Spotlight Senior Services Phoenix

Monday, October 10, 2016

IN THE SPOTLIGHT The Center at Val Vista

We are pleased to announce our newest advertiser in the SPOTLIGHT Senior Services & Living Options Resource Guide

The Center at Val Vista serves patients needing physical rehabilitation and/or complex nursing care. Our highly qualified, caring staff provides care in a beautiful, hotel-like atmosphere to help our patients achieve strength and functionality. Skilled-nursing care, family involvement, psychological care and discharge planning complement a well-rounded, individualized program and encourage each patient’s transition to their highest functional level.

With state-of-the-art equipment and unparalleled comfort and amenities, our physician-driven care plan is designed to maximize the quality of our care.

Rehabilitation Services

At The Center at Val Vista each patient has access to physical, occupational, and speech therapy services. Patients are provided up to 720 minutes per week, or an average of approximately 2.5 hours of therapy per day over a 5 day minimum. You will have the opportunity to work with both a physical and occupational therapist as we know your recovery is very important.

Your physical therapist will address walking, range of motion, strengthening, balance and management of stairs and/or inclines. Your occupational therapists will address daily tasks that may have become quite challenging to you. These specific tasks are activities such as showing, grooming, daily hygiene, dressing, cleaning, cooking and laundry. Occupational therapists also address balance issues, and upper body strengthening. Depending on the status of your health, you may or may not need speech therapy services. Speech therapists, also known as speech pathologists, address verbal and non-verbal communication deficits, cognitive functions such as medication management, check book management, and memory and specialize in swallowing disorders also known as dysphagia.

During your stay here at The Center at Val Vista you will be provided equipment needed to facilitate your rehabilitation. These items may include a walker, wheelchair, and bedside commode. While these items are for your use while you are our guest, we will be sure to get brand new ones ordered for you upon discharge if you are finding them necessary for use during your daily routine after you leave The Center.

Prior to your discharge, your therapist will offer you a home evaluation. Usually this will occur several days prior to leaving our facility. One of your therapists will follow you to your home for a brief visit at which time they will have you complete basic tasks in the home, and make recommendation for any home modifications or equipment you may need.

Medical Services

Skilled nursing care, family involvement, psychological care and discharge planning complement a well-rounded, individualized program and encourage each patient’s transition to their highest functional level. We do provide care for medically complex patients. Patients that require oxygen, frequent monitoring, have breathing tubes, feeding tubes, have limited mobility or have large wounds are our specialty. The following is a list of just a few of the conditions that we care for and treat at The Center.

Congestive heart failure
Diabetes Mellitus
Total knee, hip or shoulder arthroplasty
Recovery from heart attack
Infection requiring intravenous antibiotics
Recovery from abdominal surgery
Complex wounds
Pneumonia
Cellulitis
Recovery from amputation
Paraplegia
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson’s disease
Geriatric decline
Alzheimer’s & Dementia
Diverticulitis, hypertension
Peptic ulcer disease
Peripheral vascular disease
Kidney failure
Deep venous thrombosis
Emphysema
Asthma
Recovery from hip fracture or fall
Pelvic fracture and ongoing cancer care

We look forward to assisting you in your full recovery and are honored you are considering The Center at Val Vista to care for you.

Visit us online @ http://www.centeratvalvista.com

Choosing A Senior Living Community

https://youtu.be/A9SDGE50b4c

https://youtu.be/cqt2V0LJvsA

Following Article available on ALFA.org

The choice to move into a senior living community is as individual as the person making the decision. There is no clear-cut, step-by-step template that tells people exactly when it is time to consider a senior living community, whether that be an independent living community, assisted living community or nursing home. However, there are numerous signs that a new living arrangement is needed, such as inability to manage a home’s upkeep, assistance with meals, medication management, loneliness, and other issues. Here, we offer some tips for choosing a quality residence and the important factors in the decision-making process.

Choosing a senior living residence for yourself or a loved one is one of the biggest decisions of your life. It involves the sobering realization that living alone in a home full of love and memories may no longer be the best setting at this phase of your life or your loved one’s life. Fortunately, many more assisted living and senior living options are available today than there were decades ago.

“Choice” is the key word in any conversation about senior living options. Senior living offers choice about where you or your loved one wants to live, choice about the services provided, and choice about the level of care and type of environment that bests matches your or your loved one’s physical and emotional needs. Each senior living resident and potential resident is a unique individual, so high-quality senior living residences offer a wide array of choices.

