What You Should Know and Do this Flu Season If You Are a Senior 65 Years and Older:

It has been recognized for many years that people 65 years and older are at greater risk of serious complications from the flu compared with young, healthy adults. It’s estimated that 90 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths and more than 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations in the United States each year occur in people 65 years and older. This is because human immune defenses become weaker with age. So influenza can be a very serious disease for people 65 and older.

Actions To Take This Flu Season

1. Get Your Flu Shot

The best way to prevent the flu is with a flu vaccine. CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older get a seasonal flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available in your community. Vaccination is especially important for people 65 years and older because they are at increased risk for complications from flu.

This season’s vaccine will protect against three different flu viruses: an H3N2 virus, an influenza B virus and the 2009 H1N1 virus that caused so much illness last season. You should get vaccinated this year even if you got a 2009 H1N1 or a seasonal vaccine last year because the vaccine viruses have been updated. Immunity sets in about two weeks after vaccination, and the flu vaccine provides protection that lasts throughout the entire flu season.

This season, people 65 years and older will have two flu shots available to choose from – a regular dose flu vaccine and a new flu vaccine designed for people 65 and older with a higher dose. The high dose vaccine is associated with a stronger immune response to vaccination. However, whether the stronger immune response results in greater protection against influenza illness in older adults is not yet known. The CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have not expressed a preference for either vaccine.

2. Take Everyday Preventive Actions including covering coughs, washing hands often, and avoiding people who are sick.

3. Seek medical advice quickly if you develop flu symptoms to see whether you might need medical evaluation or treatment with antiviral drugs. It’s very important that antiviral drugs be used early to treat flu in people who are very sick with flu (for example, people who are in the hospital), and people who are sick with flu and have a greater chance of getting serious flu complications, like people 65 and older (see box for full list of high risk persons/conditions).

Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may also have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu and have respiratory symptoms without a fever.

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Tests of counterfeit vials of Avastin showed that they didn’t contain the active ingredient in Roche Holding AG’s intravenous drug, according to the Swiss company’s Genentech unit.

It isn’t clear how much of the counterfeit product was distributed in the U.S. or whether it has caused any harm. A Genentech spokeswoman said the company doesn’t know if any patients were given the fake drug.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating, and has sent letters to 19 medical practices in the U.S. that the agency says buy unapproved cancer medicines and might have bought the counterfeit Avastin.

An FDA spokeswoman said it hasn’t received any reports of patient side effects that appear to be linked to the counterfeit product.

Most Americans don’t question the integrity of the drugs they rely on. They view drug counterfeiting, if they are aware of it at all, as a problem for developing countries. But the latest incident, which follows the appearance of other fake drugs in the U.S.—including counterfeits of the weight-loss treatment Alli and the influenza treatment Tamiflu—suggests it is a growing risk, especially as more medicines and drug ingredients sold in the U.S. are made overseas.

In addition to the specter of fake medicines, U.S. drug makers are confronting their own shortcomings. Companies including Johnson & Johnson have had to shut down manufacturing plants due to quality problems. Earlier this month, Pfizer Inc. said it recalled about a million packs of birth-control pills because improper packaging could raise the risk of unplanned pregnancies.

Roche still is testing the vials of counterfeit Avastin to see what ingredients they contain, but the Genentech spokeswoman said: “It’s not Avastin. It’s not safe and effective, and it shouldn’t be used.”

Genentech said it is asking health-care providers to report any suspected counterfeits to the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.

Avastin belongs to a class of cancer therapies that interferes with the development of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow. The pricey drug, often used with chemotherapy, is for certain patients with colon, lung and other cancers. The drug was at the center of a controversy last year, because the FDA withdrew approval for its use for breast cancer, angering many patients.

A 400-milligram vial of Avastin—the size that was counterfeited—costs $2,400, according to the Genentech spokeswoman.

Last year, Genentech’s sales of Avastin in the U.S. generated more than $2.5 billion, the spokeswoman said. Many patients receive it intravenously, typically in a hospital or doctor’s office, every two or three weeks for as long as a year.

“Most [cancer] doctors in an average workweek will be using it. It is a commonly used drug,” said Leonard Saltz, who runs the colorectal oncology section at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Dr. Saltz, who also chairs the pharmacy committee monitoring the safety of Sloan-Kettering’s drug supply, said the Avastin news will prompt doctors and hospitals to double-check their sourcing of the product and make sure their supplies are safe.

Experts say counterfeits are a relatively small but still serious problem for the nation’s drug supply. In the U.S., most prescription medicines are distributed by authorized suppliers, who buy them from their manufacturers and assure their integrity. Pharmacies, too, put pressure on the distributors to ensure quality.

