It had the dosages, the time of day each should be taken and a check mark when her folks, who live 10 miles away, assured her the pills had been swallowed.

“I work full [...]]]> As her mother and father edged toward dementia, Nancy D’Auria kept a piece of paper in her wallet listing their medications.

It had the dosages, the time of day each should be taken and a check mark when her folks, who live 10 miles away, assured her the pills had been swallowed.

“I work full time so it was very challenging,” said D’Auria, 63, of West Nyack.

Now she has an app for that. With a tap or two on her iPhone, D’Auria can access a “pillbox” program that keeps it all organized for her and other relatives who share in the caregiving and subscribe to the app.

“I love the feature that others can see this,” D’Auria said. “I’m usually the one who takes care of this, but if I get stuck, they’re all up to date.”

From GPS devices and computer programs that help relatives track a wandering Alzheimer’s patient to iPad apps that help an autistic child communicate, a growing number of tools for the smartphone, the tablet and the laptop are catering to beleaguered caregivers. With the baby boom generation getting older, the market for such technology is expected to increase.

The pillbox program is just one feature of a $3.99 app called Balance that was launched last month by the National Alzheimer Center, a division of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in the Bronx.

“We thought there would be an opportunity here to reach caregivers in a different way,” said David Pomerantz, executive vice president of the Hebrew Home. “It would be a way to reach people the way people like to be reached now, on their phone.”

The app also includes sections for caregiving tips, notes for the doctor and the patient’s appointments, plus a “learning section” with articles on aspects of Alzheimer’s and an RSS feed for news about the disease.

Trackers are also important tools for Alzheimer’s caregivers.

Laura Jones of Lighthouse Point, Fla., says she was able to extend her husband’s independence for a year and a half by using a program called Comfort Zone.

“He was just 50 when he was diagnosed,” she said.

Jones said she went to work so he would continue to get insurance coverage.

“Day care was not appropriate, home care was not affordable,” she said. “Even when he stopped driving, he would ride his bike all over town, to the gym, for coffee, errands. He would take the dog for a walk and be out and about when he was alone and I was working.”

Using Comfort Zone, which is offered by the Alzheimer’s Association starting at $43 a month, she was able to go online and track exactly where he was and where he had been.

Her husband carried a GPS device, which sent a signal every five minutes. If Jones checked online every hour, she would see 12 points on a map revealing her husband’s travels. She would also get an alert if he left a designated area.

Eventually, the tracking revealed that Jones’ husband was getting lost.

“He would make a big funny loop off the usual route and we knew it was time to start locking down on him,” she said.

Mended Hearts, an organization of heart patients and their caregivers, is about to start a program to reach caregivers by texting tips to their phones.

“We hope this will be the beginning of several patient- and caregiver-based texting programs that reach people where they are,” said executive director Karen Caruth.

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Marvin Tolkin was 83 when he decided that the unexamined life wasn’t worth living. Until then, it had never occurred to him [...]]]> The article below is a definite must read for anyone caring for an aging loved one, or if you are in your ‘golden years’ yourself. Thanks for visiting us at http://floridahomecare.net.

Marvin Tolkin was 83 when he decided that the unexamined life wasn’t worth living. Until then, it had never occurred to him that there might be emotional “issues” he wanted to explore with a counselor.

“I don’t think I ever needed therapy,” said Mr. Tolkin, a retired manufacturer of women’s undergarments who lives in Manhattan and Hewlett Harbor, N.Y.

Though he wasn’t clinically depressed, Mr. Tolkin did suffer from migraines and “struggled through a lot of things in my life” — the demise of a long-term business partnership, the sudden death of his first wife 18 years ago. He worried about his children and grandchildren, and his relationship with his current wife, Carole.

“When I hit my 80s I thought, ‘The hell with this.’ I don’t know how long I’m going to live, I want to make it easier,” said Mr. Tolkin, now 86. “Everybody needs help, and everybody makes mistakes. I needed to reach outside my own capabilities.”