While every senior living community is different, typical services include:

Housekeeping services
Transportation
Assistance with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and walking
Access to health and medical services
Alzheimer’s and memory care
Staff available to respond to both scheduled and unscheduled needs
24-hour security
Emergency call systems for each resident’ apartment
Exercise and wellness programs
Medication management
Personal laundry services
Social and recreational activities

Checklist for Evaluating Senior Living Communities

The downloadable assisted living checklist defines the typical assisted living residence and what consumers can expect from an assisted living community. You can use this checklist when you visit and evaluate a potential new home for yourself or for a loved one. The guide and checklist also includes information on choosing an assisted Living communities for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia, often referred to as Special Care Units (SCUs). Download the Guide to Choosing an Assisted Living Community checklist.

Assessing Senior Living Care Needs

Because a variety of senior living care settings are available-including independent living, assisted living, nursing homes, etc.-it’s important to assess your or your loved one’s care needs.

While some seniors may need little to no assistance, others may need medication management and some health-care monitoring, and still others may have acute care needs. Senior living communities you’re considering will conduct an assessment to determine if that care environment is appropriate. However, to give you an initial feel for which environment may be most appropriate, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offers the CarePlanner interactive tool to help you choose between different living options.

Family Caregiver Considerations

Many times, families can make a joint decision about when it is time to consider moving into a senior living care setting. This type of decision-making allows for some research and time to explore the very real concerns of the senior and leads to greater satisfaction with the choices made. The prospect of moving is unsettling, requiring a move from a known and seemingly secure situation to an unknown situation where seniors may worry about loss of control and independence.

Families and potential residents should visit assisted living communities together. If you’re forced to make a decision for your loved one, such as in the case of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, the burden of responsibility can seem immense. TheAlzheimer’s Association provides valuable tips for helping care for and make decisions for a loved one with dementia.
Perhaps the best advice is to follow your heart to know exactly when it is time for you or your loved one to make the transition. Change is rarely easy, but the good news is that most seniors, once they weather the upheaval of transition, report better quality life in their senior living residence.

Visit us online @ http://www.senioroneresource.net

IN THE SPOTLIGHT ABC Hearing

We are pleased to announce our newest advertiser in the SPOTLIGHT Senior Services & Living Options Guide

About ABC Hearing Aid

Hearing Independence

Hearing Independence guides everything we do. It's not only what we strive to provide each person who walks through the door, it's what makes us different from other hearing healthcare providers. See, we're locally owned and operated. We're inspired by Main Street – not managed or directed by Wall Street. We built our business the American way – from scratch – knowing that success wouldn't come easy but would instead have to be earned: one satisfied client at a time.

People Helping People

We are ingrained with the values that make our community strong. We aren't afraid of hard work. We put others before ourselves, and we're committed to improving every life we touch. We believe that by helping others hear better, we don't just improve their lives, we improve the community as a whole. Family relationships grow tighter. Social interactions become smoother. Information flows. Safety is enhanced. And misunderstandings are minimized. We know that a community full of confident, vibrant and engaged people is one where potential is unlimited.

Expertise You Can Trust

Personal care and attentive service aren't the only things you can be confident you'll get with each visit. You can also rest assured you'll have experienced and highly trained experts guiding you during every step of your hearing journey. Using the latest state-of-the-art equipment and working with the hearing industry's most advanced and reliable technology, we'll get you results you want and give you the support you deserve.

Always There

ABC Hearing Centers have been improving the lives of people all across the Valley since the early 1990's. We are independent-minded hearing professionals who are working hard to give you piece of mind knowing that no matter where you are or where you go, ABC will be there with you.

At ABC Hearing we offer an in-house Hearing Aid Repair Lab. This allows us to have your hearing aids back to you quickly so that you can enjoy a better quality of life. In many cases, your hearing aid will be back to you in a day or less. If you are having problems with your Hearing Aids, it does not matter what make or model, schedule an appointment today for a FREE evaluation! Mention this website and we will inspect and clean your current hearing instrument free of charge! 480-964-2386 or 623-582-HEAR (4327)

Friendly Hearing

Professionals

Family Atmosphere

Fast service, Cleaning and Hearing Aid Repair

Advanced State-of-the-Art Digital Hearing Aids

In-Home service

Visit us online @ www.CanUHearWell.com

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Savanna House Assisted Living and Memory Care

We are pleased to announce our newest advertiser

in the SPOTLIGHT Senior Services & Living Options Guide

Introducing Savanna House, the all-new assisted living and memory care community coming to Gilbert, Arizona.

