COVID-19 and Memory Care, Part 1 with Annie Jacobsen

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following is a podcast from a qualified senior care provider, hurt, on the answers for elders radio show. Welcome everyone to answers for elders radio, as we are all staying home and staying safe, including me in my own home. So first and foremost with the show, I’m so glad you were all here, because that means most of you are hopefully sitting home, staying home and staying safe at this time. And also you may be listening because you’re thinking about a senior loved one that’s in your life, or you might be a senior and you might need some information, and so this hour again is all about how we’re dealing with covid nineteen and what are the tips and things in which we can all work through this better. And last month we spend a lot of time on senior living and we had some amazing content that you guys can all go back to the website and learn. But this month, the theme for April is all about aging in place and I wanted to make sure that that aging in place caught topic is woven in, because how many seniors do we know that are right at home right now? And so we are here with a very special guest that you guys all might remember, and that is our wonderful Annie Jacobson, who is a dementia expert and also a care manager, not only with home care assistants here in Seattle but also with her own firm Dem Jacobs and dementia coaching. And Annie, thank you so much for being here. Sure so happy to be on your show again. So tell me a little bit about seniors that are at home right now. Could you give me kind of an overview of what’s going on in the home care world? Part of what we’re doing is in the home care world and all the agencies that we know of our competitors are practiced in our work, providing our CNAS or HCA’s with all the knowledge and PPE equipment. We’re all he in PPE right now the CDC guidelines. We at home care assistance actually had operations fanny pack about three weeks ago where we got a couple hundred fanny packs masked and gloved up and loaded them with thermometers, gloves, masks, gowns and their essential worker letters and provided those out to all of our caregivers in the field. So like that work caregivers can have the tools to keep them safe, so safe and the people they’re working with, so as singers are at home being able to have the care they need, whether they’re in an independent apartment or in a private home. A lot of times our Caregi visit is one in person. They see during the week. So they’ve taken learning how to use the cell phone to do the grocery shopping and riyaging with performalis. The grocers have been a big part of it because we don’t want the child that was going out and we’re working diligently to limit any cross contamination. So right staffing, grocery shopping, all of those things really play and to keeping our folks in their homes as safe as possible right and I can only to imagine with that there’s a comfort of knowing that somebody’s there that they can count on, and certainly for a senior that’s, you know, at home, there’s a lot of fear. You know, I have a friend Annie that’s in her s and she is she doesn’t even know about bringing groceries into her house, you know, and if it could be passed on to her, and you know, bless her heart, I try to tell her. You know, first of all, there’s some tools and tubs that we could talk about, you know, even in regards to groceries, where it’s even leave them in the car for a couple of hours before you bring them in, and there’s a little things like that. But having a home care provider do it for you, they can, you know, there’s there’s they have the gloves in the mask and the things like that, so when they bring the groceries into the house they can wipe things down and make sure that things are, you know, saralyized and clean and disinfected. Camp Shoot. Two thoughts on that, Susan are. First of all, we’re handling so much of this via technology. We’re sharing videos, we’re watching things, and a lot of those seniors that we serve don’t have the iphones to watch the videos. They don’t understand that technology, they’re not familiar with it. And a part that the home care industry has been really challenged by is we get the last you know, we keep talking about the government at sending out all this PPE. We get the last four percent of what’s left. So for home agencies we’re scrambling to get our hands on stuff. Even your home health and hospice are provided equipment before we are. So we’ve really needed to work to get those things into the hands and down to disposable wipes, clorox wipes, those things, so where we can assist to get those things into the homes and then provide the knowledge for those people in their homes of here’s how we are staying safe. The gentleman who right wants to go to costcost still, but he’s ninety years old and he’s got respiratory issues and he’s got cobms of decline and he doesn’t understand why can’t do his weekly trip to Costco right right. Interesting time. It is an interesting time and you know, like you said, we’re all in this together and certainly for me to to tear people