Still counterfeits can enter the drug supply through unauthorized distributors and Internet pharmacies that try to turn a quick profit selling the inauthentic products. Doctors and patients might not know they are using a counterfeit if it doesn’t cause harm but simply fails to work.

The counterfeit Avastin was packaged in boxes and vials whose markings were clearly different from the authentic product, according to the Genentech spokeswoman. In the U.S., boxes of authentic Avastin are labeled in English, say they were made by Genentech and have a six-digit lot number with no letters. The counterfeit boxes had writing in French, identified Roche as the manufacturer, and had lot numbers on the boxes or vials starting with B86017, B6011 or B6010.

Roche first learned there might be a counterfeit problem when an unnamed foreign health authority notified the company in December of inauthentic Avastin made overseas and said it was investigating, the Genentech spokeswoman said. Later, the FDA warned the company. The FDA said it was alerted by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the U.K.

On Friday, the FDA sent letters to 19 medical practices, mostly in California, that the agency said had bought medicines from the suppliers of the counterfeit Avastin. The two-page letters identified the suppliers as Quality Specialty Products, which the FDA said also might be known as Montana Health Care Solutions. The letter said that QSP’s products are distributed by Volunteer Distribution in Gainesboro, Tenn.

“A high percentage of these products are injectable cancer medications whose quality could be adversely affected if they are not stored or transported under specific temperatures,” the letter added.

QSP and Volunteer Distribution couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday night, nor could 17 of the 19 medical practices.

“I did not have the Avastin they were referring to,” said Naresh Gupta, a Plano, Texas, oncologist who received the FDA’s letter Monday. He said he purchased Avastin for his practice from a large national drug distributor that wasn’t named in the FDA’s announcement.

A second doctor, Raymond Heung, of San Diego, said he didn’t know anything about the Avastin problems or the FDA letter.

In its letter, the FDA asked the medical practices to “cease using and retain and secure all remaining products” from the suppliers. It also issued a general warning to medical practices asking them to “stop using” any products they might have from the two companies and report any suspect items that the companies supplied.

The Genentech spokeswoman said none of the suppliers identified by the FDA are authorized to distribute Avastin. “Genentech limits the distribution of many of its products and only sells its products directly to a defined number of fully licensed and contracted wholesalers and specialty distributors,” she said.

Counterfeiting has historically been more of a problem outside the U.S. Counterfeit Avastin was injected into the eyes of 116 patients at a Shanghai hospital, resulting in an outbreak of complications, hospital officials reported last year in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. The active ingredient in Avastin is sometimes used to treat macular degeneration, a disease that causes vision loss, though it isn’t approved for that use in the U.S.

Concerns about counterfeit drugs sold in the U.S. have grown as more products and their ingredients are made abroad. The FDA has been issuing warnings about counterfeits on average once or twice a year.

In 2010, fake versions of the over-the-counter weight-loss drug Alli were being sold over the Internet. The counterfeit versions didn’t contain the active ingredient in Alli and instead contained sibutramine, the active ingredient in the prescription-strength weight-loss drug Meridia, which has since been removed from the U.S. market because of concerns the drug increased the risk of heart attacks.

Also in 2010, the FDA warned consumers that a product sold as “Generic Tamiflu,” an influenza treatment, was actually a counterfeit containing a penicillin-like antibiotic, rather than flu-fighting antiviral drugs. And a Belgian man pleaded guilty in a U.S. court last year to selling $1.4 million worth of fake or misbranded drugs, including potentially phony Viagra and Lipitor, both Pfizer drugs, over the Internet.

U.S. customs agents and regulators are spot-checking drug imports with increasingly sophisticated laboratory equipment, but the growing volume of shipments has made it “increasingly difficult for us to regulate our own supply chain,” said Tom Woods, of Woods International LLC, a consulting firm that advises on avoiding drug counterfeiting.

Wall Street Journal Article
By Jonathan Rockoff and Christopher Weaver

Senior Care in St Petersburg, FL

Below is a list of the top ten facilities in Florida that received the most complaints during the Fall Quarter (September 1, 2011 until November 30, 2011).  I was quite surprised to find that of these 1o facilities in Florida, four of them are located in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sunshine Acres (ALF) – Caryville
17 complaints
6% resolved
License suspended as of 7/22/2011
(examples: personal property; personal hygiene)

ALP Housing Corp. (ALF) – Kissimmee
17 complaints
100% resolved–>(great job!)
(examples: menu; access to own records)

Helping Hands Foundation (ALF) – Havana
12 complaints
75% resolved
(examples: cleanliness; personal funds; odors)

Peacekeeper’s Den (ALF) – St. Petersburg
12 complaints
67% resolved
(examples: discharge/eviction; reprisal/retaliation)

Carden House (ALF) – St. Petersburg
11 complaints
82% resolved
(examples: dignity/respect; personal property)