So Mr. Tolkin began seeing Dr. Robert C. Abrams, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan. They meet once a month for 45 minutes, exploring the problems that were weighing on Mr. Tolkin. “Dr. Abrams is giving me a perspective that I didn’t think about,” he said. “It’s been making the transition of living at this age in relation to my family very doable and very livable.”

Mr. Tolkin is one of many seniors who are seeking psychological help late in life. Most never set foot near an analyst’s couch in their younger years. But now, as people are living longer, and the stigma of psychological counseling has diminished, they are recognizing that their golden years might be easier if they alleviate the problems they have been carrying around for decades. It also helps that Medicare pays for psychiatric assessments and therapy.

“We’ve been seeing more people in their 80s and older over the past five years, many who have never done therapy before,” said Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, a professor of research in the department of psychiatry at Stanford. “Usually, they’ve tried other resources like their church, or talked to family. They’re realizing that they’re living longer, and if you’ve got another 10 or 15 years, why be miserable if there’s something that can help you?”

Some of these older patients are clinically depressed. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that more than 6.5 million Americans over age 65 suffer from depression. But many are grappling with mental health issues unaddressed for decades, as well as contemporary concerns about new living arrangements, finances, chronic health problems, the loss of loved ones and their own mortality.

“It’s never too late, if someone has never dealt with issues,” said Judith Repetur, a clinical social worker in New York who works almost exclusively with older patients, many of whom are seeking help for the first time. “A combination of stresses late in life can bring up problems that weren’t resolved.”

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“It got to the point, if I did any exertion, even getting [...]]]> Larry Kufel had always been an active man, tall and rangy, who worked out regularly and picked up basketball games at the gym. But age was taking a toll on his joints, and it had become clear that he needed a hip replacement.

“It got to the point, if I did any exertion, even getting out of a chair, it felt like the muscle was tearing away from the bone,” he recalled.

Still, Mr. Kufel, 63, a financial controller in Roanoke, Va., worried that conventional hip replacement surgery would mean a long, painful recuperation. Instead, his doctor proposed an alternative that is gaining popularity across the country, an operation that many surgeons say helps patients recover more quickly.

Mr. Kufel was amazed by the results. “I was back to work the second week after the operation,” he said. “By the fourth week, I was doing a spin class at the athletic club.” A year later, he’s cycling, lifting weights, and even playing racquetball.

“I feel like I never had surgery,” he said.

The procedure that Mr. Kufel received is called anterior hip replacement. The surgeon makes the incision at the front of the hip instead of through the buttocks or the side of the hip. This approach permits the doctor to reach the hip socket without cutting through major muscle groups. Proponents claim that the procedure results in less pain and fewer complications for patients than standard hip replacement.

“We’re seeing more and more data that patients recover quicker, discontinue use of a cane or walker sooner, and have a quicker return to a normal gait,” said Dr. Joseph T. Moskal, chief of orthopedic surgery at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, who was Mr. Kufel’s surgeon.

Surgeons have used an anterior approach to perform emergency hip repairs for decades. Anterior hip replacements were first described in the United States in the 1970s and have gradually gained popularity. No one knows how many surgeons currently use the new approach, but at a recent meeting of hip and knee surgeons, an informal survey suggested that as many as 20 percent of hip surgeons are now performing anterior hip replacements, according to Dr. Moskal — up from “less than a handful” in 2005. With more than 400,000 total and partial hip replacements performed each year in the United States, a change in technique would eventually affect millions of Americans.

Proponents note that because the operation spares muscles, patients don’t need to limit their movements during the recovery period.

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Choose a Provider
The first step in buying a hearing aid is [...]]]> With so many choices and options available today, shopping for a hearing aid that meets your needs, lifestyle and budget can be challenging. Here are some tips that can help you locate a good hearing aid provider and choose an appropriate aid.

Choose a Provider
The first step in buying a hearing aid is to choose a good provider. The best option — as recommended by Consumer Reports — is an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose and throat doctor) who employs an audiologist that fits and dispenses hearing aids.

