Weekly Blog #2 April 7, 2020
Covid 19: Priorities for Older Adults staying home
Joan M. Harris, LSW, MBA, CMC Aging Life Care Professional
1) Close the circle
If you live with your spouse or family members, these are the only people you should be interacting with in person. Cancel the cleaning person, all therapists of all types, Dr’s appointment are all telephonic now. Do not interact with anyone outside your circle of people you live with. By doing this, you greatly reduce your exposure to the covid 19 virus. Get outside and take a walk but not in an area where you will be near other people. If you must go to the pharmacy or market, go at a time when there are less people (i.e. early morning is senior time at the markets), wear nitrile disposable gloves and a mask
See recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations for masks:
click here
2) Get an ordering and delivery system in place:
Take an inventory of all your food supplies and make a list of what you have for medication, over the counter non-prescription items you use, and all personal care items you need. Keep a two-week supply of all items if possible. If you have caregivers coming into your home to care for a loved one, have them help you do this. Order from the pharmacy and food delivery systems a week ahead of needing the supply to stay in front of it. Many of the delivery systems are overwhelmed with orders and may not have any available delivery times depending on where you live. Here are some additional options:
Use a pharmacy service
That delivers your medications. If you are on their weekly or monthly delivery of prescription medications, they will add any non-prescriptions medications (OTC items) they have in stock and send it with your medications. This would be anything you would find in a pharmacy such as: Tylenol, a thermometer, body wash etc.) Delivery fees are very reasonable. If your physician changes your medication, this delivery service will send you a prefilled medication box with the new prescription making everything easy.
Food
If you don’t have internet or the skills to order, see if a family member will order for you on Amazon Prime and Prime Pantry.
Is there a local, smaller food store or farm store that will take an order and deliver?
Can your local Senior Center/Council on Aging help with pick-up and delivery?
Can you use a prepared meal service for dinners?
Mom’s meals specifically for seniors.
Important Note: As an experienced Care Manager, I dig for resources for my clients who have specific wants and needs. If you do not have a support system and find that you need help putting together a plan that works, go to www.aginglifecare.org and plug in your zip code under the “Find a Care Manager” tab. The national organization that I am proud to be certified by will allow you to find a Care Manager in your area who will support your needs. Governed by a code of ethics and the highest standards of practice, we work only for our client and cannot benefit by any partnerships or referrals made for our clients.
3) Having the conversation:
If you have not had the conversation with your family members, health care proxy or other significant people in your life about what your end of life wishes are, this is a very important time to do this.
Here are three excellent online platforms that are tools to help you navigate these difficult issues and conversations that are critically important:
2) Five Wishes
3) CAKE
4) Your packet of critical documents:
Everyone, no matter what your age should have a packet of advanced directives and emergency information in an envelope on the back of your front door that has printed on it: “John Smith’s Emergency Documents”. Inside this envelope there should be a copy of your Health Care Proxy, a current list of all your prescription medications, and an emergency contact form that includes the first and then second person to call if you become ill or there is any kind of emergency, who your primary care physician is, all of your medical diagnosis and history that is relevant.
Last, if you have completed a MOLST form with your physician, this should be in your emergency packet. Here is a website that provides a good example of these emergency forms which you can print out: Agis.com
There are other important documents to have as part of your estate planning: Your Last Will and Testament and Durable Power of Attorney to name a few but these documents don’t need to be in your emergency packet on the back of your door to go with you to the hospital, they are financial documents and can be available through your attorney or trusted person you have chosen to handle these things if you are not able.
5) Emotional Health:
It is very difficult to stay positive in light of the sad and scary news coming at us daily. Make sure you stay connected with all the people in your life on a frequent basis. Create a new schedule for your day that includes less news watching and more activities that make you feel good: Talk on the phone, exercise, challenge your brain with reading or games with friends and family-even if you do this virtually. Use FaceTime, Zoom, Skype or other platforms that allow you to see others. Practice mindfulness even if it means just taking 5 slow deep breaths or writing down 2-3 things that you are grateful for at the end of the day. Find the silver lining that covid 19 is offering you with the changes you need to make in your life. Have you been able to slow down and not feel so pressured? If you can’t see your therapist, schedule a phone session.