November is National Long Term Care Awareness Month. I thought I would take this opportunity to start a series of blogs on “Planning for Long Term Care.” This is a tough subject that can cause some pretty strong feelings for all involved. Over the next couple blogs, we’re going to dissect the process to try to make it a little easier for you.

First, let’s get this out of the way. No one wants to think about needing long term care. Every one hopes it won’t happen to them. But think on this. I love the show Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel. And not just because I love Bear’s British accent. It’s a fascinating show!

For those of you not familiar with Man vs. Wild, each episode features adventurer and writer Bear Grylls stranded in a remote location and trying to find his way back to civilization, while sharing invaluable survival techniques. Bear is well-equipped to survive in even the most brutal environments from arid deserts like the Sahara to the bitter cold of the Arctic. He isn’t going into these situations unaware.

The Alaskan wilderness

He spends time studying the location, conditions and the plants and wildlife. He has a wealth of training and experience to draw from, from mountain-climbing with his father as a young boy to his service in the United Kingdom’s Special Forces. He has broken a number of world records for expeditions. The point is Bear isn’t going into these confusing, dangerous situations unprepared. Would you?

Then why go into the confusing world of long term care without some preparation and planning to help you navigate? It is a tough topic to deal with, but it’s better to deal with now than in a crisis, when you are dropped into that unknown, remote location with no idea where you’re going, what you need or how to pay for it.

Over the next few blogs, we’ll help you get prepared. We’ll talk about the types of long term care services available, how to talk to aging parents about long term care, how to pay for long term care and a topic that isn’t talked about too often – how to assess and decrease your risk for needing long term care.

Stay tuned…meanwhile if you have any specific long term care questions you would like answered or addressed in a blog, please let us know.

Written by Dawn Wise dwise@wrc.org
Manager of Marketing and Communications
WRC Senior Services
November 1, 2010

Being elderly doesn’t mean you stop being the person you are. However, physical or mental limitations may make it difficult to enjoy the same hobbies. If you are a caregiver, have you ever wondered if your loved one was suffering from depression? Imagine if the things you are most passionate in life about disappeared. How would you cope?

Two causes of depression are social isolation and a loss of a sense of purpose in life. You might not stop being who you are on the inside, but how do you reconcile that person on the outside?

As a caregiver, try to get creative and think of ways that your loved one could still enjoy the things they’ve always loved. A few examples. Perhaps, they enjoyed crossword puzzles but have trouble seeing them now. Buy a full page magnifier or get a large print edition. You can find these (and other great games for the elderly) at the Senior Store. If the problem is writing, try computer crossword puzzles. They may find it easier to type.

Perhaps they were an avid gardener. There are a variety of gardening tools designed for the elderly that are more lightweight and have a longer reach. I found a pretty comprehensive store at Wright Stuff. In addition to tools, the design of the garden can help. For more information about gardening for the elderly, check out MDA online.

Dick Myers plays for his fellow residents

If you get creative, you can find a way to adapt most hobbies. We do this at WRC Senior Services. When Dick Myers moved to Laurelbrooke Assisted Living, he struggled with the transition until he found he could still enjoy the same hobbies in a new way. Dick was a gardener. Now he cares for the potted flowers growing at our entrance. They’ve never looked more beautiful! He also spent over 60 years playing the piano in church. Now he plays for his fellow residents and the residents in our memory support neighborhood. As I watch him play, I can see the joy it brings him as well as his listeners.

Laurels resident Ted Beniades had a big adjustment to make at retirement. He spent over 40 years in show business on Broadway, stage, TV and movies. How do you still enjoy that passion? I began talking to Ted about my love for theater. I am part of the Clarion Community Theater group.

For our most recent show Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” I realized I had a chance to get Ted involved again in something he loved. We needed a voiceover that would play on a gramophone during the show. He wouldn’t have to be at all the performances or the practices.

Ted Beniades stands beside his younger self in a Ragu commercial

I told him what I was thinking, and he jumped on board. I took a script over and spent some time telling him about the show and his character. He was back in the game, and I could see the sparkle in his eyes. We spread sound equipment all over his living room and got to work, laughing and joking amidst serious work. It was wonderful, and his voiceover was fantastic!

He came out to watch the show twice, and we introduced him to the audience who responded with resounding cheers. I was so glad that we were able to think of a way to help him be the person he never stopped being – a star.

What can you do today to help your loved one still be who they are in spite of how their life has changed?

Written by Dawn Wise, Marketing and Communications Manager
dwise@wrc.org

Thanks for stopping by our first post in WRC Senior Services’  brand new blog “Making the Best Choice.”

At WRC Senior Services, we strive to be the best place to live and the best place to work. With a focus on quality and being the best, it seemed to make sense to name our blog “Making the Best Choice.”

Our goal with this blog is to help you navigate the confusing world of long term care – whether it’s for your own needs or a loved one – and to help you make the best choices for  your life. We want you to be feeling your best in the best place to live for you, wherever that may be.

So, we’ll tackle a variety of topics from understanding the aging services that are out there to insurance and financial questions to making smart choices for healthier living. We will have a few different contributing authors for the blog from WRC so that you will be getting the best experts on particular topics.

We hope you will subscribe to our blog and share it with your family and friends. We welcome your comments, questions and ideas!

May our little bits of wisdom help you make the best choices for you!

P.S. To get us started, are there any topics you would like to learn more about? Any mysteries you need unraveled? Questions you need answered?