Latest from Caring Right at Home

• Exercising to Music May Lower Risk of Falling
• Living Safely at Home With Alzheimer’s Disease
• Playtime Helps Grandparents and Grandchildren Connect

Get Creative!

Get Creative!: Hospitals, health organizations, and patients use “art with heart” to encourage healing.

ArtPeace: Here's an opportunity to use your creativity and promote the sanctity of human life!

SarahCare support group

This month's support group at SarahCare will be held on Thursday June 16, 2011, from 6:30-8:30 pm. Christiana Getz will discuss "Knowing the 10 Signs of Alzheimer's." Light refreshments provided. (Make note of the time change; meetings typically start at 7, but not this time.)

SarahCare Adult Day Center
Metro Health Village
2024 Health Drive, Suite B
Wyoming, MI 49519
Phone: 616.530.6700

Don't miss out on early bird registration

Early bird discounts for the LIFT Caregiver Conference end September 30. Save $5!

Get to Know: Developmental Disabilities Ministries Community Network

DDM is a nonprofit, charitable corporation serving persons with developmental disabilities and their families. "This site is designed primarily to provide resources and support to caregivers serving persons with disabilities or others with a passion for the disabled. Although our focus is on developmental or intellectual disabilities, we hope to provide a forum on a wide range of disability issues.

"We hope to provide resources and encouragement to families, churches, and others in their efforts to provide the best possible support and training to those with whom they relate. We also hope this will serve as a forum for others to share their successes, tips, and frustrations.

"Our secondary purpose is to provide information about the services, ministries, needs and volunteer opportunities of Developmental Disabilities Ministries. We sincerely hope this becomes a valuable resource for you."

Care Pages community forum

Taking Care of Mom User JMarilyn wrote: "I am 58 and take care of my Mom, who is 85. I also take care of her sister, who is 81. They live with me. I don't begrudge one minute of helping these two precious ladies. And yet, I am so tired and I have no help ..." Read what others have written and offer your advice to a selfless caregiver.

---

Stop the Boredom!
Blogger ChristyL wrote: "My dad is currently fighting lung cancer. He is, thankfully, taking it pretty well. In the meantime, he's 'bored.' Does anyone have any suggestions on some fun, easy activities we can plan?"
Read what others have written and share your favorite activities.

Perfect Gifts for Hospital Visits

These ideas will help you choose gifts for a friend or family member who's in the hospital or recovering that will brighten their spirits and help ease their recovery. CarePages.com

Caring Right at Home newsletter

Here are some intriguing articles from this month's edition of Caring Right at Home:

• From Zero Gravity to Zero Falls
• Family Caregiver Discrimination Laws: What's Happening Today?
• Talk to Senior Loved Ones About Safe Social Networking

Caregiving Journey asks . . .

How have you helped restore dignity in your caregiving? Share your story.

Get to Know: In-Law Suite

In-LawSuite.com can help you find the answers to your questions about elder care at home, help guide you to solutions that are right for you and your loved one, and help you take the first steps toward piece of mind for you and independence for your loved one.

Multiple Sclerosis Blog: How’s Your MS Today?

Multiple sclerosis changes seasonally, new treatments come and go from the press, symptoms arise, disease progresses, and every month, we (try to) stay a constant in this post. It gives you a chance to check-in with others in our community and with yourself. Update the MS Blog on how things are going with you this month. "We’ll celebrate your successes and commiserate with your losses." Everyday Health

"Grandma Friended Me!" Seniors and Social Networking

If the phrase "online social networking" brings to mind a 20-something thumbing away on a Blackberry, think again. Today, seniors are the fastest growing group to use social networking as a tool for expanding social connections and staying in touch with family and friends. Right at Home

Limited Mobility of Another Sort

In theory, the continuing care retirement community, or C.C.R.C., makes great sense: build different types of senior housing on a single campus, or even in a single building, so that as residents need more care, they can transfer within the facility — from independent living apartments to assisted living units to a nursing home — instead of being uprooted from familiar surroundings. More than a half-million older Americans find this an attractive idea and have moved into such a retirement community. Yet ever since reporting a few years ago in an assisted living facility in Bethesda, Md., and hearing about a resident who pushed the wrong elevator button and then screamed in horror when the doors opened onto the nursing home floor, I have wondered how these transitions work in practice. NYTimes blog

Limited Mobility of Another Sort

In theory, the continuing care retirement community, or C.C.R.C., makes great sense: build different types of senior housing on a single campus, or even in a single building, so that as residents need more care, they can transfer within the facility — from independent living apartments to assisted living units to a nursing home — instead of being uprooted from familiar surroundings. More than a half-million older Americans find this an attractive idea and have moved into such a retirement community. Yet ever since reporting a few years ago in an assisted living facility in Bethesda, Md., and hearing about a resident who pushed the wrong elevator button and then screamed in horror when the doors opened onto the nursing home floor, I have wondered how these transitions work in practice. NYTimes blog

Honest Answers About Life With Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis blogger Trevis Gleason writes, "For those of you just joining, I posted a blog topic that allowed you (the MS community) to post any questions you might wish to ask me about my multiple sclerosis via the comment section." Everyday Health

Help, Hope, and Emotional Healing for the Terminally Ill

When you have a terminal illness, it's essential to get support from friends and family — and to do things you enjoy as long as you can. Care Pages

Instant happiness? Even for people with cancer?

“Come on…” said a friend as we climbed the hill home from the café five blocks away. “Really!?” I’d just shared with her that I considered my cancer a gift. Though most people with cancer hate to be told that – we don’t want to hear what’s good about cancer because we need to know first that others recognize our pain and feel for us - we like to share the insights born of our illness with those we love. Sadly, such insights are difficult or nigh impossible to grasp if one hasn’t experienced cancer. Care Pages

How’s Your MS Today?

The multiple sclerosis community at Everyday Health is growing like crazy! I’d like to introduce our “newbies” to our monthly posting which gives you a chance to check in with the rest of us. “How’s Your MS Today” has been going on for a number of years now. It’s our chance to take a look back at the previous month and see how/if our MS has been changing. Many find it helpful to glance back at their comments over the past 6-12 months before heading in for a neuro appointment; I know I do!

Sisters Face Death With Dignity and Reverence

A convent is a world apart, unduplicable. But the Sisters of St. Joseph animate many factors that studies say contribute to successful aging and a gentle death — none of which require this special setting. These include a large social network, intellectual stimulation, continued engagement in life and spiritual beliefs, as well as health care guided by the less-is-more principles of palliative and hospice care — trends that are moving from the fringes to the mainstream. “We approach our living and our dying in the same way, with discernment,” said Sister Mary Lou Mitchell, the congregation president. “Maybe this is one of the messages we can send to society, by modeling it.” NY Times

Pet Therapy and Depression

Can owning a cat, dog, or other pet help you cope with the blues? Pet therapy, also known as animal-assisted therapy, is recognized by the National Institute of Mental Health as a type of psychotherapy for treating depression and other mood disorders. Being around pets appears to feed the soul, promoting a sense of emotional connectedness and overall well-being. Learn what research is saying about the role of companion animals in helping people cope with depression. Everyday Health