Category Archives: Help

Solve Gift-giving and Help Alzheimer’s Projects

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Solve Gift-giving and Help Alzheimer's ProjectsWelcome today my guest blogger, Joyce Ragland, with some exciting news for you!

Excitement! Anticipation! Twenty-one super talented, award-winning writers and artists generously donated their talents to make a charity book project. Proceeds from sales of paperback and e-books will benefit Alzheimer’s patients, who have a most difficult journey in their life’s final chapters.

Concern for Alzheimer’s patients and families means caring enough to become involved.
The Ella Ragland Art charity has funded Inter-Active music, donated Activity Aprons, cards, prints, dolls – and more directly to Alzheimer’s victims in Southwest Missouri. This book project is the start of a fund-raising campaign to expand our services to a larger Alzheimer’s patient population, geographically.

Originality and humor serve as backbone for Joyce’s exciting new book.
The book’s theme, “Travel in the Sixties,” served as a general guide for creativity. Submissions reveal originality, brilliance, empathy, and use of humor as a saving grace for all of us who experience our own life’s journey challenges. The pieces in this book are arranged in groups: “On Aging, Alzheimer’s and a Bucket List,” “Historical,” “1960s Civil Rights,” “Coming of Age in the 1960s,” “Humor & Nostalgia,” and “Speculative Fiction.” There is something for each reader and this book will make a great Christmas present for loved ones aged ten to one hundred.

To maximize sales for charity, click here to order Travel in the Sixties from Amazon.com E-books are also available for Kindle and NOOK. Locally, the books will soon be on shelves in Buffalo, MO at Hale’s Crossing and in Lebanon, MO at Whimsy on Commercial Street.

In addition to the book, we sell cards and prints made from Ella Ragland’s oil paintings at Whimsy in Lebanon, MO, MacCreed’s Gallery near Bennett Spring, and online at www.EllaRaglandArt.org. We also have a crowd-funding campaign online at http://www.gofundme.com/4oti04.

Note from Susie:    I know many of the authors of these stories: they are GOOD!  Be sure to click the link above and order your copy today.

Thank you, Joyce, for all you do to help promote and encourage research. Alzheimer’s and related diseases touch most of us at one time or another.

Hugs,

Joyce Ragland, Travel in the Sixties Editor
President, the Ella Ragland Art Charity – for Alzheimer’s Patient Projects
List Price: $11.98
5″ x 8″ (12.7 x 20.32 cm)
Black & White on White paper interior
204 pages
Paperback-Press, publisher
ISBN-13: 978-0692316870
ISBN-10: 0692316876
https://www.createspace.com/5059754

 

Controlling the Temperature for All the Family

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Controlling the Temperature for All the FamilyAre you ready to turn the heat on? How about the rest of the family?

The elderly are often cold, even in summer as the air conditioner or fans blow on them. With winter around the corner, they face another challenge. So does the caregiver who is probably kept busy most of the time and ready to cool the place down. Elderly or infirm, on the other hand, are most likely looking forward to finally having some heat.

How do you manage to keep your family comfortable without beginning a war?

Start by considering your own thermostat; yes, your own. That may seem self-centered at the very least, but it is important as you have a direct effect on the temperature control for everyone in the home: it’s not about you!

Are you constantly adjusting the controls because you are too hot or too cold? Do you grab a wrap when chilly, or up the thermostat? Then, you get too hot and yank off that wrap, turn down the heat, and wonder why no one else understands it’s just too hot in the house!

You do not have to simply skim through another season; take time to think first!

I have a suggestion for you; grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up (you CAN take a few minutes to do this), and let’s look at four helps for you and your family or one you care for.

1. With notepad in hand, answer the above questions for yourself personally. DO you fit in one or more of those categories? Especially consider when you adjust the temperature; is it as you are busy doing your work? Is it when you are in a certain room?
2. Consider those in your care. Is there an elderly person who cannot get up and care for themselves? Do you have ample wraps near them? Are they clean, soft, and ready for use—not too heavy for them to handle?
3. If you are caring for someone who is confined to one particular area, have you sat there for a period of time? Do you know if there is a draft around them? Are they sitting where they can feel the heat when it’s turned up?
4. Have you considered small space heaters (or fans) for some areas? This requires a lot of planning to be absolutely sure it is a wise move. Additional appliances of any type bring with them their own set of cautions.

Before making any serious adjustments in your family; make sure overall health of each individual is considered. Do not overlook the fact that your medical personnel may be able to help solve this issue (i.e. medicines often play a role in our body temps.)

Praying for you to have a Fantastic Fall and Wonderful Winter as you care not only for those entrusted to you but also care for yourself!

Hugs,

If you are working with dementia/Alzheimer’s patients, you may find this article helpful: http://www.susiekinslowadams.com/2014/07/04/5-tips-on-communicating-with-dementiaalzheimers-patients/

 

Losing Ourselves While Caring for Others

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As we focus on those we care for; we can lose our own identity.

It is easy to lose yourself in caring for others, whether it’s our family, little children, or someone whose health needs demand our attention. We care with our whole hearts; our whole being. This is a big part of who we are and we do not want that to change.

However, as needs of the moment multiply, and they will, we can become absorbed in the task of simply getting through another day. Our world becomes smaller and smaller and we stifle our personal feelings, emotions, needs and desires.

Has this happened to you? Do you feel you cannot stop and take time for yourself? Perhaps not so with you. You may be enjoying every day without any thought of self desires. This is good; however, consider how much of what you do, listen to, or talk about is based on the other person’s likes or needs.

Are you prepared to be alone or at least without the one in your care?

The day will come when your situation will change; the need will be different. You may find yourself alone or at least not personally involved with the same people.

For instance, spouses caring for loved ones who are terminally ill will spend all their waking hours wrapped up in the desires and the immediate needs of that person. This can go on for days, week, months, or years. When death does come, the surviving spouse is left alone and seemingly without purpose for a time.

What will happen when your children leave home?

For mothers of young children, the same is true. As a wife and as a parent, we tend to shop with others in mind. We plan our foods according to their likes; we watch what they watch on television, we choose to go where they want to go. Then the children grow up and move on (sometimes) and we get to make our own choices and wonder what we even prefer.

A challenge for you; will you accept it?

Today I want to challenge you whatever your circumstance to consider one thing, just one thing that you would do if you had the choice. Where would you like to go? What project would you like to work on at home? What food would you choose to eat?

Let’s start with food. The next time you are at the store, take a few minutes to stroll down the aisles and consider what you would choose if shopping just for yourself. The first time I was in a store buying for myself, I realized I had several items in my cart that I really didn’t even like; I was buying out of habit. I had shopped so long with others in mind; I wasn’t sure which cereal I preferred. I always ate what others wanted.

You will benefit from the following and so will those in your care!

Grab a notebook and begin writing down some things about yourself that you may not have thought about in a while. What hobbies do you like that you have not had time to pursue? What trips would you like to take? Consider a trip to the library for some books on those subjects; just a few minutes each day would renew your passions and give you a mental and physical rest from the daily routine.

As you enjoy the blessings of those God has entrusted to your care, don’t lose sight of the wonderful, caring individual He created you to be. This week, treat yourself to your personal favorite flavor of ice cream! Life is good! Enjoy!

Hugs,

Click here for more valuable insights  http://www.susiekinslowadams.com/2014/03/01/turning-stress-to-blessing/ and have a great week.