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Caregiver's Corner
Caregiver's Corner is submitted by Linnea Renner, RN, NHRP Caregiver Consultant. You may contact Linnea by sending a message from our contact page.
November/December
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners
News Letter November/December 2006
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners now has a web site!
You can now go to www.northwoodspartners.org and read our news letter and Caregiver’s Corner on line. You will be able to contact us if you would like to volunteer or if you need help for yourself or someone you know. You will also be able to make a donation on line.
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September/October
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners
News Letter September/October 2006
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners
News Letter September/October 2006
A very big THANK YOU! To all of our friends who purchased items at Ahlgren’s Old World Accents during the month of September and to Ahlgren’s for their wonderful support!
Festival of Trees.
Yes, it is that time of year again when we have to start planning and reminding everyone that Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners Festival of Trees is just around the corner. This year we will have trees, wreaths, and garlands for sale. We have also moved the opening time up to 5pm so that everyone can enjoy the lighting ceremony and still have plenty of time to get down town for the shopping at 6pm.
We will also have Memorial balls for sale, small $2, large $5.
So come one and come all to the Grand Ely Lodge and enjoy the sights and sounds as the holiday season begins.
Do you have a family member who has Alzheimer’s or Dementia?
The holidays can be a very stressful time for both you and your loved one. Here are some tips to help all have an enjoyable holiday season.
-Adjust expectations, make sure that family members understand the situation.
-Make realistic plans, if you usually have 15-20 people over that can cause confusion for someone with dementia, look at limiting new faces.
-Involve the person with the memory problems, maybe they can help with wrapping the gifts, or prepare a traditional food.
-Adjust your timing. If you have always had dinner at 8pm but now the person with the memory problem goes to bed at 8pm, move dinner to an earlier time.
For more ideas on how to survive the Holidays when caring for a loved one with memory problems call the Alzheimer’s Association help line at 1-800-272-3900
Or go to www.alz.org
How do you support a Caregiver during the Holidays?
-Call ahead and ask when it is a good time to visit. Be flexible to their schedule.
-Make sure you don’t stay too long.
-Offer help with baking, errands, shopping or decorating.
-Avoid talking about your personal problems.
-Arrange a way for the caregiver to get a break, maybe you can stay with the care receiver while they go to the store.
-If you can’t visit, send a note or make a call.
-Don’t forget to stay in touch past the holidays.
Searching the internet?
Why not support Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners while doing it.
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners has signed up with “goodsearch.com”. This is a search engine like Yahoo and Google. So if you are doing any searches on the internet please go to goodsearch.com and click on “I’m supporting” and then type in Northwoods then click verify and it will show up. We will receive 1 cent each time someone uses their web site. It doesn’t sound like much but if we can get 100 people to use their site twice a day it will generate $730 a year donation to our organization.
We want to encourage everyone to please donate. Only 1 in 19 local rides is financially supported. So please remember to support Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners with a donation so we can continue to provide this vital service.
Caregivers Support Group
Our Caregivers Support Group meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at 1:00pm at the Ely Bloomenson Community Hospital.
In November the dates are the 9th and 30th
In December the dates are the 14th and 28th
Caregiver Consulting Services.
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners offers caregiver consulting services for professional evaluation, assessment, education, and training for caregiver’s. Please call us with any questions at 218-365-2300
Festival of Trees.
Yes, it is that time of year again when we have to start planning and reminding everyone that Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners Festival of Trees is just around the corner. This year we will have trees, wreaths, and garlands for sale. We have also moved the opening time up to 5pm so that everyone can enjoy the lighting ceremony and still have plenty of time to get down town for the shopping at 6pm.
We will also have Memorial balls for sale, small $2, large $5.
So come one and come all to the Grand Ely Lodge and enjoy the sights and sounds as the holiday season begins.
Do you have a family member who has Alzheimer’s or Dementia?
The holidays can be a very stressful time for both you and your loved one. Here are some tips to help all have an enjoyable holiday season.
-Adjust expectations, make sure that family members understand the situation.
-Make realistic plans, if you usually have 15-20 people over that can cause confusion for someone with dementia, look at limiting new faces.
-Involve the person with the memory problems, maybe they can help with wrapping the gifts, or prepare a traditional food.
-Adjust your timing. If you have always had dinner at 8pm but now the person with the memory problem goes to bed at 8pm, move dinner to an earlier time.
For more ideas on how to survive the Holidays when caring for a loved one with memory problems call the Alzheimer’s Association help line at 1-800-272-3900
Or go to www.alz.org
How do you support a Caregiver during the Holidays?
-Call ahead and ask when it is a good time to visit. Be flexible to their schedule.
-Make sure you don’t stay too long.
-Offer help with baking, errands, shopping or decorating.
