What happens when a family caregiver needs some personal time? Respite care is the answer. Investopedia.com defines respite care as short-term or temporary care of a few hours or weeks of the sick or disabled to provide relief, or respite, to the regular caregiver, usually a family member. Normally caregivers are providing care for seniors, family members in need or both. Respite care is important and beneficial because it can help you:
Avoid Burnout: Life can get hectic when you’re the sole caregiver of another person. Sometimes you may try to do everything for the person receiving care, which can demand most of your time. It is common for people to burnout in the process. Respite care allows caregivers to take personal time and relax. Sometimes a little downtime is all that’s needed for someone to avoid burning out.
Get Your Tasks Done: A devoted caregiver normally puts their own needs second. Although caregiving for an elder or a family member is an admirable task and takes a mentally strong individual, you have to make sure you’re setting time aside to get your own responsibilities done.
Have Your Own Social Life: Make sure you’re keeping up with your personal relationships. Giving care may be extremely important in your life, but you have to live your life as well. Meet up with friends or family to catch up on life and get your mind off caregiving. You shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting some personal time.
Is respite care something that you or someone you know could be interested in? Give us a call at (920) 727-5555 to learn more!
Meet Calissa Palches
Calissa is Valley VNA’s new liaison for RehabCare.
She is excited to be here and looks forward to sharing the benefits of their services. As a service to our residents who use wheelchairs and walkers, Calissa coordinated the Walker/Wheelchair Tune-up on Monday, May 18th. In addition she is giving a health talk about eye health on May 29th at 3:00 p.m. in the Keller Community room.
What is RehabCare?
RehabCare promotes wellness through different kinds of therapy and wellness programs, including:
Wellness Programs:
- Group Fitness
- Personal Training
- Senior Fitness Tests
- Healthy Learning Lectures
Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Therapy
Why RehabCare?
Residents see many benefits to starting a RehabCare program. Here are seven amazing ways residents can see improvement through these programs.
- Being physically active can add almost four quality years to your life!
- Maintaining a physically active lifestyle helps prevent dozens of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.
- By performing gait and balance activities, falls can reduce by 40%.
- Weight-bearing and resistance activities can help prevent osteoporosis.
- Strength training doesn’t just improve your muscles; it can also improve sleep quality, depression and overall quality of life.
- Regular brain stimulating activities are also available which can improve memory ability.
- Regular physical activity helps you sustain your ability to live independently.
Along with seeing an overall better lifestyle, most insurances pay for therapy. Wellness Programs are also available for free or for a dollar a minute!
RehabCare’s office is located on the second floor with our In-Home Care team and administrative offices. If you are interested in learning more, contact your Valley VNA nurse, or call Calissa at (920)209- 2278 or email at Calissa.Palches@RehabCare.com.
Advanced Care Planning is all about ensuring you get the healthcare you want, at any time, in the event you are unable to make decisions for yourself. If you don’t make these choices, you are leaving these decisions to the medical providers who do not know you, or your family who is struggling with emotions and fears at this difficult time. When you complete Advanced Care Planning you are giving your family a gift; taking the burden of guessing what you would want, and providing the peace in knowing your wishes are being followed at such a critical time in your life.
Advanced Care Planning can be a difficult and personally challenging process for some; even just to get started. At Valley VNA we have trained facilitators that can help you begin the process. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about Advanced Care Planning.
The Advanced Care Directive Plan is available for your review or contact us for answers to your questions.
You may find traveling outside the assisted living for appointments is a difficult task, either because of physical conditions or the effects from advancing dementia. Through ThedaCare’s Senior Care Specialists, an optional service may be available to you.
This program brings routine visits and check-ups directly to you in the comfort of your home. Primary care is provided by physicians, nurse practitioners and registered nurses that work closely and collaboratively with the Valley VNA caregiving team.
ThedaCare’s Senior Care Specialists are available to provide primary care to residents of Valley VNA’s Assisted Living Community. If you have any questions about this program, please contact us.
In-Home Care is a great option when you need some extra assistance. Follow the steps below to get started:
1. Free Consultation: Our Client Care Coordinators will answer your questions and help you determine the type of care that’s best for you. We’ll also include your family, if you’d like, when designing your individual care plan.
2. Moving Forward: Once you’ve decided to move forward with your care plan, you will complete “new client” forms and our scheduler will get busy matching your needs with our available team of caregivers.
3. Payment Options: In-Home Care services are considered “non-medical”, so these services aren’t covered by Medicare. Instead, you may choose to pay privately or through county or other special programs. Valley VNA also accepts Veteran’s Benefits.
4. Ongoing Communication: Dedicated to your personal satisfaction, we will reach out to you through home visits and calls throughout the timeframe of care. Questions or concerns? You can always reach someone from our team by phone, both during regular business hours and through our on-call system after hours.
If you have decided living in a senior living community is the best option for you, follow these steps to get started.
1. Come for a Visit: We will tour you through our community and help you determine what options may work best for you. Tours are available daily and on weekends by appointment.
2. Moving Forward: Once you have decided, you’ll complete application forms and make a $250 deposit. (Placement on a waiting list may be an option. The length of time for an opening varies based on assessed needs and availability.)
3. Personal Assessment: We will meet with you and conduct a detailed health and social assessment involving you, your family and medical professionals to determine the best living arrangements and availability within our senior community. From there, an Individual Service Plan is developed and will be ready to start when you arrive. (Independent residents do not have a personal assessment before they move in.)
4. Payment Options:
- Private Pay
- Long-term Care Insurance
- Veterans’ Benefits – Veterans or their spouses may qualify.
- County/State Assistance – Based on availability. (For Community Based Residential Community only.)
5. Move In: Once a date for move-in has been determined, we will help you with the details of moving and transition into life within our community.
Valley VNA Senior Services is dementia aware! Active with the Fox Valley Memory Project’s program action committee, we have volunteered to present the Purple Angel Awareness Program in the Neenah-Menasha area.
The Purple Angel Dementia Awareness Program works to train employees to offer hospitality and support to people with confusion, memory loss or other symptoms associated with dementia. This program trains employees that work for a variety businesses and public institutions, such as:
- Restaurants & Retail shops
- Grocery Stores
- Banks & Credit Unions
- Libraries & City Buildings
Businesses that have completed the training process can be identified by the Purple Angel decal displayed in their window. People with dementia, along with their care partners can be assured these establishments will welcome them warmly and offer any extra assistance if needed.
If you are a business that focuses on customer service and would like to help improve the lives of those with dementia, consider participating in the training process.
Please call 920-727-5555 or check out our events calendar for upcoming training sessions.
Carrie Esselman, Therapeutic Recreational Specialist at Valley VNA, helped write a grant with Susan McFadden, Ph.D. from the Fox Valley Memory Project to fund drum circle training for 11 long term care facilities across northeast Wisconsin. The $2500 grant will help pay for Tom Gill, from Rhythm for Unity in Milwaukee, to introduce and train therapeutic specialists and activities’ directors to the world of drumming for their residents.
Drumming has been shown to particularly engage and soothe people with dementia.
“People in late stages of dementia begin to lose their ability to stay in step with others during an activity. They may also lose their ability to show emotion. Drumming has an amazing way of helping them participate and express themselves,” Esselman said.
The regional training workshop held in March will lead up to a community-wide drumming performance at the Thompson Community Center on June 6. Residents from as far away as Seymour and Freedom will join others from the Fox Valley at the Thompson Community Center in a celebration of drumming.