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On Caregiving
CellarDweller:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on January 24, 2019, 01:22:10 pm ---My understanding is that dehydration can be a real problem in the elderly. For one thing, some medications they take can themselves be dehydrating.
--- End quote ---
I've heard this as well.
Front-Ranger:
Next I'd like to say a bit on the subject of technology. All technology, most notably her phone, frustrated my dear poor mom terribly. Whoever decided that only small black buttons, labeled simply with cryptic arrows or 3-pt. type, should be used on all electronics, while the case itself is also black? Steve Jobs, I suppose. He of the black turtleneck. It's a pity he didn't live long enough to be confounded by his own designs. Sometimes Mom would get so frustrated with her TV or cassette recorder that she would just start randomly pushing buttons, and more than once she threw her phone across the room.
I am no technical wizard, but I had to become one because, of course, no one else in the family had the time, patience or interest. I was especially keen to keep mom's phone working because if I didn't reach her, after a couple of hours I would have to get in the car, go over and find out what she was up to (or down to). The assisted living staff were of little help. If I called them, they would go knock on the door and say, "please call your daughter." Mom would answer, "Okay" and then promptly forget to call me. Or they would put a note by her plate at the next meal. If I met with the manager to voice my frustration, it would have a temporary effect until the next shift change. I think many staff people thought, "Why doesn't she just leave her mom alone, like most people do." :'(
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 25, 2019, 04:52:33 pm ---Next I'd like to say a bit on the subject of technology. All technology, most notably her phone, frustrated my dear poor mom terribly. Whoever decided that only small black buttons, labeled simply with cryptic arrows or 3-pt. type, should be used on all electronics, while the case itself is also black? Steve Jobs, I suppose. He of the black turtleneck. It's a pity he didn't live long enough to be confounded by his own designs. Sometimes Mom would get so frustrated with her TV or cassette recorder that she would just start randomly pushing buttons, and more than once she threw her phone across the room.
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What kind of phone did your mother have? For some people I suppose it wouldn't matter, but they do make cell phones designed for older persons. My dad has one of these, obtained from his service provider, Consumer Cellular:
https://www.consumercellular.com/Products/901/Details
Of course I've seen my dad's phone, so I can vouch for the fact that the keys are larger than commonly on a cell phone.
But perhaps even this would have been beyond your mother's capability to use. Of course, this phone is no help for TV or cable remotes.
(And don't get me started on the so-called power "button" on the laptop I bought for use at my dad's.)
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 24, 2019, 08:49:35 pm ---There are several more topics that I'd like to tackle here, such as the question of whether gum disease contributes to dementia or vice versa. I'm also starting to see a trend. . . my fellow BetterMostians seem to be more well informed than I was when I started the caregiving process. It's true that I was, and still am clueless to many medical matters, because of my lack of direct experience. So, would what I have to write cause the reader to say, "Duh!"
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I don't think so. I already knew a little about that and yet I'm not saying "duh" because the concept surprised and intrigued me when I first heard about it a few years ago. I didn't write an article and I haven't seen one elsewhere. Which is not to say there might not have been some, obviously including the BBC one you linked. But I think you should look into it, if you're interested, because there probably haven't been enough. My understanding -- correct me if I'm wrong -- is that the connection involves inflammation and I don't think people fully understand what inflammation is or what causes it or why it would be associated with dementia and what people can do to avoid it.
You might try looking on NextAvenue and see what they've done on it. I would guess they've touched on it it at some point, but maybe not lately or from the angle you'd take, so you could pitch it to them.
The sad thing is there not many places publish stuff about aging. NextAvenue and AARP magazine are among the very few, despite the 7 million boomers who are getting old. AARP magazine still pays $2 a word, I think, if pay is relevant to you. (That was the standard rate for a slick national magazine when I was in college, unadjusted for inflation, and now is beyond most writers' wildest dreams.)
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 25, 2019, 04:52:33 pm ---Next I'd like to say a bit on the subject of technology. All technology, most notably her phone, frustrated my dear poor mom terribly.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, these days they have special gadgets for older people. There's some patronizing name for them, like GrannyTech or something.
Once I did a story for NextAvenue about two guys who had literally moved into a nursing home for a month so they could get residents' feedback on their Apple Watch-like device. A wristwatch that was intuitive and useful for caregivers. Those guys werne't condescending at all. I'm not sure whatever happened to their product.
--- Quote --- Whoever decided that only small black buttons, labeled simply with cryptic arrows or 3-pt. type, should be used on all electronics, while the case itself is also black? Steve Jobs, I suppose. He of the black turtleneck.
--- End quote ---
Actually, I believe Jobs liked white for products. Which is why Macs, iPhones, etc., are usually white. Personally, I hate it much more than black, partly because it looks dirty more easily and partly because I've just never loved white, that color/absence of color.
Has anyone else noticed that when a character in a movie or TV show opens a laptop it's invariably a Mac? That company must buy as many product placements as they can get. If even the villain opens a laptop, it will be a Mac. Unless the villain is technologically illiterate, in which case maybe Apple pays them to use a PC. :laugh:
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