Assisted Living Facilities in Plano Texas

Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities at 3:23 pm by admin

In Plano Texas there are several assisted living facilities to choose from
but each one may fall under a different class.

There are different class facilities of elder care that are equiped to handle certain types of residents in Plano.

The class of facilities start at A and go up to D. Knowing the class of facility is not important at the outset of searching for an elder care facility in Plano TX but it is good information to have on hand.

Some assisted living facilities will attempt to sign a lease for your parent even while knowing they need placed in a licenced alzheimers care facility. These type of Plano TX assisted living facilities skirt the rules and regulations as the ease of comvincing and moving someone in does not take much and the profits can ve huge.

A typical Plano elderly care facility will make around $3,000 per month on the room, board, care, and daily meals per resident. The managers at these places get a significant portion of their income from bonuses based on staying under budget.

These large bonuses force Plano TX assisted living communities to hire less desirable care workers who make minimum wage or very close to it. It is common for these employees to only do the bare minimum while your elderly loved one sits soiled in their clothes over night.

When shopping for Plano elder care facilities take time to go into the facility at night and during the day. Meet the care workers as they are the ones who will take care of your loved one daily.

Also keep in mind that an older facility near a loved one who can more easily visit is better than a nicer newer facility farther a way from relatives who could normally drop by for a visit.

In summary we recommend a Plano TX assisted living community nearby that has a good care staff with the right ratio of workers to residents. Be sure to go in at night and monitor how the care workers do their job if you are suspicious of lack of care which often happens during the evening and sleeping hours.

Permalink

View the original article here

Assisted Living Minus the Big Bucks

Looking for a cheap assisted living facility no longer poses the dilemma of a needle in a haystack. In the event the person to be enrolled into said facility only requires help for a number of tasks, it is best to list them down and keep to the list. It may be worthwhile to look for an establishment which allows its residents to cook. Whether in a shared kitchen or private facilities within one's residence, this is certainly a step in the direction of budget assisted care. Other types of common facilities such as laundry, dryer and ironing may also be performed by the residents wishing to save some.

Whilst it is well and good to select a home with amenities on site to cater to fetishes, it adds to the overall cost of running the establishment. Rather than sharing in the cost, it may be worth staying in a place with close proximity to the neighborhood stores. A stroll to the market or hair salon is certainly an exercise worth carrying out. Alternatively, choose an institution close to public transportation as a quick hop on a bus or tram allows one to join the outside world in no time.

As these places provide various avenues to occupy its residents' time, select one which offers a range of activities which does not entail a high operating cost. In the event one is satisfied with playing a board or card game with fellow residents, many a cheap assisted living facility is literally brimming with players. Although there are no chips in sight, some can certainly pass off as a gaming house as many display hidden talents in clocking up points hand after hand. Whilst a swimming pool or tennis court may elevate its status to a country club for the elderly, places offering budget assisted care do just as well with the traditional swing set and well cared gardens for evening strolls.

Since many seeking this sort of care generally live on a tight budget, watching out for red flags are part and parcel of the process. In the event toiletries are charged over and above the basic package, it may be worth stocking up on toilet paper, toothpaste and brushes to avoid being hit with a surcharge. As there is so much to look into in avoiding the big bucks, it is best to enlist additional pairs of eyes when reviewing the contract as well as terms and conditions.

Living Inside the Dementia Bubble - Part 1

Diary #1

Living with, and caring for my Dad and his dementia has increasingly, over the last couple of years, become something of a fertile field for me in terms of understanding the shifting states of our realities. It started out conventionally with my world and his world, and there were times when our worlds were 'out of sync'.

Because the chronology of his memory, post a certain date, has been 'scrambled' or totally misplaced, he cannot remember a whole chunk of recent experiences and all things associated with them. The area most affected is short-term memory - so in conversations he will repeat things because he can't remember he's already said them, and have a displaced perception of things related to temporal matters such as day of the week, year etc.