Sarasota Health and Rehab. Center (nursing home) – Sarasota
12 complaints
58% resolved
(examples: privacy; range of motion/exercise)

South Heritage Health and Rehab. (nursing home) – St. Petersburg
8 complaints
50% resolved
(examples: supplies/linens; social services)

Jacaranda Manor (nursing home) – St. Petersburg
8 complaints
75% resolved
(examples: confinement; personal property)

Eden Springs Nursing and Rehab Center (nursing home) – Crawfordville
7 complaints
100% resolved–>(great job!)
(examples: pressure sores; dignity/respect)

Evans Health Care (nursing home) – Ft. Myers
7 complaints
100% resolved–>(great job!)
(examples: fluid availability/hydration; personal hygiene)

Also, I’ve attached a link that shows their overall rating (health inspections rating, quality measures rating, staffing rating) from the Medicare website.  This link even shows reasons for the complaints.  Follow the link, select “Find a Nursing Home Within a Certain Distance of City”, then type in ”St Petersburg” and select ”Northern Florida” and “10 miles”.   In my opinion, neither Jacaranda nor South Heritage scored very well.  http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/ProximitySearch.asp

Complaint Data Terms: Resolved: The complaint was addressed to the satisfaction of the resident. Resolved is one of several disposition codes used by the program. Resolution is determined by the resident.

Senior Care for St. Petersburg, New Port Richey, Clearwater, Ocala, Inverness, Dunnellon, Lecanto, Tampa…

Here are some top suggestions on how to keep your elderly loved one from injuring themselves in the bathroom:

1.  Install a handrail or shower rail.  Falls are a leading cause of injury to the elderly.  Rails will aide seniors getting in and out of the shower/tub.  They can also aide a senior to getting on and off the toilet.

2.  Adjust the Water Temperature.  Adjust your water heater so the water temperature isn’t over 120 degrees.  Scalding is a leading cause of injury, especially to children and seniors. By keeping the temperature low, you can help protect sensitive skin from burning.

3.  Add a Shower Chair.  Chairs are great for the elderly who are unsteady on their feet or who worry about falling.  Chairs are available with or without armrests.

4.  Add a bath mat or non-slip bath strips.  These items can help a senior from slipping on a wet surface, especially while they are trying to get out of the tub/shower.  They can even help when they are trying to stand up out of their shower chair.

5.  Add a Soap/Shampoo Dispenser.  The use of the dispenser elimates all the bottles and bars of soap and the reaching and juggling that goes with them, leaving seniors hands free to help balance themselves.

6.  Add a Nightlight.  The use of a nightlight helps to make trips at night to the bathroom safer.

Elderly Care services provided to Dunnellon, Ocala, St Petersburg, Tampa, New Port Richey, Inverness, Lecanto, Beverly Hills etc

Experimental Alzheimer’s drug is a swing for the fences:  Why Eli Lilly Could Be a Lottery Stock Pick

Most websites say your odds of winning the lottery are about 1 in 180 million.

One analyst thinks a better bet might be shares of Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY). Although the return on your investment isn’t going to be as high as it would be if you hit the Powerball, Lilly stock could double if the company’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug is effective, Tim Anderson, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note, according to Bloomberg.

“Eli Lilly and several of its competitors are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on what is essentially a massive lottery ticket,” Anderson told Bloomberg. “If their drugs are successful in delaying the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, they could end up making Lipitor look like a mid-sized product,” he said, adding that the Lilly Alzheimer’s treatment solanezumab could generate revenue of $9 billion by 2020.

A word of caution here. Even Anderson admits that the chance of solanezumab reaching its potential is only about 10% to 20%. Even those odds might be optimistic. There currently is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and scientists aren’t even certain what causes the disease that affects more than 5 million Americans.

Solanezumab is an antibody designed to clear protein fragments called beta amyloid that clutter the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Bloomberg reported. Similar drugs are being tested by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Elan (NYSE:ELN). Phase III study data on solanezumab is set to be released in the third quarter of 2012.

Lilly already has been disappointed with an Alzheimer’s drug. In late July, the company dumped the once-promising treatment semagacestat when studies showed the drug failed to reverse the decline of patients’ cognitive symptoms and seemed to increase the incidence of skin cancer.

On Wednesday, Lilly shares were up more than 5% for the week before backing off to $38 a share Thursday, about a 3% gain. At its current price, Seeking Alpha thinks Lilly is a “good, safe dividend play” for a number of reasons.

In addition to the prospects for solanezumab, the publication favors a number of things, including a solid balance sheet and dividend yield, low beta, good value from a cash flow perspective, minimal insider selling and a 40% discount to LLY’s five-year average.