Here, residents maintain a sense of independence in a
private apartment with all the resort-style community amenities seniors desire today. At Savanna House,
hospitality is a hallmark of exceptional care. Loved ones
with memory loss will receive highly individualized care
in one of three distinct neighborhoods—each catering
to a specific stage of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Individuals who desire assistance with the activities of daily living will receive personal support at whatever level they require—with a goal of self-sufficiency and independence.

Visit us online @ SavannaHouseSeniorLiving.com

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

6 Clever Tips to Prevent Wandering

Proactive Steps to Help Manage Wandering Behaviors

Learning a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia can be frightening. But preparing for the behaviors that could result may help both individuals and their families better cope with the disease and keep loved ones safe.

Always ask yourself if that individual has an unmet need that could trigger a wandering incident. Proactive steps can help families reduce the risks for wandering and be better prepared if an incident occurs.

Get Ready

Consider setting up an alert network through the Missing Senior Network℠ program. This free web service allows family caregivers to create an account with a list of contacts to alert in the event a senior goes missing. The service then provides the family caregivers a way to alert the network of friends, families and businesses to be on the lookout for their missing senior if he or she wanders. Setting up this network in advance can help families be prepared to handle any incident of wandering.

Also, you can help protect an individual at risk of wandering by ensuring he or she always is wearing identification. Consider an ID bracelet, such as one from the MediAlert® + Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return® Program. This is a fee-based 24-hour nationwide emergency response service for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia who wander or have a medical emergency.

Prepare the Home

Safeguarding a home is one important preparedness step family caregivers can undertake for a loved one prone to wandering. Many products exist on the market to help keep older adults with dementia safe at home. These include alarms that attach to doors and windows, covers for doorknobs that help prevent an individual from leaving home, and higher-security locks. Other strategies include placing locks out of eye-level view, and painting doors and door frames the same color as walls to “camouflage” exits.

A caregiver named Arlene says her husband often awakes at night not knowing where he is or thinking it is time to get up. “So we put a motion detector in the bedroom,” she said. “That has worked well for me.”

Following, from Home Instead, Inc., franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care® network, are other tips to be proactive about safety and wandering:

Make a path in the home where it is safe for an individual to wander. Closing off certain parts of a room or locking doors can help achieve this goal. Such paths also can be created outdoors – in a garden, for instance.
One family caregiver remembers her husband getting outdoors in the middle of the night in the dead of winter. “A fence kept him from wandering from home so he came into the garage. He was banging on the door at 5 a.m., which woke me up. If he had gotten out of the yard, he would possibly have died from the cold.” Install barriers and fences in the yard to help ensure that a loved one doesn’t wander from home or into unsafe territory.
Keep walkways well-lit. Add extra lights to entries, doorways, stairways, and areas between rooms and bathrooms. Use night lights in hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms to help prevent accidents and reduce disorientation.
Remove and disable guns or other weapons. The presence of a weapon in the home of a person with dementia may lead to unexpected danger. Dementia may cause a person to mistakenly believe that a familiar family member is an intruder.
Place medications in a locked drawer or cabinet. To help ensure that medications are taken safely, use a pill box organizer or keep a daily list and check off each medication as it is taken. Check out Simple Meds atSimpleMedsRx.com for a way to help seniors manage medications.
Remove tripping hazards. Keep floors and other surfaces clutter-free. Remove objects such as magazine racks, coffee tables and floor lamps.

For more information from the Home Instead Senior Care network and the Alzheimer’s Association about safeguarding a home for someone with Alzheimer’s, visit CaregiverStress.com and theAlzheimer’s Association. You’ll also learn more about how to deal with wandering and other common Alzheimer-related behaviors in the book “Confidence to Care.” Go to ConfidencetoCare.com for details about this resource as well as the accompanying free mobile app.

While there are many ways to be proactive in helping to manage wandering behaviors, it’s also important to know what to do when the unexpected happens. Check out what to do in a Wandering 911 situation.

Visit us online @ www.homeinstead.com/eastvalley.com