Introducing Contributing Writer Debra Fox

December 30, 2008 By 3 Comments

One of the more frequently asked questions I receive from families involves training of assisted living community staff.  What are the training requirements?  How to do communities train their staff?  What tools are used?  What expectations should families have regarding training?

I’d like to introduce an addition to our group of contributing writers  — a true expert in the field of elder care and assisted living training.

Welcome, Debra Fox!

Debra is the founder and CEO of Fox Learning Systems, a company dedicated to changing the culture of elder care through e-learning that uses engaging, documentary-style video to connect with both caregivers and consumers. Debra founded the company in 1997 after personally observing the overwhelming challenges providers face in training and retaining staff to care for vulnerable older adults.

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Benjamin Button: Assisted Living Utopia?

December 29, 2008 By 2 Comments

For those of you that haven’t already seen it, I highly recommend you go watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The previews and trailers don’t really clue you in to the fact that a large portion of the movie is set in an assisted living community.  I say assisted living, because the house and number of residents appeared to be much larger than what we would consider to be a board and care today. Having obviously not been alive during the first half of the 1900s, I couldn’t help but wonder whether assisted living in that era was really as jovial and friendly as portrayed in the movie.

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Reader Q&A: What Activities Prior to Assisted Living Move-In?

December 27, 2008 By 6 Comments

A reader named Denise asked a great question about activities while preparing to move into an assisted living community.  She asked:

I  would like to hear more about activities that can be done with my mom while she is in my home awaiting the transition to assisted living. I loved the articles by the activity director. I used her suggestions and found a wonderful facility for my mom for Feb. 1. I interviewed the activity director and she was very helpful. Thank you for the help. Denise and family

Some good suggestions are to keep your mom involved in activities of daily living (ADLs) like food preparation and laundry.  Start preparing her for the transition by shopping for items that she may want to put in her new home.

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The Project Joins Charitable Giving Program

December 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment

We are pleased to announce that The Project – The Children’s Rare Disease Network has joined our Charitable Giving Program.

The Project is creating an online community where children with rare diseases, their families, and the organizations that support them will have the opportunity to communicate, collaborate, become educated and tap existing resources, helping them with their daily challenges.

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Start Saving Now – Assisted Living Crunch Predicted

December 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Americans are getting older – in fact, way older. We are on our way to a profound shift in our population; one which will have costly impacts on our nation. The U.S. Census Bureau projects  that by 2030, when all of the nation’s 76 million surviving baby boomers will be 65 and older, nearly one in five U.S. residents will be 65 and older. This age group is projected to double by 2050, increasing to 88.5 million from the 38.7 million we currently have in 2008. The Census Bureau projects that the 85 and older population growth will be even bigger, tripling from 5.4 million in 2008 to 19 million in 2050.

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Filed Under: Assisted Living Tagged With: , , ,

MSNBC Covers “By Families, For Families” Book Release

December 20, 2008 By 4 Comments

Earlier this week, we formally announced the “By Families, For Families Guide to Assisted Living.”  We were thrilled when we woke up the next day to find that MSNBC had covered the story on the business section of the website.

Thank you to everyone for your readership and contribution.

You can read the MSNBC announcement here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28277138/

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

What Happened to Good Nutrition?

December 18, 2008 By 4 Comments

As a resident of an assisted living community, maintaining good nutrition is one of the most important ways to insure a long and healthy life. Food, for better or for worse, is the fuel we run on. Just like vehicles, bad fuel can cause us many expensive and troublesome problems, especially as we age. Unfortunately, even with this knowledge, nutrition inside many assisted living communities can be more of an afterthought than a norm.  Assisted living communities are not federally regulated so each state develops its own regulations and this can be challenging when choosing a new home. Nutrition, foodservice, and sanitation guidelines can vary widely across the country.

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Top Elder Cares

December 12, 2008 By 2 Comments

For John Brady, elder care was always something that happened to someone else.  Now, with his parents in their 90′s and his wife’s father afflicted with Alzheimer’s, he is starting to appreciate what his friends and co-workers have been going through.

Realizing there weren’t many options out there for his fellow Boomers, John started Top Elder Cares as a vehicle to help Baby Boomers deal with the sometimes overwhelming challenges of caring for their aging parents and relatives.

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Filed Under: Assisted Living, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Announcing the By Families, For Families Guide to Assisted Living

December 7, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Many of you know that I’ve been working on a book – one that takes a “by families, for families” approach to assisted living.  One that fundamentally assumes that assisted living can be a wonderfully positive experience for both your loved one and your family. There was so much missing when it came time to help my mom transition to assisted living.  So I decided to write it all down, so that other people didn’t have to go through the same thing that I did.

It’s actually not just an e-book – but a complete collection of e-books that address both the family and the resident.

I want to thank everyone for the kind emails, words of encouragement and “attaboys” that gave me the energy to write this e-book collection.  Without your continuous inspiration and the inspiration of my mom, it would not have been possible.

I hope you find the collection as unique and useful as I do.  I believe so strongly in its content, that I’ve included a money-back guarantee for anyone who doesn’t find it made a difference in their transition and peace of mind.

Click her to learn more about the book collection.

Filed Under: Assisted Living, News Tagged With: , , , ,
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