I’ve recommended before as part of a Senior Safety Net for Golden Oldies/our aging parents that they wear MedicAlert ID bracelets. These are also used in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return program. Silver Alerts would take this concept to an even broader level of action and response.

I’m hoping this important program will be implemented quickly nationwide and prove to be as effective as Amber Alerts have been!

To read the original article which contains the 11 states that have implemented the program, please click here.

As a family caregiver, I find it encouraging to read creative solutions to common problems we face and this news story certainly contains one!

If you have cared for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, you know your Golden Oldie could possibly wander off and become lost. In Dusseldorf, Germany, the Benrath Senior Centre, came up with an innovative strategy to prevent this from occurring. They put up an exact replica of a standard stop sign outside their facility, with one difference — no buses ever stop there!

Center residents who go outside intent on returning to their often nonexistent prior homes and families, make a beeline for the green-and-yellow bus stop sign and wait for the bus to arrive.

“We will approach them and say that the bus is coming later and invite them in for a coffee,” said Richard Neureither, Benrath’s director. “Five minutes later they have completely forgotten they wanted to leave.”

This idea has proven so successful that it has now been adopted by several other senior homes across Germany. I hope it’s tried here in the United States as well.

Original news story from the UK Telegraph News can be read here.

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I am on my Golden Oldies Whirlwind Tour (See post of October 20th below). Our regular features, “Inspiring Quotes for Caregivers” and “Funny Fridays,” will return next week!

By the time you read this post, I will have traveled cross-country to the East coast of the U.S. I am traveling with one Golden Oldie, my aunt, age 90, and three cousins (4 awesome women!) to visit two other Golden Oldie aunts, ages 90 and 95, and attend a special family event, a bar mitzvah.

I definitely have mixed feelings about making this trip. I really love the aunts, cousins and family friends we will be visiting and am looking forward to being together. But I also feel guilty about leaving my Mom.

Although we made the trip as short as we could, I will still be away from her longer than I’d like. On the other hand, while I can’t ask her (due to her late stage Alzheimer’s disease) if she minds my going, I feel certain she would want me to go and enjoy this time with our wonderful family, with whom we have always been very close. Can you feel my push-pull?

While I’m away, my Mom will be cared for with love and diligence by the personal “village” I have created for us: my dear husband will step into my shoes as family caregiver, the 24/7 board & care caregivers, the hospice nurse, and her doctor (if need be, hopefully not).

I have made a promise to them, and to myself, not to worry while I’m gone, and to thoroughly focus on and enjoy the people and activities on this trip!

Through the magic of computer technology, I am able to pre-load a few posts that will appear while I’m AFK (away from the keyboard). You may also enjoy poking through the different categories in the sidebar to the right to find an older post that catches your eye and read it, too.

I won’t be checking or answering comments while I’m away, so some may end up in moderation. Please don’t let that stop you from sharing your thoughts, because I’ll approve them upon my return. (And I’ll also reply to your comments then!)

Hope to see you here when I get back!

And who knows? Maybe I’ll have some fun family tales to tell you about from our trip.

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The popular Family Caregiver Communication Class will resume in November. In the meantime, here are links to the first three classes in the series:

Part 1: Think Before You Speak

Part 2: Speaking Easily About Difficult Topics

Part 3: Dealing with Pessimistic Aging Parents

Take This Job And…

by Greg Bulmash

As I was working on re-spinning my resume this past week, I realized that we’re never quite truthful on resumes and job applications. We try to make ourselves look as good as possible, usually better than we really are. So today, I thought I’d fill out a job application the way I want to rather than the way I should…

NAME: Greg Bulmash

DESIRED POSITION: Reclining. Ha ha. But seriously, whatever’s available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn’t be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that’s not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle-management hostility.

SALARY: Less than I’m worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but they’re better suited to a more intimate environment.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CONVICTED OF A FELONY?: Is “felony” sex with a cat? Because if it is… no.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 LBS?: Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be “do you have a car that runs?”

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?: I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

DO YOU SMOKE?: Only when set on fire.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?: Living in Bimini with a fabulously wealthy supermodel who thinks I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I’d like to be doing that now.

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: No, but I dare you to prove otherwise.

SIGN HERE: Scorpio with Libra rising.

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To Everyone in the TLeC community, have a great weekend!

“The sun shines all day long, even when there are clouds. What a great role model.”

~ Sally Huss

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Photo Credit: AndyFitz’s photostream

You are invited to listen and participate in a free teleseminar on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 11:00 am (Pacific), 2:00 pm (Eastern) and 8:00 pm (Europe). I will be interviewed by Theresa Swift of Swift Resolve Coaching as part of her “Colors of Change” series.

Topic: Lessons From a Family Caregiver

During the one hour interview I will share my unique caregiving journey along with ten important lessons I’ve learned as a family caregiver for my aging parents. My goal is to help you become a more confident family caregiver.

Theresa and I will be discussing various aspects of caregiving such as:

• Becoming aware and preparing for this stage of life
• Adapting to the role reversals a family experiences
• Communicating with our Golden Oldies
• Coping strategies for caregivers

If you have any questions, jot them down before or during the class and ask them during the “Q & A” portion of the hour. I will answer as many as we have time for.

How to RSVP — It’s Easy

Please click here to sign up at the Swift Resolve Coaching website for this free teleseminar. After you register, you will receive the information you need on October 14th to call in and listen. (Don’t forget to write it on your calendar too.) Swift Resolve Coaching offers professional and personal coaching services for individuals and businesses.

Please Join Me

I hope you will take this opportunity to get to know me better “in person” through this teleseminar. At the very least you will hear my New York accent! Yes, even though I moved away from New York many years ago, people say they still hear the New Yorker in me when I say certain words.

And I want to get to know you through the questions you ask!

Please join me for what will surely be an interesting, educational and fun hour!

“The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one minute to the next.”

“Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.”

~ Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983)

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Photo Credit: DerrickT’s photostream

Six weeks ago I asked the TLeC community to participate in a survey by Ryan Malone, founder of Inside Assisted Living. The survey was initiated to better understand in which way and to what degree families are prepared for their loved ones’ transition to assisted living.

The results have been tallied and the free Assisted Living Family Preparedness Report has been released.

It is very comprehensive, and here are some of the key findings:

1. An overwhelming majority of survey respondents believe a friend or family member will require assisted living within the next ten years.

2. Respondents’ ability to pay for assisted living is the most frequently cited concern. They also have a self-described poor understanding of the financial aspects of assisted living (such as insurance, costs associated with room and board as well as private caregivers).

3. Families expect to play a major support role in their loved ones’ transition, including selecting a facility close to their homes and their loved ones’ existing medical care.

4. Families’ anxiety with regard to this transition include:

• Feeling guilty if they don’t visit their loved ones enough
• Hearing stereotypes about assisted living and not knowing if they’re true
• Fears their Golden Oldies will resent them, and
• Concerns about how the caregiving burden will impact them and their families

The complete report has more detailed information, graphs and analysis. Go to Inside Assisted Living now and read the free Assisted Living Family Preparedness Report. Learn where you and your family rank on the preparedness continuum.

Inside Assisted Living is a web site with practical information and resources to help you evaluate and prepare for the upcoming transition by your Golden Oldies to assisted living. And even if that occurrence seems way off in the future, it’s never too early to start getting educated about this phase of life. It will make it easier on all family members in the long run.

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The Family Caregivers Communication Class series will continue in a few weeks. We still have lots to talk about.

Photo Credit: scart’s photostream