home care (Page 9 of 49)

Sound Dental Care, Part 1

Sarah Luetke, founder and CEO Sound Dental Care, joins Suzanne to talk about geriatric dental health. Sarah has worked in dentistry for over 20 years, for some time in Bainbridge, a very affluent community as a dental hygienist for a group practice dentist. Patients had the ability to pay for dental care that could keep up on their dental health. She has also had the opportunity to work in farm communities in Montana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota where people don’t have the finances to do everything to restore their teeth. She saw patients being offered amazing dental care services. And in America, we are aging people with teeth. Previous generations had teeth pulled and maybe had dentures. Now we have much better technology, but it can be expensive.

If you’re having tooth pain and you can’t afford traditional dentistry, or you can’t get into the dental office even if you have the money, it’s a big problem. So as a hygienist, Sarah’s goal has been advocating for health and educating her patients. 

Seniors may not necessarily do as good a job with their dental care. They’re perhaps not eating as many crunchy items, things that can help break down things, and instead eating softer foods. For Alzheimer’s patients, the action of chewing and masticating food actually helps the brain and function. 

In our next segment, Sarah and Suzanne talk about advances in geriatric dental health. Learn more at https://www.sounddentalcare.com/ or call 206-745-3808.

Sound Dental Care, Part 2

Sarah Luetke, founder and CEO Sound Dental Care, joins Suzanne to talk about breakthroughs in geriatric dental care and services. COVID changed a lot of things for a lot of people, and the pandemic really sped up tele-dentistry and mobile dentistry. If you Google mobile dentistry, there are many many people – providers, whether it be dentists, hygienists, dental therapists, denturists – starting to be mobile. Thinking outside of the box of traditional dentistry is really opening up doors. Tele-dentistry allows an offsite dentist to supervise a hygienist or diagnose something and give them permission to treat a patient in a different way.

If you have a senior loved one who’s in a senior living community or goes to a community center, there are are services available for people who might not necessarily be able to make it into a dental office to bring dental care to them. Washington state law that allows hygienists to operate independently in certain settings: Sound Dental Care only cares for patients 65 and older at nursing homes and senior centers. As a mobile firm, she has less overhead and be more mindful of seniors on fixed incomes, anyone that no longer has an active paycheck coming in. And oftentimes people no longer have dental insurance once they are no longer with their employer dental insurance.

The pandemic evolved mobile dentistry. When Sound Dental Care started in 2016, they did bring a dental chair with them into the senior living community – a patient chair, dental chair, and an operator chair, as well as the whole ultrasonic, suction, and everything else you’d see have at a dental office. But due to the pandemic, a lot of these facilities could not buy state mandates to let patients out of their room. For her hygiene practice, she prefers to take everything into the building. As a denturist, she has a mobile denture van; the patient is still in the building, but if she need to go do something with their dentures, she has a lab right there. There are other providers that have patients come into their van or their motor home for services. But Sound Dental Care works with patients who need assistance moving about, and they’re higher-risk patients, so they are better cared for in the building. And that makes sense, too, because staff is there, in case of a problem, with a dementia patient who might have a panic attack.

Sound Dental Care does many preventative type treatments, including alternative palliative care with silver diamine fluoride. It used to be used in the United States, but we shifted to the use of local anesthetic, drilling and filling, and when patients started thinking cosmetically. It is a liquid antimicrobial containing silver and fluoride, and silver ions, and it halts decay in a cavity or a tooth that’s broken off.

In our next segment, Sarah and Suzanne will talk more about advances in geriatric dental health. Learn more at https://www.sounddentalcare.com/ or call 206-745-3808.

How To Volunteer With Hospice

Volunteers are an essential part of hospice care teams that can provide support to patients and families in various ways. Here’s everything you need to know about volunteering with hospice.

Supporting Families at Encore Communities at Laurel Cove

Pauline Smith, executive director of Encore Communities at Laurel Cove in Shoreline, Washington joins Suzanne to talk about how the community supports families of senior loved ones. 

Encore Communities at Laurel Cove is located at 17201 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155. Learn more at https://encorecommunities.com/laurel-cove or call 206-364-9336.

Memory Care at Encore Communities at Laurel Cove

With high rates of Alzheimer’s in Washington, Suzanne talks about memory care at Encore Communities at Laurel Cove in Shoreline, Washington with executive director Pauline Smith. She talks about memory care and the services provided for those with Alzheimer’s.

Encore Communities at Laurel Cove is located at 17201 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155. Learn more at https://encorecommunities.com/laurel-cove or call 206-364-9336.

Downsizing Help at Encore Communities at Laurel Cove

Working with seniors in their 70s or 80s who are considering downsizing to senior living. The thought of moving is unpleasant, especially for people who have lived in their home for a generation or move. Pauline Smith, executive director of Encore Communities at Laurel Cove in Shoreline, Washington joins Suzanne to talk about how Laurel Cove helps. With the senior, they help brainstorm through the process, they have community partners who help with downsizing, estate sales, packing, moving, which helps a lot. Respite stays are available so all people have to do is pack a suitcase.

Encore Communities at Laurel Cove is located at 17201 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155. Learn more at https://encorecommunities.com/laurel-cove or call 206-364-9336.

Family Dynamics During a Senior Home Sale, Part 1

If you have a family going through changes with a senior loved on, or is expecting soon to go through a transition, this is show you may want to listen to. Family plays an outsized role during transitions. With all the stress, strife, and confusion for caregivers, it’s easy to come apart at the seams with the family you love, particularly since it’s the family home that’s going to be sold. Rebecca Bomann, CEO and founder of SASH Services, joins Suzanne to explain a few things that happen to families during transitions so that you’ll know what you’re experiencing is normal. It’s hard to let go, and place your trust in someone outside yourself. Build a team around you who can keep you going strong: professionals, social workers, and caregivers.

Find SASH Services at sashservices.com or sashrealty.com, or call 888-400-SASH.

Alzheimer’s Speaks: Lori La Bey and Her Mom

This fall, nationally renowned Alzheimers and dementia expert Lori La Bey joins Suzanne from Minneapolis at Alzheimer’s Speaks. Lori talks about her personal experiences with her mom, who was first diagnosed in the 1980s. La Bey is a passionate advocate who searches for ways to shift our dementia care culture from crisis to comfort around the world. She understands change is needed on multiple levels. Listen and subscribe to Lori’s podcast.

Alzheimer’s Speaks: How It Got Started

The need in the community drove Suzanne to form Answers for Elders, Similarly, nationally renowned Alzheimer’s and dementia expert Lori La Bey was frustrated by the lack of resources, products, tools, services, and educational support available to families and professionals back when she needed them to help care for her mom. She became committed to make a difference shifting dementia care from crisis to comfort around the world. See these free resources and tools for caregivers. 

Listen and subscribe to Lori’s podcast.

Dementia Map: Global Resource Directory

Nationally renowned Alzheimer’s and dementia expert Lori La Bey joins Suzanne from Minneapolis at Alzheimer’s Speaks. In this segment, Lori introduces the Dementia Map, a global resource directory, event calendar, glossary, and blog. There’s such a need to connect families with products and tools to find support. They don’t want to give away their personal information to find tools. It’s crafted to be as simple as possible to use, since caregivers are exhausted and our loved ones can be easily distracted. There are 150 searchable categories by location. 

Visit Dementia Map to see more.