An otolaryngologist will first examine your ears and rule out any medical conditions such as a tumor, bacterial infection or ear wax that can affect your hearing. Medicare will cover the medical exam and an audiologist’s test if ordered by a physician.

If you can’t find a conveniently located doctor’s office that dispenses aids, an independent audiologist or hearing instrument specialist is a good alternative. To search for these professionals in your area, see howsyourhearing.org and ihsinfo.org. Big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco also sell hearing aids.

Or, if you’re a veteran, be sure to check with your nearest VA health facility. Eligible veterans may be able to get hearing aids for free.

During Your Visit
After you locate a provider, when you go in for your first visit you need to be prepared to discuss your lifestyle and hearing needs. For example: Do you just want to hear the TV, or other people speaking? Do you talk on the phone a lot? Do you need to hear in a lot of noisy places, like restaurants? Knowing your priorities will help your provider determine what style and hearing aid technology is best for you.

You’ll also be given a hearing test in a soundproof booth to determine what type of hearing loss you have. After the test, your provider should give you a choice of hearing aid brands, features and styles to consider.

To help you decide, ask for a demonstration. Many providers are able to put a disposable plug on the tip of a behind-the-ear hearing aid and program the device to your hearing loss so you can experience how it works.

Also ask about popular add-on features like “telecoils” that helps with phone conversations, “directional microphones” that can help you hear in noisy places and “feedback cancellation” that prevents the aid from squealing when you get too close to other audio equipment. But, keep in mind that the extra features will drive up the price.

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And, as new research suggests, many adult children will be wrestling with these issues from a distance. Alzheimer’s [...]]]> Taking away the checkbook from an older relative can be as fraught as taking away the car keys. It’s a decision that more boomers will struggle with as their parents age and have trouble managing their finances.

And, as new research suggests, many adult children will be wrestling with these issues from a distance. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and most people with dementia have problems handling money. But nearly 15% of caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease are long-distance caregivers, defined as those who live at least an hour away, the Alzheimer’s Association reported for the first time earlier this month. While online bill paying has made helping with finances easier for long-distance caregivers, diagnosing the problem is often harder when loved ones live far away.

More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease today, and by 2050 that number could triple, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The number of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to aging and finances. To be diagnosed with dementia, a person must have cognitive decline—difficulty thinking and processing information—resulting in functional impairment in daily life. Yet even people without dementia can experience mild cognitive decline that can affect their ability to manage finances. That’s why it is critical for family members to watch for certain clues in the behavior of aging relatives, even if those relatives seem to be mentally sharp.

About a quarter of people 65 and over have some kind of cognitive impairment, which includes a wide spectrum of symptoms, ranging from a slight decline in mental functioning that doesn’t interfere with daily life, to serious incapacity from dementia, as do half of people 85 and older, according to research by Dr. Malaz Boustani, associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and the director of the Wishard Healthy Aging Brain Center.

The luckier people in this category—those older people who experience regular “cognitive aging”—retain their prior abilities but might have some lapses in memory and slowing in brain speed, Boustani says. If they have prior experience managing their own finances, they should be able to continue to do so, although it might take them more time.

Still, difficulty managing finances is often the first sign that an older person is experiencing cognitive decline, experts say. “Handing money over time can be affected by only minor impairment,” said Dr. James E. Spar, professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This is partly due to changes in the brain’s frontal lobes, which are responsible for organizing thought, speech and behavior over time to achieve a goal, Spar said. The frontal lobes help someone with the five or so steps it takes to pay a bill the old-fashioned way: going to the mailbox, opening the envelope, writing a check, putting a stamp on the return envelope and mailing it.

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Nothing will erase the emotional toll this disease takes on families. But you can take [...]]]> It is never to early to prepare ahead for long-term care of any kind. Don’t wait until crisis strikes. To learn more about senior home care in Port Charlotte, Venice, Sarasota and surrounding Florida areas, visit us at http://floridahomecare.net.

Nothing will erase the emotional toll this disease takes on families. But you can take steps to stem the financial bleeding.