At times, when our worlds collided, I found his condition quite an emotional experience for me - saddening, upsetting, frustrating, irritating, and probably some others I've since forgotten!

This then evolved into a second phase, where I gained a better understanding of the 'flash points' of his condition, and adapted my behaviour to smooth the passage of our day-to-day interactions. At the time I was looking after both my mother AND father, and part of this adaptation also involved helping her to have a greater understanding of what was happening for my Dad. Tough as it must have been for her, especially in emotional terms, she really took on board the things she needed to do in terms of behaviour in order to make their latter times together as pleasant as possible for them both. Throughout this 'second phase' I was still viewing his world from the perspective of my world - i.e from the outside.

Things then evolved into third phase, where I am now able to project into his world, his realities - and its rather like swapping my set of virtual reality goggles for his. (This metaphor of reference comes via Jamie Smart's interview with Dr Aaron Turner and fits with this experience like a glove.)

The upside of using this bit of engineered facility is that my understanding of how the day-to-day stuff is happening for my Dad is very much clearer. It is more open and simple, it makes sense, and all the emotional debris I would encounter back in Phase 1 has absolutely gone. Because I'm in HIS reality none of MY agenda, or baggage, is there to clutter up proceedings or interactions. It is like being able to communicate with him properly again - something I haven't really been able to do for some time!

The downside has got to be in terms of a caveat for me and my 'sanity'. The projection into and switching of my perceptive realities needs to be dealt with on a cognitive level. To put it bluntly - if I feel I am "losing it" then I'm spending more time in his reality than I should be! For as long as my own world is populated with many other people, experiences, interactions and thoughts - then a daily 'stocktake' should keep me firmly centred in my world. For this I do trust my unconscious to intervene if needs be. And if there's something simply and intuitively childlike about that statement then I'm happy with that!

Music

One of the more interesting observations I have of my Dad's memory recall is in musical terms. He spends a lot of time playing a small pedal organ, or harmonium, that we have. It is great for him physically as the playing exercises both his hands and feet - and his digital dexterity is quite remarkable for 92. Mentally, too, it is really useful and his recall and recognition of tunes AND chords and harmonic structures is infinitely better than his recall of lyrics.

Clearly the way he has mapped and processed auditory experiences has not just been different from the other senses - but has also been differentiated between types of auditory experience. Spoken word - and words included in a song (say) - are mapped to a different place from the tunes and musical notes. The only thing that seems to bind the words and the tune together in a song is the 'label' or title.

Interestingly this suggests that (for him at least) songs are broken into words and music - each labelled with the same title - and then mapped to separate areas in memory.

What, on reflection, am I gaining from this very personal caring experience? Well, every day is similar and yet different at the same time! Every day certainly contains the opportunity for more discoveries and insights in a field I am hugely interested in. Every day has a range of purpose, and not just for dispensing care and comfort - it brings me a step closer to my Dad by being able to understand HIS world much more

Diary #2

"Life is only worth something if you live it every day."

Whenever we have family visitors staying or friends visiting, my Dad generally responds to the question 'How are you today?' with the cheery reply "I'm still here!" These are the words of a very in-the-moment man who, now 92, can still raise for us all some of the most amusing and meaningful comments.

This particular Sunday however, he came out with a secondary observation which had us all speechless and rooted to the spot for a moment or two - "Life is only worth something if you live it every day," he remarked.

This affirmation from the high and lofty pinnacle of strong beliefs and a huge chunk of experience almost flies in the face of his advancing dementia condition and somewhat displaced memory chronology since 1946. It also gives us a clue as to how he got through the extremes and deprivations as a World War 2 prisoner of war for 5 years in Poland, having been shipped there after failing to make it to the rescue at Dunkirk. It also shows us how he (like many of his generation) just 'got on' with life once the war was over and said very little about his experiences.

Frustrating as his dementia must be on occasions, his "Life & Worth" philosophy seems to very helpful in overcoming those frustrations and frees him up to live in every moment.

