TRIB TOTAL MEDIA SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 2018 · 13
HANDLING STRESS
• Becoming unusually impatient, irritable or
argumentative
• Having anxiety about the future or a feeling of
hopelessness
• Suffering from headaches, stomachaches or
other physical ailments
• Experiencing depression or mood swings
• Having difficulty coping with everyday tasks
• Lower resistance to illnesses
Educate yourself about the disease. It’s
likely the loved one you care for has several
health problems, takes multiple medications
and sees multiple health care providers to
manage his or her conditions.
As a first step in learning more about Al-zheimer’s
disease and other dementia-related
illnesses, visit alzfdn.org or nia.nih.gov/
alzheimers for information.
Be prepared for important decisions. Take
care of financial, legal and long-term care
planning issues early on to help reduce stress
later.
Try to involve the individual in decision-making
if he or she is capable, and consider
personal wishes regarding future care and
end-of-life issues.
Build your care skills. Key skills for any
caregiver include communication, under-standing
safety considerations and behaviors,
and managing activities of daily living such as
bathing, toileting and dressing.
Develop empathy. Try to understand what
it is like to be a person living with Alzheimer’s
or dementia. Put yourself in the affected
person’s shoes while also recognizing your
own losses. Manage your expectations of your
loved one and remain patient.
Ask for help when you need it. Reach out
to medical and mental health professionals as
well as family and friends. They can assist you
when things get tough.
Advocate for and connect with your loved
one. Take an active role in the individual’s
medical care. Get to know the care team, ask
questions, express concerns and discuss treat-ment
options.
Think positive. Focus on the capabilities
and strengths that are still intact, and enjoy
your relationship with your loved one while
you are still together.
Find more caregiver resources and tips at
alzfdn.org.
Hope Hospice provides
support and care for people with
life limiting illnesses and their
families.When caring matters the
most, Hope Hospice allows the
patient to remain at home,
whether that be a facility or
private home, so we can promote
comfort, peace and dignity.
We focus on the whole person -
physical, emotional, mental
and spiritual.
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WHERE’S THE HELP FOR CAREGIVERS?
We see advertisements everywhere catering to the needs of older
adults. Just look at this section of the Trib for proof of that. But what
about help and support for those who are looking after them? It has
arrived with the opening of a new and unique company. Advocates
for the Aging, LLC.
According to theNational Alliance for Caregiving, caregivers spend
an average of 24 hours per week providing unpaid care to aging loved
ones. Nearly 1 in 4 caregivers spend over 40 hours per week. This
can have negative consequences on a caregiver’s career and family.
Advocates for the Aging, aka AFA, can save you valuable time and
money by doing a lot of the administrative tasks of caregiving for you.
AFA gives caregivers, older adults, and their families more time to do
the things that they love, with the people they love.
Are you a caregiver that is overwhelmed? Do you find yourself
wishing you had someone to make all those long phone calls and
do that complicated paperwork for your aging loved ones? Are
you calling off of work, missing family outings, or simply unable
to enjoy your own family? AFA provides services for caregivers and
seniors such as paperwork and application assistance, mail sorting
and prioritizing, billing negotiation and mediation, budgeting, fraud
protection, and more.
The motivation for opening AFA came from Aaron Zolbrod,
President and Founder of The Health Insurance Store, who has been
helping seniors choose Medicare plans for more than ten years. “I
can’t tell you how many times I visited with a client who had visual
and palpable stress froma 6-inch pile of paperwork that was the result
as a couple of erroneous or confusing medical bills. After spending 15
or 20minutes sorting through the stack and finding the few that were
important, reducing 6 inches to a handful, I could literally see the
stress disappear and a smile emerge.” Zolbrod had seen this enough
and AFA was born. “I thought to myself, if there is this much anxiety
created from a couple of medical bills, what else is our fast paced,
digital life throwing at seniors? We are here to help our clients when
they have issues with their insurance like billing errors, claim denials,
etc., but who is there to help with utility bills, auto or homeowner’s
insurance, or other items they are being billed for? How much are
seniors overpaying for these services like I have seen them do with
Medicare?Who is helping these folks with all of this?”
For some it’s no one and that is a recipe to be ripped off or taken
advantage of.Others are blessed to have familymembers or neighbors
helping. But with their own family and life stresses to deal with, it can
be easy to miss important details that could result in overpayment,
becoming victim of fraud, or unsafe living conditions. Zolbrod
sums up AFA’s goals this way. “We want to reduce stress, provide
protection from scams and abuse, ensure that your loved ones get
what they pay for, and help them stay independent and in their home
as long as possible,” says, Aaron Zolbrod. He stresses that AFA is not
another home health care service, not by any stretch, especially when
it comes to cost.
“I wanted to make these services affordable for everyone.We offer
a unique subscription service that can be paid $9/month or $108
annually for our C.A.R.E. package, which includes all of the above-mentioned
services.” Zolbrod goes on to explain that for a few dollars
more per month, AFA can provide in-home visits, care facility visits,
access to their network of businesses, or even a daily call service that
checks on seniors. In addition to providing all the services that AFA
does from their office, AFA staff will complete a Safety andWellness
check on your loved one and their environment so that any worries or
needs can be brought to the caregiver’s attention for resolution. For
example, are the porch railings loose; are the rugs a fall hazard; are
space heaters a fire hazard? Zolbrod comes just short of guaranteeing
the staff will find at least the cost of the subscription to AFA in savings
on services for which subscribers are currently overpaying.
The staff at AFA also understands how important it is to keep
caregivers informed at every turn when they find abnormalities in
billing, insurance costs or coverage, care they are receiving, etc. A
report of each interaction with a loved one is provided to the caregiver
so they can be involved in every step of the care and advocacy for
their family.
Advocates for the Aging, LLC provides their services to
the Southwestern Pennsylvania region, including Fayette and
Westmoreland Counties. Consultations are always free to caregivers
and their loved ones to match them with the plan that works best for
their specific needs.
For more information on all of AFA’s services, visit their website at
www.a4aging.com, or call their office at (724) 603-2522.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
Comfort and
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when it’s
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Call us today!
877-Hope Hospice, Inc.
www.hopehospicepgh.org
3292 Babcock Boulevard • Pittsburgh PA 15237
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1-412-367-3685
3356 Boulevard, Pittsburgh, 15237