We have a lot to celebrate!
We are coming up on our 5th anniversary, and also have recently opened a new, larger location.
To celebrate both of these awesome events, we will be holding a grand re-opening/anniversary celebration on Wednesday, May 7.
Everyone is invited to stop by our office at 135 Center St. in Manchester from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for some fun.
There will be music, food, cocktails, good conversation, and good company.
The celebration is free, but we ask that you bring a non-perishable food item or two to be donated to MACC Charities.
We ask that you RSVP by calling 860-533-9343 or by e-mailing Shelley Thomsen at adminct@abc-seniors.com
Hope to see you there!
Want to know more about our in-home care, assisted living referral services, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, and veterans assistance? Give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by and see us.
Coordinating home care for your loved one can be a difficult, complicated task.There are often many kinds of services – from non-medical home care services to skilled care which includes RN services, physical therapy and occupational therapy in your home, or as an outpatient in a standalone rehab building. The choices are overwhelming and confusing for families. What is the best thing to do for your loved one?Families are often left bewildered when they learn that skilled home care services have been pared down or cancelled, leaving their loved ones vulnerable and still in need of help, leaving them to fill in the gaps and pick up the slack.It can all be very confusing and frustrating, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.Give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by our office at 135 Center St. in Manchester and we’ll explain it all.From our in-home care, to our assisted living selection services, to our Alzheimer’s and dementia care, to our veterans assistance. Have questions? We have answers.We’ll meet with you and will create a personalized care plan, ensuring that the care provided is tailored specifically to your loved one’s needs. You will then be matched with a carefully selected, background-checked and experienced caregiver who is able to meet the physical care needs and work the days and hours your loved one requires.Accepting in-home care can be difficult for many, and we do everything in our power to make this transition as easy as possible for everyone involved. Our caregivers provide professional care for each client with respect and a positive, upbeat attitude. Employees at every level of our company do our utmost to treat each and every client like a member of our own family, and provide the kind of care for your loved one that we would want for our own parents.
Finding an in-home care provider for a loved one can be an emotional, stressful, and confusing process.
How do you find a provider who will give your loved one the best possible care?
Home Care Pulse Certified – Trusted Providers have proven their commitment to their clients’ satisfaction by contracting with Home Care Pulse to gather and report feedback from their clients.
Home Care Pulse does this by conducting random live phone interviews with a percentage of their clients each month. Because it is an independent third-party company, it is able to collect honest and unbiased feedback, without outside influence.
Each client, or their responsible party, is given the opportunity to rate the provider on a scale of 1-10 in areas such as timeliness of caregivers, services being provided as promised, compassion of caregivers, and overall quality of care.
We were recently certified as a Home Care Pulse organization, and we are pleased to report that we did exceptionally well on our assessment.
Our client satisfaction rating was 98.3 percent. Our caregivers were also surveyed and had a 94.8 percent satisfaction rating. We were told that this is the highest anyone has ever scored in their first month in the program.
Linnea McCaffrey, whose mother is one of our clients, when asked about the compassion of the caregiver, said, “The caregiver from Always Best Care has established a very good relationship with my mother. She has been with my mother for two and a half years. She thinks about my mother’s best interests.”
In regards to what she appreciates most about the services being received, McCaffrey said, “I appreciate that my mother is safe and well cared for.”
To find out more about us and our in-home care, assisted living selection services, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, and veterans assistance, give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by.
As people age, they often experience many physical, mental, and emotional changes.
When your aging parent finds formerly mundane tasks, such as taking care of the yard or doing household chores, more difficult, anger and frustration can set in.
Cognitive functions may also decrease, adding to the frustrations. A sense of lost independence can occur if the person can no longer drive or care for him or herself.
In addition, seniors are more likely to face the pain of losing friends and loved ones. This pain is made worse when the death is a reminder of the senior’s own mortality and/or contributes to a sense of being alone.
This can all seem very overwhelming if the senior isn’t taking care of him or herself.
Staying connected is very important. The senior should try to get out and see his or her friends, stop by the local senior center, and visit with family.
Maintaining good health is also key.
Eating healthy foods, taking vitamins, and exercising can help keep a senior feeling younger and healthier. Many local gyms have classes for active seniors, so he or she should check them out and see what looks interesting.
