Tender Loving Care for our Elders

TLC

Tender Loving Care

for our Elders

A 3 unit course

Part III: Caregivers
and
biological, social, and psychological
aspects of aging and long term care, including
'red flags' and signs of elder abuse

"I can't think of one good thing about getting older!"

"My dear, consider the alternative..."

APA, BRN, CA BBS, FL, NAADAC, NASW, NBCC, OH, TX

Tender Loving Care is a course in three parts, each part can be taken separately for 3 ce in fulfillment of the CA BBS mandated requirement Aging and Long Term Care, or the entire course may be taken for 9 ces.

Part III: Caregivers and the biological, social, and psychological aspects of aging, including 'red flags' and signs of elder abuse

Learning Objectives

In this 3 unit course:

1. Clinicians will learn to recognize the 'red flags' and signs of elder abuse

2. Clinicians will become familiarized with the laws and ethics regarding the reporting of elder abuse

3. Clinicians will learn that depression and mental illness are under-treated in the elderly population

4. Clinicians will be introduced to some of the biological, social, cultural and psychological aspects of aging and long term care.

5. Clinicians will learn of the stresses of caregivers to our elders.

Who Should Attend

This course meets the qualifications for 3 hours of continuing education units

is approved by the:

American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists - www.psychceu.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Board of Registered Nursing (#13620)
California Board of Behavioral Science (#1540)
Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling (BAP #753)
NAADAC - The Association for Addiction Professionals (#478)
National Association of Social Workers (#886382116)
National Board for Certified Counselors (#6055)
Ohio Counselor, Social Work and Marriage and Family CPE (#RCST090402)
The Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors (#52526)
The Texas Board of Social Work Examiners (#CS3473)

www.psychceu.com
maintains responsibility for the program.

In fulfillment of the CA BBS mandated requirement:

Aging and Long Term Care

3. Aging and Long Term Care New Info Button
Those persons who began graduate study prior to January 1, 2004 must complete a 3-hour continuing education course in aging and long term care. The course could include, but is not limited to, the biological, social, and psychological aspects of aging. The Board may accept evidence of completion of an equivalent course or courses taken prior to January 1, 2005 or may accept prior teaching or practice experience in order to fulfill the continuing education requirement.
http://www.bbs.ca.gov/Licstat3.htm

In fulfillment of the CA Board of Psychology mandated requirement:

Psychologists renewing their license on or after January 1, 2005 will be required to have proof of completion of a three hour CE course in aging and long-term care or show proof to the board of its equivalent in teaching or practicing experience. This is a one-time requirement.
http://www.psychboard.ca.gov/licensing/education.html

Meredith was increasingly concerned about her mother. Edith had been acting more and more erratic. She was seeming to forget things, and at times was quite disoriented. She seemed to be getting irrational, saying racist things (which were out of character for her) as well as appearing to be somewhat paranoid at times. She seemed to be fine at times, then would seem to 'disappear' in Meredith's words, "becoming somebody who is mean and paranoid. I don't know her when she is like this, and I wonder if she knows me. She took a bottle of gin from the kitchen, and I found it hidden in her closet. I don't mind if Mom has an occasional drink, but the bottle had been full when she moved in, and when I found it, it was empty."

"I got this letter from Peter, my oldest brother. It made me feel really hopeless."

Meredith took a crumpled paper out of her purse, and handed it to me. it said:

Dear Sis,

I wish I could help you out with Mom. Things are very difficult here, both emotionally and financially. With the 'dot-com' bust, my work has slowed down. Patricia can't leave the home to work, because Pop-Pop is so impaired. He has begun to wander off, and is totally incontinent. I am not sure that I am ready for the idea of adult diapers...somehow, I always thought I would be buying diapers for infants, not my wife's father. Having a father-in-law with Alzheimer's is putting tremendous strain on all of us.

I really hope that Mom doesn't have Alzheimer's! Call us if you need any support. Here is a check for $200, I wish it could be more, but we are strapped and stressed right now. The kids are now 5 and 7, and don't really understand what is happening to their Grandfather. They just avoid him. He doesn't recognize them any more, or thinks they are his children, not his grandchildren. He yells at them to do chores that he used to have his kids do, like mow the lawn, which is kind of impossible when you live in a condo.

