By: Sherri Snelling
Every October we are immersed in a sea of pink – the color for breast cancer awareness – yet the No. 1 killer of women in America remains heart disease. In fact, twice as many women die from stroke or cardiovascular disease than all cancers combined, including breast cancer. More than 1 in 3 women will die from heart disease this year – one every minute.
By: Sherri Snelling
Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. As we honor Dr. King’s birthday this month with the “MLK Day of Service” family caregivers can perform two acts of service for their loved ones:
Here at Lotsa Helping Hands, we often hear from our very own members. This guest blog post comes from Karen, who writes about finding the right recipe to meet a family’s needs.
I recently received an email from a parent of another child in my daughter’s third grade class. Another mom—someone new to town, who I don’t yet know well—was scheduled for reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy. She’d be in the hospital for five days, followed by least another five days of strict bed rest, and probably many more days where she wouldn’t have the energy to cook for her family. One way our community was coming to her family’s aid was by organizing meal deliveries. Of course I wanted to help out.
At Lotsa Helping Hands we are truly privileged to witness the best the human soul has to offer. Reading the unsolicited testimonials sent in by many of our 1.2 million community members is both an honor as well as a constant reminder of the humbling responsibility we all have to assist those in need. While so many express their gratitude for the free service we provide, there is an underlying theme in each unique story of how family, friends, and neighbors came together to aid in caring for the caregiver. But what about those other tens of millions of caregivers who feel isolated, often desperate as they struggle daily with the emotional, physical, and financial hardships confronting them? Too often a community member who has helped someone will conclude their testimonial with a comment to the effect “I only wish I’d known about this service years ago when I was caring for my ______.”
By: Sherri Snelling
After a long, hard battle President Obama has gained a second term as Commander in Chief. We heard from the TV news pundits this election was a turning point in understanding the needs of a changing America. I hope valuing family caregivers becomes part of that change. We need to encourage the White House, Congress and all sectors of society to support those caregiving Americans who represent 80 percent of the long-term care workforce in our country – but how?
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.
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.
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!
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.
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?