He gets huge pleasure from being totally absorbed in either his stamp collection or playing a variety of songs and tunes on the harmonium. This instrument - incidentally - gives him physical exercise for both feet and hands; as well as eliciting music and words from memory that are anchored to other experiences and happenings at the time.

He is never bored, merely moving from one activity to the next as the interest takes him. Occasionally he moves tangentially onto some unrelated activity, and here again he gives it total attention until it is concluded or resolved. He then gravitates back to the 'waking centre' by either checking the time, making some tea, seeing who is at home, and perhaps looking outside at the weather, the street activity or the garden.

The random re-connectedness with some of his memories is equally fascinating and surprising for me. Interestingly, during these moments of reconnect I find that by guiding him to pursuing certain "live" threads, he will remember detail vividly - and I also know that this random illumination will be lost once the moment of each thread has passed.

The biggest boon for me, thankfully, is that by projecting into his reality I'm able to be his additional guide, rather like an extended memory or external hard drive! Plus (and its a big plus) I'm not beset by any carried over emotion of my own or indeed any of his (in the moment) emotions such as frustration or anger. Many have described to me the usefulness of this "one foot in his world" and "one foot in my own world" view of reality - and I'm able to be almost robotic with my foot in "his world".

How intense and time-consuming do I make this? Not overtly so - I also want him to interact with "my world" or "the world" at times, plus I'm happy he can spend plenty of time in his own world at his own ease. The key, I feel, is what I have already described as his "waking centre" - a kind of ground zero set in time and space where he knows there is a reset button which will enable him to set off once more.

Routine and familiarities are important there too as I found out when he awoke from a nap and started looking for something underfoot - something that was clearly part of a 'dreamscape' rather than a waking 'realscape'. I floundered for some minutes until deciding to take him back to his "waking centre" - and once there his continuous loop of looking for the 'thing underfoot' melted away in the gift of the next new moment of life!

Every day is full of new learnings - and is certainly worth it every inch of the way

Diary #3

With my Dad's dementia condition, the "waking centre" is like a centre of reality, where he's able to recognize everything as it is right now, and which he is able to use as a 'ground zero' for proceeding with the activities and the tasks that fill his day.

Watching out for and managing the flash points

In terms of those daily activities and tasks he is fine and well, provided all things proceed smoothly and unabated. If there is an interruption in the sequenced structure as he is going through it, then there is like a fork, a junction, a crossroads or roundabout in his path - and consequently this a source of questioning and potential confusion. He then tends to either make a choice or continue on a loop around the roundabout depending on the complexity or the question.

If he is to make a simple choice - say, to put something away in what he thinks is 'the right place' - then things proceed and he is out of the loop.

If he feels that he can't make a choice because it is complex, or confusing, or if that loop on the roundabout provides no answers for him, then he has some emotional responses to the confusion that vary between humour, anxiety, frustration, anger. These are the 'flash points' that I do my best to 'manage' for him in order to bring him back to the "waking centre". There is a degree of dependency on my being with him, or noticing his confusion quickly, in order to help this happen more readily. Occasionally this will not be the case, and these will be times when (depending on the complexity of the questions that arise for him) matters can go a bit haywire.

One of his sisters and nieces came to visit us yesterday which, while being wonderful for him to see them, actually got him into one of those loops of confusion. The confusion was that the seeing of them and hearing their voices prompted him to think about them - and then talk about them as if they were not there! The only thing was - he talked about them to their faces which was initially quite a challenge for them! They saw the funny side which was great, and eventually he was able to put 2-and-2 together!

Another flash point happened this morning (probably brought on by the extra levels of cognition he had to bring to bear the day before). He had woken from (presumably) quite a deep sleep and was looking for my mother, who has been dead five months, because her bed was empty and he wondered why she had already got up and not 'given him a nudge' to wake him up. Detaching myself from the various levels of emotion this whole episode carried, I was able to engage with him and guide him back towards his "waking centre". Once he'd arrive there, I knew the rest of his day would proceed in the usual way.

