When: ��July 21, 2010

Where: �Care One East Brunswick

599 Cranbury Road

East Brunswick, NJ 08816

Time: ����4:30 PM ? 6:30 PM

Participating Restaurants:

plus more??.

Entertainment BY:� jOjo russell!

Enjoy a free taste of local cuisine while learning about local care options!

RSVP by e-mailing or calling Beth Sholom, Owner of Right at Home

beths@righathomeofcnj.com or 732-967-0900

Institutional costs for long term care continued to post big increases last year even as the economy sputtered along, according to the seventh annual Cost of Care survey from Genworth Financial, a major seller of long term care insurance. The good news in the survey is that costs for in-home care — where nearly 80 percent of people prefer being cared for — have risen very little during the past five years.

At some point, two-thirds of us over the age of 65 will need someone or someplace to take care of us. Illness or physical disabilities will make it impossible to perform what are called the activities of daily living (ADL) by ourselves. These include dressing, eating, bathing, and using the bathroom.

Read more by Clicking Here.

(ARA) – If you’re older than 65 and take multiple medications, you should be aware of potential interactions between your drugs. These interactions can cause unwanted side effects, reduce the effectiveness of your medicine, or even lead to hospitalization. Studies show that up to 30 percent of hospital admissions of elderly patients are linked to harmful effects of medications and other related problems.

Many people not only take more than one medication, but also may see more than one doctor. It is important to inform all your doctors – especially your primary care physician – about all the medications you take to avoid potentially dangerous drug interactions.

“As a patient, you need to be watchful about your care and your medications,” says Dr. Joseph Addiego, chief medical officer of Prescription Solutions, a pharmacy benefits management company. “If you are seeing multiple doctors, keep a list of all your medications and take it to each doctor’s appointment. If you have questions, always feel free to ask your doctor or pharmacist.”

Addiego recommends the following tips to ensure safe medication use:

1. Share information with your primary care physician and other health care providers about all the medications you are taking to avoid negative drug interactions and reduce the potential for side effects. This includes vitamins, herbal supplements and over-the-counter medications.

2. Use only one pharmacy, one pharmacy chain or one pharmacy benefits manager for all your prescription medicines. This helps your pharmacist monitor which medications you take so he or she can let you know about drug interactions.

3. Read carefully the information that comes with your medication and save it for future reference.

4. Take all your medicines exactly as directed, and continue taking all your medicines until the doctor says to stop.

5. Call your doctor, pharmacist or pharmacy benefits manager if you are experiencing side effects from your medication before you stop taking it.

While medication interactions are a serious problem, there are programs that can help health care providers and patients avoid medication problems. For example, Prescription Solutions a program called the Drug Interaction Alert Program, which alerts the prescribing physician of the potential dangerous interaction between medications for a specific patient. Another program, called Geriatric Rx Monitor, alerts the physician about medications that are not safe for use in older patients.

Check with your pharmacy or pharmacy benefits manager about programs that can help protect you from dangerous medication interactions, and be sure to talk to your doctor about all your medications at your next visit.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

For sandwich generation, planning ahead is key to good elder care.

How do you take the car keys away from a father who taught you to drive? When did he go from wise council to frail, elderly man?

Unfortunately, the What to Expect When You’re Expecting book series on parenting doesn’t have a volume on parenting your parents. If anyone thinks dealing with aging parents is easy, they’re deluding themselves. It is often one of the most difficult challenges people face during their adult lives–and one for which they’re least prepared.

The consequences of inaction, meanwhile, can be severe. Many adult children don’t understand the complexity of the problem. Why would their parents resist setting up a power of attorney? Will they have to be dragged kicking and screaming to a senior facility? The answer all too often is “yes,” even well after it has become painfully apparent to others that they are no longer capable of handling their own affairs.

The fact is many elderly people don’t see themselves as elderly and hate being around other old people. To them, moving to a senior facility involves making a move that they feel they can never undo; they are moving in their minds from independence to dependence. Hence the kicking and screaming.

Read more from www.forbes.com or by Clicking Here.

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For more assistance with an aging loved one in your life visit our website at www.middlesexnj.rightathome.net or www.ltcep.com/sholom.

More With Dementia Wander From Home

For generations, the prototypical search-and-rescue case in America was Timmy in the well, with Lassie barking insistently to summon help. Lost children and adolescents — from the woods to the mall — generally outnumbered all others.

But last year for the first time, another type of search crossed into first place here in Virginia, marking a profound demographic shift that public safety officials say will increasingly define the future as the nation ages: wandering, confused dementia patients like Freda Machett.

Read more by Clicking Here.