Caregiving

We Were Each Other’s Caregivers

Here at Lotsa Helping Hands, we often find ourselves talking about the word community. Our vision is a world where everyone can give and receive help through the power of community. For us, community means so much. It’s about sharing one another’s life experiences. We too have our own community of dedicated people who spend much of their time designing and developing the best service possible, and ensuring that our free service gets into the hands of those who need it. On our Blog, we will be sharing reflections from our Team. This one comes from Julia Di Cicco, our Marketing Intern.

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My Community on Halloween: Trick or Treating, Candy and Kind Neighbors

Here at Lotsa Helping Hands, we often find ourselves talking about the word community. Our vision is a world where everyone can give and receive help through the power of community. For us, community means so much. It’s about sharing one another’s life experiences. We too have our own community of dedicated people who spend much of their time designing and developing the best service possible, and ensuring that our free service gets into the hands of those who need it. On our Blog, we will be sharing reflections from our Team. This one comes from David Jarsky, our Senior Engineer.

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On the Shoulders of Giants

Caregiving – and the challenges faced by caregivers – is now so widely recognized that it’s easy to forget that only 5-10 years ago the biggest challenge for those of us in the industry advocating for help was how to get caregivers to simply self-identify.  People viewed their caregiving challenges in terms of their responsibility as a spouse, sibling, parent, or friend. Rarely as a member of a very large club consisting of 65 million other members!

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Welcome the Fall Season by Supporting National Falls Prevention Awareness

Contributed by Sherri Snelling

While Saturday marked the first official day of fall, this whole season is the kick-off to Falls Prevention Awareness.  Falls – whether they happen in the home or just getting around town – are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for older Americans.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 3 Americans over age 65 suffers a fall and more than 18,000 seniors die every year from a fall-related incident.  Whether the fall results in a hip fracture, a head injury or other physical problem, more than 2.3 million seniors age 65+ were treated in ERs across the country with a non-fatal fall injury with more than 662,000 of those cases resulting in hospitalizations.

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What Does Medicare Pay For?: The Difficulties We Faced

Like many kids, I grew up thinking my parents were the smartest people on the planet.  They seemed to know everything.  In a world often confusing to a child, they had all the answers and could calm my worries with measured assurance.  Now that I am an adult, there have been few problems in my life that I haven’t shared with my mother and father  My entire life I have watched as one elderly family member after another relied on my parents for their caregiving support line. And they maintained remarkably good health, even after both became octogenarians in recent years. But with age comes a very valid question with regard to health: what does Medicare pay for?

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Sandwich Generation Juggling Act – the 3 Cs (Children, Career, Caregiving)

By: Sherri Snelling

Photo: Flynt/ Dreamstime

This Wednesday at 2pm EST I will be speaking during Lotsa’s Sandwich Generation Juggling Act webinar, a special session devoted to the 24 million Americans who are literally sandwiched between caring for two generations.  Representing approximately 38 percent of all caregivers, Sandwich Generation members are still parenting children living at home while they also care for older parents who now need more help.

Because Sandwich Generation caregivers tend to be in their 40s, 50s and even 60s, seven out of 10 are also juggling a career along with child rearing and caregiving.  With so many balls in the air, the Sandwich Generation caregivers often feel overwhelmed, burned out and stressed to their limits.  These caregivers are caught in a three-ring circus of children, career and caregiving, and they are the star juggling act.   At some point, the ball that gets dropped is the one that says self-care.

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A woman researches employee rights as an active caregiver.
Employee Rights: Honoring Caregiving Employees this Labor Day

Whether you were enjoying the last weekend of summer, or getting ready for school to start, we hope you had a relaxing long Labor Day weekend. Though Labor Day is most often associated with the beginning of the new school year, we got to thinking about what Labor Day is really about.

Created in 1882, Labor Day is a yearly tribute to the contributions that workers have made to our country. At Lotsa Helping Hands, we hear from so many of our members who are balancing their careers and work life, with caring for a loved one or volunteering in their Community. It’s a lot to balance!

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As two men take a walk, they chat about use Lotsa Helping Hands to provide help for caregivers.
It Takes a Community to Provide Help for Caregivers

At some point in our lives, most people become caregivers. Some will care for an elderly parent, others a sick child or a friend. They will give their time and their care for days, months or years. And while they help their loved one, they will continue to work, raise their family, do laundry, pay bills, cook dinner, help with homework, mow the lawn, and maintain friendships. They will need a break – a few moments to catch their breath. They will need a way to organize, coordinate and keep their loved ones informed. Eventually, they will need to ask for help and have a way to manage that help. Help for caregivers is not always easy to ask for, but is completely necessary.

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Helping Others: Stories of When My Daughter Needed Helping Hands

Here at Lotsa Helping Hands, we often find ourselves talking about the word community. Our vision is a world where everyone can give and receive help through the power of community. For us, community means so much. It’s about sharing one another’s life experiences. We too have our own community of dedicated people who spend much of their time designing and developing the best service possible, and ensuring that our free service gets into the hands of those who need it. On our Blog, we will be sharing helping others stories from our Team. This one comes from Paul Burney, our Chief Technology Officer.

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