Off topic

It didn't take me long to get off topic but I wanted to mention two sites that I have found to be very helpful, though for very different reasons. These two sites could not be more different but I found them both to be useful with ongoing issues here.

The first is a site that I have been reading because my husband was laid off a month ago and since I am the more technical one I have been trying to help him with online resources in his job search. The site covers a lot about how to find a high paying job online and the author makes a lot of useful points. He understands that it isn't just about job boards. There is a lot you need to know about the jobs that are posted and there is a lot you can do to make the online tools work for you.

The second site deals with a problem we have had for a while. Our neighbor has a small pond in his yard and it attracts Canadian geese every summer. The geese don't know about property lines so they wander over onto our lawn and leave a huge mess. The site deals with ideas on how to get rid of canadian geese and has been very useful. Reading the site has saved a lot of money on things would otherwise have tired to get rid of the geese and it has suggested ideas that i would never have thought of.

Check them both out!

It seems that senior care is really a growing topic. More and more people I talk to are caring for senior citizens in some way. And, more and more people are writing about senior care. It is a good feeling to know that you are not the only one who spends time caring for a senior citizen. I have several friends who blog about senior care in some way or another, and I found another interesting blog directly about senior care recently.

My sense is that most senior care is for an elderly mother, then a father, but fewer, then friends or neighbors. Of course that is not scientific. The blog I mentioned above has some interesting statistics specifically about senior care and how it is a growing issue. If the senior population keeps growing there will be a lot of people needed to take care of them.

I guess the number of people who are comfortable with computers and blogging whose parents grow into senior citizens and need care will grow so that the number of people blogging about senior care will also grow. That will give us all a better sense of community.

So come on senior care community, let's blog.

Senior housing or assisted living?

I guess this is coming up a lot, but we are starting to think about senior housing or assisted living options. Mom is really starting have an issue living in her own house. I am worried about her safety and it is becoming more and more of a burden on me. I spend a lot of time taking care of her and driving her to and from health care appointments, the senior center, visiting her friend in senior housing or nursing homes or assisted living facilities. I think it is time to look into getting her into a housing situation that is more suited for senior citizens. Her neighbors are great but they are not really ready to care for an elderly lady.

I'm not sure where she fits in the spectrum from senior housing to assisted living. I think she would prefer the assisted living option but it looks like it is going to be too expensive and she doesn't really need all of the services that the local assisted living places are offering. They have on site health care and will check in on her several times a day, and she likes the contact, but she is really still pretty independent and assisted living seems to be designed for people who can't get around and/or are no longer really competent to take care of themselves. Fortunately she really can, its just that I worry about her living on her own in her own house.

The senior housing option looks like it might be a better fit. She would be surrounded by other senior citizens and wouldn't always feel like the "elderly lady down the street" which she has complained about before. The senior housing and retirement communities around here though seem to have very long waiting lists. It feels like you have to wait for people to die in order to get into senior housing or a retirement community. It is a little morbid. Maybe there is a progression from senior housing or a retirement community to assisted living, to a nursing home, to ... Maybe she just need to get on the path and just follow people through.

I also need to publicly thank the guys at RidgeDetail for great snow plowing service for my Mom this year.

I took a look at the senior housing / assisted living information on www.seniorsnh.com but it looks like they still have a lot of adding to do.

First post on senior care

Two of my friends now have started blogging on the general topic of senior care and what they are doing to help care for their elderly relatives and find then suitable living, community, health care, services, etc. We talk a lot and have discovered that there is not a lot of good information (at least in New Hampshire) about services for senior citizens. Hopefully our blogging will help others who are caring for and looking for senior citizens and help the elderly themselves who are looking for resources.

I am also helping with the Seniors NH - resources for seniors project. In the end we realize that not that many seniors are on-line themselves, but I think a lot of us who help care for them are. The web should be a great way to find resources, though so far, at least on this topic, it is more limited than I would hope. I guess that is because people don't think that any seniors are on-line so they are not going to the web to find resources and housing options, and the like. Hopefully the project can help.

My friends blogs are at: New Hampshire Senior and Senior Living and Care. I'm also going to look for other blogs of people in the area who are dealing with the same issues and see if we can connect with them.

More later as I get going on this. In the mean time, I'm off to take my mother to the senior center to see their presentation on activities fo rthe elderly.