-Avoid talking about your personal problems.
-Arrange a way for the caregiver to get a break, maybe you can stay with the care receiver while they go to the store.
-If you can’t visit, send a note or make a call.
-Don’t forget to stay in touch past the holidays.
Searching the internet?
Why not support Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners while doing it.
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners has signed up with “goodsearch.com”. This is a search engine like Yahoo and Google. So if you are doing any searches on the internet please go to goodsearch.com and click on “I’m supporting” and then type in Northwoods then click verify and it will show up. We will receive 1 cent each time someone uses their web site. It doesn’t sound like much but if we can get 100 people to use their site twice a day it will generate $730 a year donation to our organization.
We want to encourage everyone to please donate. Only 1 in 19 local rides is financially supported. So please remember to support Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners with a donation so we can continue to provide this vital service.
Caregivers Support Group
Our Caregivers Support Group meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at 1:00pm at the Ely Bloomenson Community Hospital.
In November the dates are the 9th and 30th
In December the dates are the 14th and 28th
Caregiver Consulting Services.
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners offers caregiver consulting services for professional evaluation, assessment, education, and training for caregiver’s. Please call us with any questions at 218-365-2300
Read More...
July/August
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners
News Letter July/August 2006
Will you be shopping in the Ely Area?
Shop at Ahlgren’s Old World Accents in the month of September and tell them that you want to support Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners and they will donate 10% of your purchase to us.
Ahlgren’s is located at
6 E. Sheridan, Ely.
218-365-2992
If you are a family dealing with Alzheimer’s, Dartmouth Medicine has an excellent article about one family’s journey facing the process of this disease. Go to www.dartmed.dartmouth.edu and it was printed summer 2005, the title is “The Last Dance”
The Alzheimer’s Association has a program called “Safe Return” (registered trade mark of the Alzheimer’s Association)
If you have a loved one who might wander and become lost either locally or far from home they can be identified and you notified. It costs $40 to enroll and for an additional $5 you can get caregiver jewelry that identifies you as a caregiver in the event that you are in an emergency. For complete details go to www.alz.org and click on Safe Return, or call 888-572-8566 between 7am-11:30pm (CST)
Searching the internet?
Why not support Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners while doing it.
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners has signed up with “goodsearch.com”. This is a search engine like Yahoo and Google. So if you are doing any searches on the internet please go to goodsearch.com and click on “I’m supporting” and then type in Northwoods then click verify and it will show up. We will receive 1 cent each time someone uses their web site. It doesn’t sound like much but if we can get 100 people to use their site twice a day it will generate $730 a year donation to our organization.
Great quote – “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand” Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger.
Medication Safety
As I am sure all of you know, taking the medications prescribed by your physician correctly is very important, but always remember you are the hinge key between your doctor and the medications you take. Do not be afraid to ask your doctor some questions. Some of these questions should be:
-What is the name of the medication?
-Why do I need to take it?
-How long do I have to take it?
-How often should I take it?
-What time of day should I take it?
-What should I do if I miss a dose?
-What side effects should I expect?
The Cleveland Clinic at their web site has an excellent article called “Taking Medications Safely” go to www.clevelandclinic.org then click on heart center to find it.
Quilt Raffle.
Just a reminder that we have our annual quilt raffle tickets on sale. The quilt this year is titled “Log Cabins of Ely”
It is a KING sized quilt,
sewn and quilted by Retta Fifo.
Tickets are $5
Contact Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners at 218-365-2300 if you wish to purchase tickets.
We will also have a booth at the Harvest Moon Festival, Sept. 8-10 and you can purchase a ticket there as well.
We are only selling 1500 tickets so if you want one or more the earlier the better. We will be drawing the winner at the end of the Harvest Moon festival on September 10th.
Caregivers Support Group
Our Caregivers Support Group meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at 1:00pm at the Ely Bloomenson Community Hospital.
In September the dates are the 14th and 28th
In October the dates are the 12th and 26th
Caregiver Consulting Services.
Northwoods Hospice Respite Partners offers caregiver consulting services for professional evaluation, assessment, education, and training for caregiver’s. Please call us with any questions at 218-365-2300
Read More...
Role Reversals
When you take on the role of caregiver either consciously or by a matter of attrition it will involve role changes. What type of role changes and how you handle these role changes can have a big impact on you and the person receiving care.
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Holiday Caregiving
Believe it or not the holiday season is almost upon us. If this is the first holiday you are a caregiver or the tenth, it is always a stressful time. Our memories of past holidays influence our expectations of coming ones. What do you do when you come home for the holidays and realize it isn’t what you were expecting, or now the holiday celebration is at your house because your parent(s) are living with you? There are some basic steps to having a happy holiday season when you are a caregiver, or supporting a caregiver.
Read More...