Vitamin B-12

A deficiency in vitamin B-12 tends to exacerbate memory-related dementia. Over the last couple of weeks his GP Surgery has been 'catching up' with his B-12 levels to such a point that he will then only need a shot every 3 months. The difference in the quality of his cognitive recall and short-term memory has been noticeable during this catch-up period and this has been really helpful in broadening his reality base.

Phases of the Moon

Rather like children become more hyperactive when the weather is windy, it seems that dementia sufferers are susceptible to changes in the phases of the moon. A time of particularly hyper levels of behaviour is around full moon, and so when my Dad's comments and actions are a bit off-kilter then I check to see what 'time of the lunar month' it is. Many years ago I remember studying, quite extensively, my bio-rhythms and related it to particular highs and lows, greater or lesser moments of clarity etc. There were lunar aspects of these as well, so I can easily recognize how the balance of my Dad's own perceptions and moods are affected in this way.

The "Appointment Card'

Going out somewhere has always been a considerable 'flash point' moment for my Dad, because it cuts across his daily routine and is something that he feels he is being forced to do against his will. Once he is out of the house and that moment has passed, he is fine - and enjoys the experience. In the midst of the flash point, however, his anger can bubble and boil over into tantrums and florid swearing. However - he has always been a great believer in discipline, respect for professional people, and the requisite order of things (rather than chaos!)

One of the features this brings is the Appointment Card - which I have latched on to as being the means of getting him out to (say) the Health Centre without any undue fuss. Provided I show him IN WRITING that he is required to be at a certain place at a certain time, and that this requisition of his time has authority that is not to be questioned, then he goes willingly. The next trick is to get him out to a restaurant for Sunday lunch by making up a printed 'Invitation' - requesting his presence!

Time alone will tell - but it will work better than whatever ways we are attempting at present.

Peter Wright is a certified NLP Practitioner and TimeLine (TM) therapist and an accredited Hypnotherapist and Sports Hypnosis specialist. He helps people with a variety of issues using trancework and associated strategies such as Clean Language, TFT and IEMT techniques. You can reach him via his website http://www.pjwhypno.co.uk/ or email him at peter@pjwhypno.co.uk. His blog is also available at http://pjwhypno.blogspot.com/

Help With Daily Living Activities

Throughout one's life on earth, the time will come when he or she is not able to carry out tasks which were so easily accomplished in his or her younger days. Whilst family and friends of younger ages may be able to compensate where one is lacking, they too will find their hands full with taking care of needs from all quarters. It is therefore a natural progression in life to consider relocating an elderly parent or relative to an assisted living community which is better able to handle their needs in a professional manner. Whilst the individual is provided with needed care, he or she is not coddled as though an invalid. By allowing a degree of independence, many do well in the assisted care community as they interact with others of like feathers.

Whilst some of these centers provide a certain level of nursing care, most do not equip themselves with a full setup as though a nursing home or rehabilitation home. In the event a resident is in need of medical attention, staff on site will attend to the need and call in a physician if necessary. Alternatively, the resident may be transported to the nearest healthcare facility if the condition is too serious to be handled by the doctor. Due to its reduced level of care, an assisted living community tends to be a less costly option as compared to a nursing home. Often times, a resident of a nursing home having made sufficient recovery can be relocated to this sort of establishment.

Since a resident qualifying for stay in an assisted care community generally needs help with activities of daily life, he or she relies on the establishment to provide meals, housekeeping services, laundry and whatever else needed to make life comfortable. As it is well and good for an extra pair of hands to help in bathing and dressing the individual, his or her family members need to maintain regular visits and contact. Taking the person out for a meal or bringing some of their favorite homemade dishes brings a smile to the face. Help the individual decorate his or her room with family photos and memorabilia to impart a homey feeling. This is certainly essential upon initially moving into a new place.

Check with the resident on levels of care as some institutions may be less reputable than others. Areas of concern should be brought up to those in charge as the trauma of being apart from family need not be multiplied by unfriendly staff.

