By John Oliver Mason
Aging With Grace is a Montgomery County-based “national eldercare resource company” that addresses what its founder calls “caregiver stress in the workplace.”
The founder is appropriately named Grace — Patricia Grace.
Under the program she initiated, eldercare specialists advise member families on senior housing, home care, adult daycare, entitlements and other concerns.
They are not active social workers or psychologists, Grace emphasizes. “We guide people to the resources that are most appropriate for their individual needs based on our assessment of their psycho-social and clinical needs, financial capability and geographic preference.”
Grace has worked with the elderly “all my life,” she says. She is a certified family advisor, and sold Medicare replacement insurance for Aetna many years. She also worked in hospitals — as a utilization review coordinator, in assisted living and skilled nursing and marketing, community relations and in admissions.
What stress issues?
Caregivers’ stress issues?
“If someone is working full-time and taking care of their own family, and also caring for an elderly loved one, it’s very stressful,” says Grace. It causes time constraints, and it often takes up financial resources.”
Emotional, physical toll
There is an emotional toll, too, she says. “You often have workday interruptions because you get a phone call or you’re trying to reach an elderly parent or loved one and you can’t get hold of them. You’re wondering, ‘Are they home? Are they safe? Are they lost?’”
There is also a physical toll on the caregiver, Grace adds, “helping this older person to bathe, dress and toilet, transferring them if they’re bedridden or housebound. You may have a sense of hopelessness, loneliness and isolation ... The emotional stress and the physical stress can be pretty dramatic.”
Financial resources
“We try to get a good understanding of the person’s needs,” Grace explains. “Is their loved one living alone? Is a spouse around — or other people? Is dementia involved? Other mental
illness?”
Medical needs must also be considered, she adds, such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure or heart disease. “We always suggest that a person contact their physician. If they do not have one, we will help them get one.”
Grace’s firm looks into the family’s finances, she adds; “We look at their assets and their monthly income. Many families say, ‘We can’t afford anything,’ but may overlook the fact that their parents own a house, their greatest asset. Are they eligible for veteran’s benefits? We try to educate them about their financial resources.”
Labor unions have embraced the service because escalating heath costs strain the unions’ health and welfare funds. A dramatic increase in stress-related illnesses, Grace notes, may call for utilization of mental-health benefits, drug and alcohol counseling and rehab, and treatment of gastro-intestinal problems, migraines and depression.
Union costs involved
“When you’re caring for an aging loved one, while trying to run two households and run two families, the day-to-day stress of our lives can become overwhelming,” Grace says.
“You’re not able to concentrate on your job. If you’re worried about your mother having Alzheimer’s, and keeping the stove on and not taking her medication, and going out and getting lost, it can affect your job performance,” says Grace. “And if your teenage daughter is saying, ‘I’m not giving up my bedroom for Grandma’ and your husband says, ‘When is there time for me?’ there is a tremendous snowball effect.”
Website ‘up and running’
Much of that is reflected by the increase in the unions’ healthcare costs, which are “based on utilization,” Grace says, “the more people using it, the more it costs.”
Members, who pay $34.95 a year, get unlimited phone consultation with an eldercare specialist, using a toll-free number. A website, www.agingwith
grace.net, “is up and running,” says Grace, “and contains an excellent caregiver resource area.”
By Leslie Feldman
Most of us are aware of the importance of smoke detectors in our homes. But carbon monoxide (CO) detectors are important too — CO is the most common cause of poisoning in the United States.
If CO, which is colorless and odorless, goes undetected, it can sicken or even cause death. It is particularly dangerous for the elderly, explains Timothy Shuck, fire marshal of Upper Dublin Township in Montgomery County, because the symptoms can be easily confused with other ailments, such as flu or fatigue.
“Many older adults have a lower immune system and just a short exposure to CO can be fatal,” Shuck notes. “Seniors and people with heart or respiratory problems are especially vulnerable and at the highest risks for death or serious injury from CO fumes.”
Free inspection
The City of Philadelphia’s Free Home Safety Inspection — Injury Prevention Program will check out CO levels. For more information: 215-685-7441 or www. phila.gov.
If your home is heated by natural gas, oil or propane, if you use one of these fossil fuels for cooking or have a non-electric hot water heater, you are at risk.
When your heating system is working properly, CO is exhausted up the chimney, out of the home, but when some appliances malfunction or if the chimney becomes clogged, CO can “enter the home undetected,” and long-term exposure can be deadly. A CO detector in the home will warn occupants if there is a problem.
What clues to look for
Symptoms of CO poisoning include flu-like symptoms (with no fever), nausea, vomiting, dizziness, irregular breathing, fatigue and weakness, and headache.
Certain clues can signify a CO problem. They include rusting or water streaking on a vent or chimney; loose or missing furnace panels; debris or soot falling from the chimney, fireplace or appliances; loose masonry in the chimney; or moisture inside a window.
According to Upper Dublin’s Schuck, one of the most important things you can do is install at least one smoke alarm on every floor of your house, plus a CO detector near each of the occupied bedrooms, garage door, kitchen, furnace and other combustible sources.
Be sure it meets standards
“Both devices can save your life,” he adds. “A smoke alarm, whose batteries should be changed regularly, will warn if a fire starts, and a CO detector will warn you of the odorless, colorless gas that’s as lethal as fire.”
Be sure that your detector meets the new standards of Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Schuck warns. The standard is UL 2034, and it must have been manufactured after October 1998. CO detectors have different features. A detector with a digital reading will tell you immediately what the reading is. CO detectors can be hard-wired, plug-in and battery-operated.
Kidde has produced a new combination smoke detector and CO detector, which has voice actuation. It speaks to you to let you know whether the problem is smoke and fire, or CO. If you need assistance with installing CO or smoke detectors, you may contact your local fire department for assistance.
If CO is suspected, immediately evacuate your home and get everyone fresh air. Call 911 and do not reenter your home under any circumstance.