The worst time is evening. There is a thing called 'sundowning'. Sundowning is when Pop-Pop goes into a state of increased agitation, activity and negative behaviors. It always happens late in the day, continuing through the evening. We are not getting any sleep, having to watch over him all the time. We used to think that sundowning was caused by the lowering light and shorter days, but now his doctor tells us new research is showing that it is more likely caused by Pop-Pop being tired.

The doctor is tweaking Pop-Pop's meds to try to help out. Speaking of meds, we joke that it is time to put Pop-Pop's antidepressant in the mashed potatoes, for the whole family. Sometimes we laugh because the only other thing is crying, and Patricia has done enough crying about he Dad for several lifetimes. I really don't want to go there with Mom!

Patricia definitely needs a break, which is called “respite care”. Respite care includes adult day care programs, in-home help, and short nursing home stays. We are still searching for this! We joined a caregivers support group, and are learning how burnt out we are. Especially Patricia. There is even a new name (at least to us) for what she is feeling, it is "compassion fatigue".

Call me if you want to know more. We have been advised to use :

Respite care
Support Groups
Medication when indicated
Personal Psychotherapy
Take Time off
Lots of Self-care, including good nutrition, exercise and time to reflect
Take Time and support to replenish body, mind and spirit on a regular basis.

(Right! In what hours of the day can we do this? We barely have enough time to get the minimum done.)

I worry what it is going to be like for Patricia when we have to put Pop-Pop in a facility. I think she will feel so guilty that it may be impossible. But it feels so impossible now!

We have a lot of information, but no real help, and no time to search out all the stuff on the Internet for you. Just put in a search for whatever is going on with Mom; Patricia even has found online support groups. Sometimes I see her on the computer at 3:00 a.m., just getting support online from some other poor soul who can't sleep for the craziness of having a parent with Alzheimer's in the home.

Sorry this letter is such a downer...wish we could do more!

All love to Mom, you and my nephews,

Pete

Meredith looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Poor Peter! Poor Patricia! I had no idea it was so bad for them, and here I was blaming them for not wanting to take Mom to live with them, or at least to come visit. I feel so stupid, just like I felt when the eye doctor told me how blind Mom was. I guess there are just some things you can't let in, but the paradox is how blind I was to her being blind. I feel so bad when I think about her all alone in her house, too afraid to go out, creeping to the corner grocery for packaged soup and crackers. I feel really sad, and really bad. I still have nightmares about if I didn't find her when she fell, how long she would have lain there. She could have died. Then the really evil part of me sometimes wishes she had, because she has disrupted everything, and is so hard to live with. I feel trapped."

"Why are old age, sickness, and death the common lot of all humanity?"
attributed to the Buddha on the road to enlightenment

What comes first here?

Edith is experiencing many of the issues of the elderly person in American society today:

chronic debilitating physical condition

chronic pain

loss of vision

loss of mobility

isolation

poverty

intermittent dementia

grief over the death of her sister and friends

fear

physical vulnerability

depression

possible elder abuse

Meredith is experiencing many of the issues of the caregiver of the elderly person in American society today:

sleeplessness

anxiety

overwhelm

fear

anger

isolation

depression

burnout

compassion fatigue

"Old age is no place for sissies."
Bette Davis

"The spiritual eyesight improves as the physical eyesight declines"
Plato

Cost of the 3 unit course is $33

Optional text is $30 + shipping and handling

To order

www.psychceu.com

e-mail us!

Frequently Asked Questions

888-777-3773

APA Ethics

We do adhere to the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists. Our courses are carefully screened by the Planning Committee to adhere to APA standards. We also require authors who compose Internet courses specifically for us follow APA ethical standards.

Many of our courses contain case material, and may use the methods of qualitative research and analysis, in-depth interviews and ethnographic studies. The psychotherapeutic techniques depicted may include play therapy, sandplay therapy, dream analysis, drawing analysis, client and therapist self-report, etc. The materials presented may be considered non-traditional and may be controversial, and may not have widespread endorsement within the profession. www.psychceu.com maintains responsibility for the program and its content.