If you find yourself in the role of a family caregiver, you are not alone. According to a 2000 census of the National Family Caregivers Association, more than one quarter (26.6%) of the adult population has provided care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during the past year, which translates to an estimated 54 million people. This responsibility, while often rewarding, can take a great toll on the caregiver. Following are some suggestions on reducing the stress and fatigue for the home caregiver:

• Take time for yourself and your own needs. Watch for signs of stress such as impatience, loss of appetite, or difficulty sleeping.
• Eat a well-balanced diet. Drink plenty of water or juice every day.
• Exercise by taking short walks daily or at least three times a week.
• Listen to relaxation tapes or music to help reduce stress.
• Space your activities with short rest periods. Get a good night’s sleep.
• Don’t overload your daily to-do list. Be realistic.
• Let family members and friends help. Delegate household chores, meals, baby sitting, or shopping.
• Share your feelings with family members or other caregivers, or join a support group.
• Keep the lines of communication open between your loved ones, your family and your friends.
• Give yourself credit: the care you give does make a huge difference.

Depending on the level of care required and other demands on the caregiver’s time and energy, family caregiving can become an overwhelming responsibility. If this occurs, it may be time to explore other home health care options, such as hiring a private caregiver. Here are some questions to ask when considering a professional caregiver:

• How much time and skill is required to help care for the individual at home? Are these needs likely to increase or decrease over time?
• Are family members and friends capable of providing the necessary care without any one individual becoming overburdened?
• How does the ill, aging, or disabled individual feel about having a private caregiver assist with his/her care?  Does he/she understand the family caregiver’s need for care assistance?

Should you decide to hire a caregiver, here are some questions to consider in your search for appropriate care:

• Is the individual employed by an agency or organization licensed by the state?
• What specific services will you need the caregiver to provide?
• Will the caregiving services be paid directly by the patient or his/her family? Or through some other payment option, such as Medicaid, Veteran’s benefits, long term care insurance, reverse mortgage, etc?
• What are the qualifications of the agency or organization providing the caregiver(s)?
• Does the agency or organization offer flexibility – for example, making care available on weekends, at nights, and on holidays?

These are just a few of the questions to think about when considering hiring a caregiver. There are also resources in the Charlotte community that can be of great assistance to the family caregiver. One such resource is the direct result of an exciting alliance formed between Partners In Care and The Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross. It is a Red Cross-created series of educational classes called the “Family Caregiving Program” designed to help family members and others caring for loved ones in the home to provide basic care and ensure a safe environment. The courses are taught by Partners In Care caregivers who have been specially trained by the American Red Cross to present this program. If you’re interested, contact me for information on the next offering.

Sally Olin, RN is a Certified Senior Advisor. The Olin family owns and operates Charlotte’s in-home caregiving company Partners In Care (www.partnersincare-nc.com).

One of the most complex problems faced by seniors today is in the management of medications. When being treated by multiple physicians and specialists for multiple conditions, sometimes a senior’s vast matrix of medications becomes overly complicated. Who prescribed me this medication? What is it for? How often do I take it, and when, and what dosage?

Some pharmacies are offering effective ways of helping seniors maintain their daily medicines. One of the most impressive and user-friendly systems that we have discovered is the “Medicine-On-Time” program provided to the customers of Charlotte’s long-standing (and family-owned) Giant Genie Pharmacy. It uses individually sealed dosage bubbles assembled to look like a weekly or monthly calendar, each one labeled with the patient’s name, contents and precisely when to take the medication. Tim Jones, vice president of Giant Genie Pharmacy store operations, says, “The reason Medicine-On-Time works so well is that you can set aside the multitude of prescription bottles. We package all of your medications together and deliver them to you, so all of the complicated work is gone.” Their system also eliminates the did-I-take-my-medicine factor. “Most seniors who go to assisted living facilities do so because they can’t manage their own medications anymore,” Jones states. “Our system helps them take their medications correctly on their own, thus helping them to stay independent at home longer.”

Often the problem goes beyond the mere complexities of what, when and how much. With medicines being prescribed by different doctors for different reasons, sometimes seniors end up taking different medications for the same condition, or taking multiple medications that should not be taken together. This is why we are huge advocates of what we call “The Brown Bag Test.” It may sound primitive, but it works.

The Brown Bag Test is meant to assist seniors in knowing for sure that they are taking the right medications, at the right dosage and at the right times. Robby Jones, owner of Giant Genie Pharmacy and a respected Charlotte pharmacist himself, explains: “Because reducing the risk of harmful drug interactions can make the difference between life and death, everyone should take the time to have their medicines reviewed by a pharmacist that they know well.” And why should this happen with a pharmacist you know well? “If you’re not on a first-name basis with your pharmacist, then you don’t know your pharmacy. If your pharmacist knows your first name, they’re going to know your medicines.”

The test is fairly simple. First, collect all of the medications that you are currently taking.  Second, put them all in a brown paper bag. Third, take them to your pharmacist or physician, and ask them to verify what you are taking the medications for and if you are taking them at the right time and dosage. Have them write down for you: 1) each medication you should be taking, 2) the correct dosage of each medication, 3) the approximate times you should be taking them, and 4) why you are taking each medication. By going through this process, your pharmacist should also be able to tell if there are certain medications that you can eliminate. At very least, The Brown Bag Test will help to ensure that you are taking all of your medications as you should be.

Recently, Partners In Care helped a client with The Brown Bag Test, and as a result, her pharmacist realized that there were no less than THREE superfluous medications in her daily drug plan. With guidance from her general physician, those medications were able to be eliminated, and she began to feel the positive effects in her body right away.

Sally Olin, RN is a Certified Senior Advisor. The Olin family owns and operates Charlotte’s in-home caregiving company Partners In Care (www.partnersincare-nc.com).

Here are a couple recent Charlotte Radio Records from WBT with Keith Larson:

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Choosing a home care provider for your loved one can be a stressful decision. When faced with many choices in agencies, it is sometimes difficult to know why one is better than another. We are excited to share with you the news that Partners In Care was recently honored with a “Best of Home Care” Award! What does it mean to win a “Best of Home Care” Award? Simply put, a “Best of Home Care” award means that we have proven that we care about quality in both our client and caregiver interactions. The “Best of Home Care” Award recognizes Partners In Care as setting the standard in our region for overall quality of service, caregiver training and knowledge, effective communication with clients and their families, delivering services as promised, and stellar coordination of caregiver schedules. These elements have been determined through extensive third-party phone interviews with clients and employees (conducted by Home Care Pulse) which evaluate the overall satisfaction of Partners In Care’s clients and the overall happiness of Partners In Care’s employees.

As always, it is important to us that we truly go beyond making statements about “quality and satisfaction” and put them into action. We wanted to share this exciting news with you and hope that it helps you understand how much we care about your experience and your loved one’s quality of life.

After years (well months) of anguish and sleepless nights, the new site is finally up there. The goal of this is provide a more polished, professional online Charlotte image to Partners In Care. Let me know what you think by leaving your positive/negative (honest) comments below