I am a Certified Senior Advisor and member of the Society of Certified Senior Advisors, an organization that keeps professionals abreast of health, financial and social issues affecting seniors by providing education, training, support and communication resources.
It's a designation I earned shortly after my wife, Marian, and I started Senior Helpers in 2008. Earlier, we experienced a need for and the benefits of in-home care for Marian's mother, who lived with us for 12 years and required much care as her health deteriorated.
We serve the metro Orlando area with caregivers who provide companionship and help with a variety of tasks -- what we call assisted living at home.
Marian is a graduate of Rollins College (1999, B.A., humanities), where she completed studies begun in the early 1980s at Oklahoma State University. Before Senior Helpers, she was a Spanish teacher with Florida Virtual School.
I have a business/math bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University (1979, Winston-Salem, N.C.) and a master's in journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill (1984). We moved to Orlando in 1997 when I became business editor and later publisher of magazines owned by The Golfweek Group.
There's a wealth of information here, gleaned from interviews with experts in a variety of fields directly related to seniors and their well-being -- shows on memory disorders; geriatric care and care services; support systems for caregivers; financial tools such as reverse mortgages, long-term care insurance, Veterans Administration benefits that will pay for in-home care and much more. All the shows are in a question-and-answer format, recorded live (with some holiday exceptions) in the studios of WDBO 580 AM on John Young Parkway in Orlando at 6 a.m. Saturdays. If you missed the shows then, listen to them now.
1. Intro of guest, Gail Baxter Sutton Homes mission statement/philosophy Description of homes – where, no. of bedrooms, no. of residents, staffing (1:5, plus activities director, admissions, administrators, plus other support staff: nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, physical therapists, manicurist/hair dresser, can bring in anyone (podiatrist, massage therapist, etc.)
2. Personal story: Discovering mother’s disease: when and how Decisions along the way: living with you, living in ALFs and SNFs// “cried between each one” “everything we thought was good turned out to be a negative”
3. Getting started: When/how did inspiration come to start first home? How difficult was the process and how long did it take? Second house: enlarging windows… Staff qualifications: CPR, First Aid, background checks, drug testing, medical training, food handling, personal care training, HIV training….
4. A resident’s day-to-day life vs. ALF: Singular biggest difference is “they’re close to someone all the time who can reassure them that their world is OK,” “a feeling of being safe.” It’s a home: Most of the ladies have done housework, and they’re encouraged to do whatever they can, becoming part of the group, part of the family. Turning a corner: “We keep this place clean.” Can adjust our schedule and system to the resident’s need No “levels of care” Private pay, long-term care insurance, diversion program,
5. Frequently asked questions: Can you keep residents from wandering? Can residents stay if they become agitated? Can you handle incontinence? Do you have special ways to deal with ‘sundowning’?
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Outline of this week's show:
1. Intro of guest, Gail Baxter
Sutton Homes mission statement/philosophy
Description of homes – where, no. of bedrooms, no. of residents, staffing (1:5, plus activities director, admissions, administrators, plus other support staff: nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, physical therapists, manicurist/hair dresser, can bring in anyone (podiatrist, massage therapist, etc.)
2. Personal story:
Discovering mother’s disease: when and how
Decisions along the way: living with you, living in ALFs and SNFs// “cried between each one”
“everything we thought was good turned out to be a negative”
3. Getting started:
When/how did inspiration come to start first home?
How difficult was the process and how long did it take?
Second house: enlarging windows…
Staff qualifications: CPR, First Aid, background checks, drug testing, medical training, food handling, personal care training, HIV training….
4. A resident’s day-to-day life vs. ALF:
Singular biggest difference is “they’re close to someone all the time who can reassure them that their world is OK,” “a feeling of being safe.”
It’s a home: Most of the ladies have done housework, and they’re encouraged to do whatever they can, becoming part of the group, part of the family.
Turning a corner: “We keep this place clean.”
Can adjust our schedule and system to the resident’s need
No “levels of care”
Private pay, long-term care insurance, diversion program,
5. Frequently asked questions:
Can you keep residents from wandering?
Can residents stay if they become agitated?
Can you handle incontinence?
Do you have special ways to deal with ‘sundowning’?
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