Elbows have generated a new problem. They live on the desk in front of the computer and cease to bend. Living only for balance of the fore finger. As it pushes on the mouse….a mouse used to have whiskers and make small funny noises. Bite and be chased by cats but no this one is small and has a side button and two clickers….- the forefinger is attached to the hand and I do believe the thumb on humans may actually be shrinking from lack of use – unless you call the space bar use on the key board. Now we are quickly going to new types of input into the computer and soon – will we just talk to it and watch it spell our words and create a paragraph –

When you create music will it be c-flat and suddenly the computer sings back to you – maybe it is already that way. Maybe that is why there are so many songs and singers and writers….maybe they do not have to use their time and erase and sing to themselves – hitting notes on a piano and placing writing on paper that may or may not be legible.

How many manuscripts changed due to poor hand writing? Maybe that is where some of the most clever of thoughts came into being…poor hand writing.

And to think it started with the Elbow!

Recently I was told that Indiana’s Assisted Living Waivers were going away – I have not yet been able to confirm this.  What I did find when researching was that the law that permitted the waivers was only in effect till 2012.  I also then researched the Affordable Care Act and found that one state had researched applying an expenditure percentage towards Assisted Living thus giving their state credit for using monies outside of long care areas and a 2% bonus would be awarded by the federal government.  If anyone has information regarding the long term outlook for this in Indiana I would welcome your comments and direction to the right resources.

Involving our clients throughout their transition is important and at times challenging.    Recently, we were privileged to work with a client who had a form of dementia.  Consistently one behavioral problem which occurs with our clients who are afflicted with some form of dementia is an agitation level that happens on the spur of the moment.  Over the years, learning to quickly adjust to this and to present decisions in such a way as to allow the client to be successful, involved and accomplish the task at hand in a timely manner, became essential to moving our clients into  retirement facilities.

Some of the techniques we have developed include:

1. Identify what makes the client happy
2. When presenting choices include a positive choice (something the client would like)
3. When the client looks away, fiddles or stiffens their body - suggest that you can work on something different for a minute or two while they think about it
4. Return to the client only after a 5 minute time frame has happened
5. Never start a sentence with “remember when we talked about this or that…….”
6. Never talk down to the client…..remember they do not know they have a problem.

Generally when the stress is so great (and a move is extremely stressful) the client can’t remember – that is why documentation is essential.  A well organized move can make the transition to an Assisted Living so much easier for our Dementia Clients and more importantly successful. 

Mary Ann Yates

President of Elder Moves, Inc.

After a summer full of incredibly hot days who would know how much we would enjoy a vacation in Michigan with Rain.  Just enough and the sound of it was so sweet.  The lake rippling with its effects and dancing through the puddles it created as it came down.  A wonderful opportunity to play euchre and shop for the week.  No one even took out an umbrella. 

The lake has 56 stairs to the cottage and I couldn’t help but think of how many people have had to relinquish their homes or cottages because of such prohibitive environs.  When we approach certain ages we have limitations and our environment either helps our movement and adjustment to our limits or it creates a barrier to our success.  Finding solutions to the barriers is part of what we do for our senior market.  We look toward creating avenues that make staying in your home a win.  We also know when to say that it is a better choice to move to a retirement community or senior housing. 

Much like my vacation, when we can choose to enjoy the rain or complain that there is no sunshine, we hope to help each of our clients make the best of what ever their situations bring to their lives and to positively approach change.