Mind the Gap of Assisted Living Costs

Getting on in age seems to go hand in hand with increasing healthcare costs. As such, individuals still young at heart and body are constantly encouraged to take proactive steps in ensuring themselves as well as covered as possible for the unpredictable future. With regards to the matter of assisted living facilities, cost may not cast too great a shadow upon the lives of healthy individuals. As they are still capable of holding down a job or two, they draw in sufficient salary to pay the bills with what is left going hopefully into savings. By contributing to social security taxes from the income, they set aside a sum in anticipation of the government footing the cost of a possible cough, cold or worse in their latter age.

Whilst the plan sounds good to the average Joe and Jane, it is most unfortunate that assisted living costs are usually not covered in whole by the authorities. Short of being named sole heir in the will of a rich relative, the individual is expected to have some savings safely stashed away for a rainy day. Even if one's circumstances qualify him- or herself for additional compensation, one always needs to mind the financial gap else risk falling into bankruptcy. A combination of ailing health and financial state is certainly not to be wished upon one's worst enemy.

To alleviate the financial burden of assisted living facilities, cost is obviously a factor needing a closer look. It is worth the extra effort to check whether and how the cost is covered by state or federal regulations. In the event subsidies or waivers are allowed for residents of specific institutions, it may be worth giving those place a once through before looking at others. Since expenses involving care for the elderly can run beyond their prior contributions and insurance limits, it is not a wonder that those holding the purse strings quake at its mere mention. Costs for adult day care as compared to those with special needs obviously run up different tabs. Situations have arisen whereby assisted living costs eat into inheritance amounts leaving very little or null for the surviving family.

Whilst regular folk run into brick walls regarding this matter, those having served their country in the military are possible spared the worry. By enrolling themselves into homes approved for veterans, senior soldiers can live in assurance of receiving continual care at affordable rates.

How to Approach a Parent About Moving Into Assisted Living Care

It can be difficult to have a productive conversation about your parents' living arrangements, but if you honestly show you're not trying to take over and tell you parents what to do, it will be easier. And remember - your parents don't want to be a burden to you so don't be afraid to discuss things.

One of the best ways I was able to start conversations with my parents was to ask them how they felt about things we saw on the news as we sat and watched TV together. When someone on TV was struggling with health issues or maintaining a home, I would ask them how they were doing in that regard. This natural style of conversation solicits ideas from them without having them feel like you are interrogating.

Another good way to approach them is to talk about their friends, because they may be more willing to talk about other people than they are about themselves. Whenever one of their friends would move into assisted living or sell a too-large house, I would be sure to ask Mom and Dad what they thought about it, and emphasize the positives. This is a good time to ask the questions about how they are coping with keeping up a home, such as:

Do you need a housekeeper to keep the home clean?Are you still able to get to the market and cook well-balanced meals?Are you able to take all your medications without mistakes?Do you get out of the house enough? When is the last time you went to the movies? Out to dinner?Are you lonely? Do you get to see your friends often enough?

Asking these questions are the best way to assess your parents' living situation, and can lead to discussions about the positives of assisted living.

One of the most common objections you might hear from them is about how much assisted living costs, and that it's too expensive. What many people fail to do when thinking about the cost, is to add up how much living in a home really costs. Housekeepers, gardeners, handymen, home owners insurance, utilities, taxes, mortgage payments, food, maintenance, and all the other expenses can actually be more than assisted living. This is another way to approach them - it might actually cost less!

Another tactic is to ask Mom and Dad separately how they feel. You just might be surprised to find they both really do want to move, but are afraid the other one doesn't want to and are afraid to broach the subject, and they haven't really talked about it!

Kirk Harney managed all aspects of his parents' lives for almost four years as they passed away from cancer, stroke, pneumonia and Alzheimer's. He is passionate about helping other caregivers and trustees cope and maintain healthy family relationships. For more information and a free medical information release form visit http://www.careforelderlyparents.com/