Viki will be featured on AskMomRN’s radio show on 7/26/10 at 10am

Viki will be featured on blogtalkradio’s AskMomRN’s radio show on 7/26/10 at 10am.

Tamara Walker, RN, the host of MomRN has advice, support, and encouragement to help you on your journey through parenthood. MomRN is walking right alongside you on this path, with two teenage kids of her own. Her eighteen years of motherhood, plus three years as a pediatric nurse, a dozen years as a professional child care provider, and growing up as the oldest sibling of six children has given MomRN a unique variety of parenting experiences and expertise. Her expertise has helped thousands of parents as they strive to be the best parents they can be.

In March 2007, Tamara appeared via video on the Rachael Ray Show providing a helpful parenting tip for a segment on children’s health. She also wrote and starred in “Safety Smarts”, quick safety tips for use between shows for the Smile of a Child television network. Currently, she is a featured writer for Examiner.com and writes articles as the Oklahoma Child Safety Examiner.

The Ask MomRN Show covers a wide variety of parenting, family, safety, and health topics and features several well-known expert guests. Parents are welcome to call in with questions and speak with MomRN and her guests during the show.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Denise Brown interviews Viki on 6/21/10 at 9:30am PST

Denise Brown interviews Viki Kind on June 21st, at 9:30AM Pacific on BlogTalkRadio about her new book, The Caregiver’s Path to Compassionate Decision Making. Listen live or download later at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/caregiving

Your Caregiving Journey, with Denise Brown, delves into discussions about your caregiving situations. Each week, she tackles a topic related to the challenges of eldercare.

Denise has authored “Take Comfort, Reflections of Hope for Caregivers”
Denise M. Brown takes 100 words–including the unlikely blizzard, kitchen and umbrella–and then turns each into a reflection. The reflections focus on a family caregiver’s reality, sprinkled with hope. Denise’s insights about the caregiving experience feel like a warm hug, a helpful smile and an encouraging nudge.

“The Caregiving Years, Six Stages to a Meaningful Journey”
The Caregiving Years helps family caregivers of aging relatives answer these questions: Why me? Why now? What now? Follow the journey of two family caregivers as they make their way through the six stages of caregiving. The handbook includes pages for your thoughts and insights, as well as two tip sheets for quick references to the stages, your purposes and your challenges.

Denise also offers coaching. Denise coaches family caregivers in individual and group settings. She also coaches professionals and businesses working with family caregivers.Coaching takes place over the phone with sessions scheduled at your convenience (including evenings and weekends).

Have a kind and respectful day.

Improving the Medical Experience of the Person struggling with Alzheimer’s or other memory loss

When a person with Alzheimer’s or dementia is going to have a medical test or procedure, how can we help the person to feel less frightened and to minimize any suffering? If the patient is struggling to understand what will be happening to them, do a practice run-through and show the person the room where the test will happen. Or find a book with pictures that will help him understand what you are talking about. If the person with diminished capacity is afraid of being alone, you may want to introduce him to the nurses who will be working that day. For my dad, we tape-recorded the doctor’s explanations so he could listen to the information over and over again until he felt more comfortable.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the patient may be experiencing symptoms that affect his or her participation. These symptoms could be pain, side effects of medications, loss of hearing or sight, lack of sleep, an undiagnosed illness and grief, to name a few. Find out what can be done to relieve these symptoms to make it easier for the individual to participate in the process. Ultimately, our goal is to think about the quality-of-life questions from the person’s perspective as he or she will experience the consequences of our decisions.

Have a kind and respectful day.

Viki Kind interviews Allan Hager, “Right at Home” on Sept. 8th, 9AM pacific on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics

Interview with Allen Hager and Right at Home. Right at Home is a national in home care and assistance agency. They provide trained, insured and bonded caregivers for a variety of elder care services. Whether it’s for extra assistance after a stay in the hospital, an aging parent who needs extra help or companionship to remain in their own home, or as a respite for a husband or wife who cares for an ailing spouse, Right at Home can help with home health care needs.

Right at Home’s home care services cater to a variety of in home care needs ranging from companion services to personal care to light skilled nursing.
Companion & Homemaker Services:

• Caring Companionship
• Medication Reminders
• Meal Preparation
• Shopping & Errand Services
• Light Housekeeping
• Laundry Services
• Bathing Assistance
• Family Respite Care
• Recreational Activities
• Personal Hygiene & Dressing Guidance
• Incoming Mail Organization
• Review with Family
• 24-Hour Emergency Response Personal Care Services:

• Bathing
• Walking Assistance
• Posture Positioning
• Continence Care
• Oral Hygiene
• Special Diet/Meal Preparation
• Eating Assistance
• Toileting Assistance

Right at Home care services are highly personalized and flexible. Right at Home caregivers can provide in home care from a little as a few hours a day to 24 hours a day. Whether it’s for extra assistance after a stay in the hospital, or to provide respite to a caregiving spouse, home care may be the solution for you. They’ll do everything they can to make sure you and your loved one are completely satisfied. Furthermore, they take great pride in making sure they fit the right caregiver with the right client.

Suzanne Holman on Thursday, May 21st, at 10pst on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics “Keeping sane, healthy and professional when your parent has alzheimers.”

I will be interviewing Suzanne Holman on Thursday, May 21st, at 10pst on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics “Keeping sane, healthy and professional when your parent has Alzheimers.” She will be discussing how to be more productive at work while you are caring for your loved one with Alzheimers.

Suzanne Holman of Suzanne Holman International is the founder of the Alzheimer’s in the Family Coaching Program. She created this program to support business women who have a parent with Alzheimer’s to stay sane, healthy, and professional.
Suzanne has a background in nutrition, fitness, psychology, technology, and emotional intelligence. She has also had the life experience of a mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s three years ago. You can access her blog and website at www.AlzheimersintheFamily.com

Suzanne Holman International is a coaching and training company committed to supporting women worldwide in creating a life that has the elements that are important to them. In our Alzheimer’s in the Family program we support businesswomen who have a parent with Alzheimer’s to stay sane, healthy, and professional. We offer specific strategies to support you during all phases of your parent’s Alzheimer’s journey. Programs we offer are a free Gathering Call each month, small group coaching, and teleseminar programs.

The Good News And The Bad News About Hospice

The good news is that I was just in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and their hospice program is doing such a great job of providing people with the option of a good death that 46% of their dying patients are dying with the help of hospice. Amazing. Nationwide the average is 33%-38% with some states as low as 14%. I am even more impressed with what is happening in Nebraska since they are covering 9000 square miles. I know local hospices in Los Angeles that are struggling to cover their few hundred square miles. Usually those who live in rural communities are limited by the minimal medical services that are available. Nebraska has found a way to move beyond those limitations and to get people what they need. I congratulate the hospice workers of Nebraska.

The bad news is that not every hospice is the same. I was told about a hospice in another state that was providing terrible care. They weren’t using universal precautions to prevent infections from spreading to other family members, were putting the patient at risk when transferring the disabled patient and were not calling the family back when they called to complain. Like any industry, there are good and bad hospices and good and bad employees. If you are on hospice and you don’t think you are getting the care you need or they are not being respectful and responsive, change hospice providers. The bad hospice I just mentioned tells people that they can’t change their hospice provider for 90 days. That is a lie. You can change any healthcare provider any day. You are never locked in.

There are many types of hospices. There are inpatient hospices which are part of hospitals, inpatient hospices that are in their own building, for profit hospices, not for profit hospices and volunteer hospices. Any of these can provide good, loving care and most do everyday. It is not the type of hospice but the people running it and working in it that makes the difference.

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