Another piece to staying healthy is visiting various doctors. The senior will also want to look at his or her family and see if there are any hereditary conditions that might require preventative action. The doctor can also discuss ways to maintain regular sleep and a healthy diet.
Volunteering can also help with the feelings of loss and of being alone. It also keeps a senior busy. It can bring a sense of productivity, meaning to life, a distraction from difficulties, and a chance to meet and socialize with new people.
Think it might be time for a little extra help? Give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by to learn more about our in-home care, assisted living selection services, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, and veterans assistance.
Are you starting to worry about your aging parent’s driving skills?
As people age, their joints get stiff and muscles may weaken. Eyesight and hearing often change as we get older, reflexes slow, attention spans change, and health problems and medications may make it difficult to drive safely.
Having the discussion about giving up the keys can be a touchy and difficult one to have with your parent, but it is a very important one.
Before starting the discussion, plan how you’re going to approach the subject. Think about how the situation looks from your parent’s point of view. What does driving mean to him or her?
Make sure your expectations are realistic. Consider this a preliminary discussion as this one conversation will most likely not wrap up the issue neatly.
You’ll also want to consider your own role. It’s not up to you to convince the person to instantly give up driving. Without extenuating circumstances, it’s best to respect your parent’s right to make decisions about his or her life – with input and support from you.
You could give up your car for a couple weeks to see what your parent will be facing. Even if you don’t do that, give some thought to the emotional and practical issues your parent will be facing without a car.
When you’re ready to have the discussion, plan it for a quiet time of day when you both are relaxed, rested, and have no other obligations in the near future.
Once you bring it up, try not to be too forceful right away or you’ll set off the conversation on the wrong foot. If you do, your parent may get immediately defensive or tune you out. A good way to initiate the discussion is with a question.
Your parent may tell you all the reasons why he or she can’t stop driving. Encourage him or her to discuss these concerns without immediately jumping to solutions. They may offer temporary comfort, but they won’t help explore the larger issues involved. Instead, encourage your parent to keep talking about his or her worries and reflect upon them.
Prepare for a long conversation. Your parent may begin to talk about the past, but resist the temptation to interrupt and get him or her back on track.
As the conversation goes on, ask your parent directly what he or she thinks should be done about the driving. Jot down some pros and cons of continuing driving and ceasing driving.
Agree to talk again in a couple of days once everyone has had a chance to think about the options.
If your loved one acknowledges he or she is having difficulty driving, find out why. Make appointments with his or her doctor. A simple prescription change or new glasses could fix the problem.
You could also discuss interim measures. Maybe suggest he or she only drive during the day, or that he or she take a driving refresher course.
In any case, discuss other transportation options with your parent. Take a ride on the bus with him or her, get some information on local senior transportation, and encourage him or her to ride with friends or family.
If your parent is resistant to the discussion, drop it for a little bit. If you engage in a battle, he or she will only become more resistant. After a while, bring it up again and try again.
If your parent lives independently and is not ready to give up driving, consider in-home care. These compassionate professionals are glad to run errands, go to the grocery store, take him or her to the doctor, and perform other driving tasks.
Want to know more about our in-home care, assisted living selection services, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, and veterans assistance? Give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by and see us.
Spring is officially here and soon, the snow will be gone and the weather will be warm.
Looking for some fun things to do with your grandkids this spring?
One great thing to do is to create some beautiful, colorful spring crafts. Spring is a time of rejuvenation and bright colors will help put you in the mood.
With Easter approaching, you could also decorate Easter eggs and make Easter cookies. Both of these activities will allow you and your grandchildren to be creative.
You could go out and have a family picnic. Pack up a healthy lunch, grab a blanket, and head out into the sunshine.
While you’re outside, be sure to play outdoor games. Whether it’s having a catch, kicking the soccer ball around, or just running around in the yard, spring is a great time to get out and enjoy the fresh air. Don’t have a big yard? Head the park or playground for some open space fun.
Digging for worms, planting a garden, and picking flowers are a great way to enjoy nature in the springtime.
Getting out to the local farmers’ market is a great way to enjoy spring and support your local farmers and vendors.
Not feeling like yourself lately? Not sure you can head out with the grandkids like you used to?
Give us a call at 860-533-9343 to find out about our in-home care, assisted living selection services, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, andveterans assistance.