like you, it’s an inspiring way to learn and to have, you know, some real faith and humanity again that I haven’t seen for a very long time and certainly seeing people come together has been really an honor and you know, and I’m so grateful for that and certainly for a home carriage. See Annie, it’s amazing. So I just want to remind our listeners today that we are talking again to one of our favorite guests who’s been here many times and certainly we love to have you. Annie Jacobson. And Annie, you are now a care manager with home care assistants and tell me a little bit about what home care assistants does. So Home Care Assistance is non medical supportive care. So we go into the homes. We sometimes do what we call oneonone and assisted living or independent communities to supplement the other care. Often we are the only chair that somebody sees, assisting with stand by for bathing if there are fall risk, making meal, helping keep their environment sanitary, doing the laundry. I want a woman who was fully cognitively fine but she had horrible pain in both of her shoulders. She couldn’t make her bed, do laundry, list groceries. We were able to come in and support her to stay living independently with some supports. So home bright that window before you need need a higher level of medical our curs can be delegated for certain medical things such as insulin or hospice comfort kit medication, but primarily we’re non medical but day to day supportive living with what we call the ADLS, the activities of daily living, eating, bathing, transitioning toileting so often the needs start to go and it’s simply a stability thing. But we know how to make one fall could be so if we can either to support being nearby during transitions so a fall is presented, but also taking on some of those things where a fall is increases, such as hall and Grocery Bags, trying to make a bed, getting in and out of a shower. That’s a huge time wor people fall. So if we can support those things, somebody can overall stay independent and we are often called by Stanley that maybe lives away or works and can’t be there for the duration of time or the frequency that that person really needs. So we can supplement and it’s anywhere from for our shifts several days a week to live in tear around the clock, I can imagine. Now to the fact of really understanding that there’s a need for companion care and certainly so many seniors live alone and you know, they may watch TV all day, but it’s having that person look in on them a few times a week. And there’s a lot of families out there that may not necessarily, you know, think that they don’t that their family needs care specifically, but maybe it’s calling a home carriagency that has the capacity to just look in on a senior to make sure that they have their groceries at things like that. That’s a service we can rely on, isn’t it? Absolutely, absolutely, and it’s really a value, especially for yes, there’s a private home where we do that, but when you have I have four people on mind right away that actually live in independent and assisted living senior community that have right now had to restrict families from visiting. Our caregivers are considered essential workers, so they’re able to go in and I had one woman who asked me last week. She said, my body just hurts with my Parkinson’s and we sit and play cards and we last when she comes. But I said moving, and now the caregiver is doing day and needless with her and stretch a simple movements. Because they can’t sleep their apartment to go for a walk doesn’t mean they can’t move, and so our caregivers are able to come in, provide companionship and do some of this vite, vital physical all right, we’re getting up and we’re walking from the living room window to the front door and back, and we’re doing that. If you’re right, yeah, so, Annie, I want you to come back on our next segment and talk about senior specifically with dementon Alzheimer’s. How can we keep them comforted and, you know, and just help them through this time and it? But in the meantime, wearing your home care assistants hat, if you’re interested in having helped for a senior loved one. How do we reach to? Best would be to call at to zero, six seven, zero eight, one, two, four seven. Wonderful. And what’s the website? The website is home care Assistantscom. Wonderful. Well, Annie, thank you so much and to all of our listeners and it will be back right after this and we’re going to talk specifically about seniors that have dementia and are Alzheimer’s. How you, how can you help those that are might be extra confused at this time? Thanks US and answers for elders radio show with Susan Newman. Hopes you found this podcast useful in your journey of navigating senior care. Check out more podcasts like this to help you find qualified senior care experts and areas of financial, legal, health and wellness and living options. Learn about our radio show, receive our monthly newsletter, receive promotional discounts and meet our experts by clicking on the banner to join the Senior Advocate Network at answers for elders, radiocom. 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