Those caring for seniors often find themselves assisting or making major purchases for their senior. Whether it's a major appliance or even a car the caregiver can often find themselves in the middle of an important buying decision. The caregiver may want to be neutral and truly look out for the senior's best interest. One of the best ways to make that happen is to have a neutral party to help them with the buying process. The Shopping Buddy Program is a special project with the Attorney General's Office of the State of Florida.

This program not only helps seniors with making informed purchasing decisions but also assists in protecting them from fraud.  This program is free to the public and has other experienced seniors who volunteer their time and experience in helping the senior purchaser.

In this show Valerie Norton the office manager in the Regency Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Substation explains the Shopping Buddy Program for us.  She is a volunteer and liaison for between the program and Eldersource, the local area on aging.

This episode of the Informed Eldercare Podcast is sponsored in part by Eldersource.  The show is produced by Bold City Media LLC., the only company in Jacksonville Florida specializing in Podcasting.

Just like caring for a child for the first time, many caregivers find themselves caring for an elder for the first time.  With no experience or guidance they can feel overwhelmed, frustrated and uncertain that their care is right.  Caregivers want to make informed decisions not only for themselves but for the elder.  Enlisting the help of a professional Geriatric Care Manager alleviates all those concerns.

Many times a care manager can help the elder to stay in their home longer, maximize their resources, and give them a quality of care that is in the elder's best interest.

In this show Nancy Allen with Solutions For Care, Inc.. explains how a care manager can help caregivers achieve their goals in caring for their elders.  She is also the author of the book Survivor - Ten Practical Steps to Survey Survival, a guidebook in home health care for seniors.  Nancy has over 25 years experience in home health and long term care for seniors.  She is a board certified specialist in home health by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and has attained the highest level of certification as a geriatric care manager by the National Academy of Certified Care Managers.

 

The Informed Eldercare Podcast is sponsored in part by Eldersource the aging resource center in Northeast Florida.

This program is produced by Bold City Media LLC., the only company in Jacksonville Florida specializing in Podcasting.

With the continued need and awareness of charities there happens to be continued fraud.  Many elders fall victim to fraudulent people posing as legitimate charities.  These fraudulent people steal money for themselves and not a legitimate charity.  Not only does the donation fail to go to a needy charity but the charitable giver can also become prey to identity theft leading to other problems.  Elders and their caregivers need to know how to qualify the legitimate from the illegitimate charities to protect themselves. Our guest to help us identify and prevent charity fraud is Slade Dukes.  Mr. Dukes is an attorney and program fellow for the Elder Consumer Protection Program and the project fellow for the Financial Scam and Fraud Elder Awareness Project at the Center for Excellence in Elder Law at Stetson University College of Law.  His extensive experience in law and advocacy in the area of elder consumer protection make him an excellent resource on this topic.

The Informed Eldercare Podcast is sponsored in part by Eldersource and produced by Bold City Media, the only company in Jacksonville, Florida specializing in Podcasting!

Regular daily acitivities for our elders suffering from Dementia can be greater than we understand.  One program that helps with that is the Virtual Dementia Program.  In this episode we interview Nicole Wolfson, Director of Community Relations with Sunrise Senior Living.  She facilitates the Virtual Dementia Tour.  This program alters peoples sense of touch, hearing, and vision.  By the use of googles, headsets, and special gloves, the participants of the tour attempt to perform daily tasks (folding laundry, setting a table for dinner, writing a letter, etc.)   However, these tasks prove to be a lot more difficult when taking this tour. 

 

To see just how the tour works and how the participants react, go to our website at Informed Eldercare.com where can watch the video!

 

This podcast is sponsored in part by Eldersource and Bold City Meda.  Bold City Media is the only company in Jacksonville Florida specializing in Podcasting.

For many caregivers and professionals the biggest hurdle in Dementia care is understanding what it’s like to have it.  This brief preview video will give a few examples of those who took the Virtual Dementia Tour.  This tour is hosted by Nicole Wolfson Director of Community Relations with Sunrise Senior Living.  This tour was founded by P.K. Beville, M.S. with Second Wind Dreams.  The Virtual Dementia Tour provides awareness of the effects of Dementia, in hopes of becoming more caring, patient and understanding for those suffering from Dementia.

We will post the video in it’s entirety this month, so be on the look out for it!

If you or someone you know is using Medicare for their health insurance needs not only is the costs of Medicare in jeopardy but the coverage itself.  

"Medicare has at least $80 billion worth of fraud a year. That's a full 20 percent of every dollar that's spent on Medicare goes to fraud."

This was reported by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. in an interview on the Aug. 24 edition of Fox News Channel's On the Record With Greta Van Susteren. Not only is this important to the agencies supplying this service but the recipients of the insurance.  Medicare Fraud raises health care costs and prevents many from receiving the products or services they really need.

In addition Medicare recipients may find themselves vulnerable to the people perpetrating this fraud.

In this episode Stephen Quindoza with IntegriGuard provides vital information to help you protect your Medicare coverage.

This podcast is sponsored in part Eldersource and Bold City Media, the only company in Jacksonville Florida specializing in Podcasting.

For many seniors driving; conditions, cars and roads have changed.  Seniors can adapt better to these changes by finding their perfect fit.  One program to assist with that is CarFit.  This national program educates seniors in order to keep them safe and mobile and it’s absolutely free!  Pat Colvin with the Area Health Education Center in Northeast Florida takes us on a tour of CarFit.

The Informed Eldercare Podcast is produced by Bold City Media,  your expert podcasting company in Jacksonville, Florida and sponsored in part by Eldersource.

When hiring a contractor there are many disadvantages in hiring an unlicensed contractor.

If someone you know who is a veteran who served during wartime, they may be eligible for pension or compensation benefits. If they served but not during wartime they too may be eligible for benefits as a result of diseases or injury during active duty. In addition the spouse or dependents of a veteran may also be eligible for benefits as well.

In this episode of The Informed Eldercare Podcast Herschel Allen with the Department of Veteran Affairs Service Office describes how our elderly veteran’s and their dependents can receive benefits but are not limited to health care, in home assistance for care, nursing care, and much more.

The Informed Eldercare Podcast is produced by Bold City Media, your expert podcasting company in Jacksonville, Florida and sponsored in part by Eldersource.

This is part 2 of our 2 part series on Senior Depression.  In part 1 we described some of the signs of depression in order to identify it and emphasized that the first step begins with a visit to your elder's doctor to rule out other factors like diseases, medications or problems that maybe contributing to depression.

We continue our interview with Hannah Hackworth of Urban Jacksonville's Mental Health Program and Cornelia Rapporport with Apex Home Healthcare. Their stories in this episode explain how others have been successfully treated and have found hope in various and alternative ways.

Eldersource in association with Bold City Media are proud to sponsor this episode of The Informed Eldercare Podcast.

The Informed Eldercare Podcast is produced by Bold City Media, your expert podcaster in Jacksonville Florida.