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Empowering Professionals in Aging
Home Instead is driven by its mission to enhance the lives of older adults. The home care company knows members of the American Society on Aging share the same objective, and to that end is presenting a new podcast series: Empowering Professionals in Aging. The series will cover a variety of topics, including medication management, end-of-life, technology, mental health, financial exploitation and other important issues in aging. Working together, increasing our knowledge, and understanding the various perspectives of these issues will help to unite professionals in our common mission to better serve older adults and the families who care for them. The team of Home Instead gerontologists, along with guest speakers, will share their expertise to educate and empower us all to be great advocates for our clients.
Episodes
46 episodes
Finding the Right Fit: Options for Care at Home
Most older adults want to age at home, in a place where they feel comfort and familiarity. But the reality is that to remain at home, they will need extra support. The options for care can be overwhelming and confusing, but with education, olde...
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59:50
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Addressing Challenging Family Dynamics in Caregiving
Providing care for a family member or loved one can be emotionally and logistically challenging, especially when family dynamics come into play. Even the most harmonious families can find themselves in challenging situations that can quickly es...
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1:02:21
Nurturing Dignity: Understanding Hospice and End-of-Life Support
While end-of-life discussions may be challenging, they are integral to honoring an individual's wishes and preserving their dignity. Listen to this podcast to unravel the often overlooked and misunderstood aspects of end-of-life, with a special...
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1:02:04
The Evolving Landscape of Caregiving: Trends, Innovations & Challenges
November is National Family Caregiver Month, so it’s a great time to join our discussion about the evolving landscape of caregiving. We'll explore the latest trends, innovations and challenges faced by family caregivers today, providing valuabl...
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57:56
Encore Careers: Navigating Work and Purpose in the Second Half of Life
Individuals are reimagining the concept of retirement, especially as people are living longer. Instead of traditional retirement activities, many go on to explore encore careers—distinctive career paths embarked upon in the second half of life....
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1:00:03
Exploring Other Dementias: LBD, FTD, Vascular & Mixed
The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, and we hear a lot about it. However, there are several types of dementia less likely to get the spotlight, but that still impact hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families. J...
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1:00:01
Securing Support for Those Who are High Risk for Hospital Readmissions
Among the older adult population, there is a complex landscape of high-risk factors that can contribute to hospital readmissions. Listen to this podcast to explore strategies for securing support systems, particularly for individuals navigating...
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1:04:03
Navigating Alzheimer's: Unraveling Diagnosis Challenges and Finding Solutions
Recognizing the early signs of Alzheimer's disease is vital, especially for early detection and diagnosis. Frequently, family members are the first to notice these signs, but initiating a conversation about scheduling a doctor's appointment can...
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1:00:36
Addressing Loneliness and Food Insecurity in Elders
Access to proper nutrition can be a challenge for older adults due to a variety of factors. Compounding this issue is the fact that older adults are also at risk for isolation and loneliness. In this podcast episode, we tackle the pressing issu...
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59:31
Navigating Ethical Choices in the Care of Older Adults
As dedicated professionals in the field working with older adults, it's crucial to discern and address ethical challenges as they surface, which can prove challenging. Various factors can make older adults vulnerable to abuse, neglect and ill i...
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58:23
Aging in Place: Home Safety & Fall Prevention
Home is where many older adults wish to age. However, many homes are not set up as age-friendly environments. Aging in place at home can result in accidents and falls—more than one in four older adults falls each year. Listen to this podcast to...
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57:29
Maintain Your Brain: Reducing the Risk of Dementia
While our brain plays a crucial role as the command center of our body, it often doesn't receive the attention it deserves. As we age, the risk of cognitive impairment increases, but here's the good news—research indicates there is plenty we ca...
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59:24
Understanding the Legal Needs of Aging
As we age, there are important legal documents we should all have in place. This is particularly true for older adults. However, people often wait until a crisis to make legal decisions, which for some may be too late. While planning ahead for ...
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59:03
Reducing Readmissions: Top 5 Ways to Incorporate Help at Home
Anyone working in healthcare today knows the importance of reducing hospital or rehabilitation facility readmissions. Older adults are at risk for readmissions if they lack proper support at home. The days following the transition back to the h...
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1:00:37
Intimacy and Aging: How to Support Romance Across the Lifespan
Interest in intimacy exists throughout the lifespan and should be supported in later life. This topic is often controversial and misunderstood in society and therefore, professionals and families can be reluctant to openly discuss. It is import...
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1:01:39
Driving Safety for Older Adults
The topic of driving is often one that involves a lot of emotions. For many, driving equates to independence and the freedom to go when and where you want. As a person ages, it can be helpful to openly communicate about driving abilities and sa...
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1:00:16
Spousal Caregiving
Among the tens of millions of family caregivers, about 12% of them are caring for an ill or disabled spouse or partner. Elements of caring for a spouse or partner differ from other types of caregiving relationships. On average, spousal caregive...
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59:34
Grief and Ambiguous Loss
Grief can take many forms and people tend to deal with grief in different ways. Grief is typically thought of in the context of the death of a friend or loved one. However, people can grieve in other ways such as the loss of independence or dur...
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1:00:23
Addressing Ageism Part 2: Ageism in Healthcare
The highest healthcare spending years of our lives happen after age 65. While older adults are high-volume healthcare users, unfortunately, ageism is evident in healthcare practices today. Ageism can show up in subtle ways such as talking to an...
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1:00:54
Addressing Ageism Part 1: Societal View of Ageism
Ageism is ingrained in our society and culture whether we like to admit it or not. The way older adults are referenced and depicted in the media, popular culture and even in the health and beauty industries helps to paint a picture that aging i...
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1:02:51
Frontotemporal Degeneration: Understanding the Disease
While the most common form of dementia among all age groups is Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) is most common in those diagnosed before age 60 and can occur as early as age 21 and as late as age 80. FTD differs from other...
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1:02:21
Supporting Mental and Emotional Health in Aging
Untreated mental health disorders at any age can have negative impacts, but particularly for older adults, it can lead to social isolation, placement in long-term care facilities, and even suicide. There are also a variety of factors that can i...
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1:03:04
Ethical Decision Making for Working with Older Adults
As professionals in the aging services sector, it is important to recognize the ethical issues that could arise when working with older adults. There are multiple areas in which ethical issues can emerge, including complex family dynamics, addr...
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57:52
Companionship: The Missing Ingredient in Senior Nutrition
The importance of proper nutrition for older adults cannot be understated. However, for some older adults, it can be hard to get motivated to cook nutritious meals, especially for those who live alone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about...
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1:02:59
Mindset Matters: How to Reframe Mindsets for Positivity in Caregiving
Caregivers play a vital role in the lives of their older loved ones. Often these individuals gradually take on more care responsibilities over time and they become so focused on the daily tasks of caregiving, that they rarely have time to refle...
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1:00:36