While your parents may want to hold onto their independence, you may be thinking that they need some assistance and that it might be time to ask for some outside help.
This can be a very awkward and sensitive conversation, but when your loved one’s health and safety are concerned, it’s one that you need to have.
When it’s time to have the conversation, pick the right time and place for it. Try to find a non-emotional location as a first step.
During the discussion, ask questions to direct the conversation. Help lead your parents to a solution.
You also want to make sure you know your options in advance. Instead of going into the conversation blind, do your homework before.
Point out the benefits of having help. Encourage them to see how assistance with the basics can allow them opportunities to pursue hobbies and personal interests.
You may need to call in a higher authority. Caregivers can sometimes be too close to the situation and your parents may need to hear from someone else that they should get help.
Want to know more about our in-home care, assisted living selection services, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, and veterans assistance? Give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by and see us.
Dementia can be caused by nearly 40 different diseases and conditions and it can be difficult to deal with while trying to care for your parents or grandparents.
The Encyclopedia of Mind Disorders lists various types of dementia.
Primary dementias are characterized by damage to or wasting away of the brain tissue itself. They include Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontal lobe dementia (FLD), and Pick's disease.
Multi-infarct dementia (MID) or vascular dementia is caused by blood clots in the small blood vessels of the brain.
Lewy body dementia is another type. Lewy bodies are areas of injury found on damaged nerve cells in certain parts of the brain. They are associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but researchers do not yet know whether dementia with Lewy bodies is a distinct type of dementia or a variation of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
There is also dementia related to alcoholism or exposure to heavy metals, dementia related to infectious diseases, and dementia related to abnormalities in the structure of the brain.
Here are some suggestions for dealing with parents and grandparents who are suffering from dementia:
- Be sensitive and gentle about informing the patient of the diagnosis. Be prepared to patiently repeat the information at times when you're trying to help the person understand why they can't do something or why you are taking over a task the person used to do.
- Set up home care and develop a positive attitude.Dementia patients are able to read body language and to respond to the positive attitudes of the caregiver. Where patient and caregiver have had problems in their past relationship, it can be especially challenging to empathize and be kind, so a support system for the caregiver is most important.
- Learn to communicate with an Alzheimer's patient.Acknowledge requests and respond to them. Don't argue or try to change the person's mind, even if you believe the request is irrational. Be affectionate with the patient, if this feels natural.
- Remember the worth of the person as a human being.Even if they don't seem to respond, the person deserves to be loved and cared for, touched, and spoken to. Much like an infant, the dementia patient thrives on human contact.
- Manage behavior problems. Be accepting of the increasingly limited capabilities of the person with dementia and implement care strategies accordingly. Do your best to be patient, kind, flexible, supportive, and calm.
- Expect the patient to totally lose their memory. Be ready with boundless patience. Many Alzheimer's sufferers have no awareness of their loss of memory.
- Get emotional support for yourself. The above suggestions can be hard to implement. You have your own sense of grief and loss about the diagnosis - feelings that may be compounded as you see the person you've known and loved gradually lose their familiar personality and abilities.
Always Best Care Senior Services can assist with Alzheimer's and dementia care from one day a week, just a few hours a day, to 24-hour care, seven days a week.
Call us at 860-533-9343 to find out how we can provide you with the support you deserve.
Does it seem like lately mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa needs more help than you can provide?
No need to fret, Always Best Care Senior Services of Central Connecticut can help you out with your senior care needs.
Since 1996, Always Best Care has helped families with non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral services.
Always Best Care in-home services are for people who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that cannot easily be provided by their family or friends.
All our senior housing and assisted living services are free to our clients. All fees are paid by the community you choose. Unlike some other companies, we personally escort you to tour select communities based on matching your needs and your budget with communities we have already visited and evaluated.
Alzheimer's Disease is the best known of an entire spectrum of diseases known as dementia. We know that extra attention and tender compassionate care must accompany every service we provide. Our caregivers are trained using tools created by "In-The-Know," the Alzheimer's Association, and the Department of Health.
At Always Best Care, we not only provide outstanding veterans assistance and care, we also help them obtain the funds to pay for the care they need.
What is home care? Want to learn more? Give us a call at 860-533-9343 or stop by our new office at 135 Center St. in Manchester.