Like its Big Pharma brethren Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Pfizer, Lilly has the daunting task of replacing some blockbusters that soon will lose patent protection. Investors are somewhat anxious about Lilly’s prospects once generic versions of Zyprexa, Cymbalta and Humalog hit the market.

One drug that might help fill the gap is the cholesterol fighter evacetrapib, which has shown good results in clinical trials. Although the competition is steep, the drug could give Lilly a nice boost considering the size of the market.

By Barry Cohen, investorplace.com

Of all the articles I’ve ever read describing the early signs of Alzheimer’s Disease this is by far one of the best:

You’re about to leave the house but can’t find your keys. You’re mystified,  because you have a spot where you always put them. But finding them only  thickens the plot: They are sitting next to the phone, where you never leave  them.

That kind of scenario by itself is not a sign of Alzheimer’s disease, experts  say. But it might be, depending on the what lay behind the key loss and what you  do about it. Suppose, said Ruth Drew, director of family and information  services at the Alzheimer’s Association, you forget about the  phone call that caused you to set your keys down to begin with. If you think, “Someone moved my keys, it couldn’t have been me because I never put my keys by  the phone,” she said, that is a typical sign of the brain deterioration  associated with Alzheimer’s.

The disease itself was discovered in 1906 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In  examining the brain of a woman whose fatal symptoms had included memory loss,  language problems and unpredictable behavior, he found clumps and tangled  bundles of fibers. Today these amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, as  they are called, are known to characterize Alzheimer’s. Healthy neurons slow  down, lose their ability to communicate and die in a process involving the  hippocampus, the memory-forming part of the brain.

The onset of Alzheimer’s can predate actual symptoms by 10, 15 and even 20  years. Thus, getting diagnosed early can be vital, even for an affliction that  cannot be halted, cured or slowed. For treatment can alleviate the symptoms and  prolong one’s quality of life. The earlier the intervention, the more effective  it is.

“There is a lot of gain from possible interventions that makes your life  better, makes you better handle the disease, or if you’re a caregiver, better  handle the disease of the person you care for,” said Marc Wortmann, executive  director of  Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI),  the London-based umbrella organization for Alzheimer’s groups worldwide. ADI’s  new study, “World Alzheimer Report 2011: The Benefits of Early Diagnosis and Intervention,” reflects such benefits.

Getting diagnosed early also affords the sufferer a chance to make plans. “I’ve worked with a lot of families in late-stage Alzheimer’s,” Drew said. “[They] want to do the right thing, but they don’t always know what the right  thing is.”

Early diagnosis enables the person to elect specific kinds of care,  nursing-home placement and the like. Just as important, a screening may  determine that what ails the subject is not Alzheimer’s at all. Many treatable  issues—depression­, conflicting medications, hormonal imbalance, vitamin ­deficiency—can cause symptoms.

Ten early signs distinguish Alzheimer’s:

• Disruptive Memory Loss. Forgetting recently learned  information, important dates or events; asking repeatedly for the same  information; or needing numerous reminder notes are bad signs. A typical  age-related lapse could be temporarily forgetting a name or appointment.

• Challenges in Planning or Problem-Solving. Following  recipes or keeping track of bills could become tricky, as opposed to making an  occasional checkbook-balancing error.

• Difficulty With Familiar Tasks. Daily tasks such as  driving somewhere familiar may become bewildering. An age-related change:  needing an assist to set up a DVR.

• Confusion With Time or Place. Losing track of dates or  seasons and the sense of time passing contrast with someone aging normally, who  might get briefly confused about what day it is.

• Trouble With Visual Images and Spatial Relationships. A  sufferer might have trouble reading, judging distance and determining color or  contrast, or may walk past a mirror and think someone else is in the room.  Problems extend to balance and things like negotiating curbs.

• New Word Problems. Someone who has been proficient with  words his entire life may find it difficult to follow or join a conversation,  stop talking mid-­conversation, or repeat himself. We all have occasional  trouble, said Drew. “But this is more profound. People can’t remember simple  words like pen or watch or chair. They’ll say, ‘the  thing you write with, the thing you sit on.’ ”

• Misplacing Things. “People put their watch in the freezer  and their ice cream in the cupboard,” said Drew. The person may also be unable  to retrace his or her steps to find a lost item.

• Impaired Judgment. Good judgment and decision-making may  head south, as could grooming and cleanliness.

• Withdrawal From Work or Social Life. A person may quit  hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports.

• Changes in Mood and Personality. Sufferers can become  confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. They may have a short fuse.  Becoming set in one’s ways is more natural.

Alzheimer’s care  Senior Home Care services provided to Dunnellon, Ocala, St Petersburg, Tampa, New Port Richey, Inverness, Lecanto, Beverly Hills etc

There is a new study out that links eating a half a serving of baked or broiled fish a day for one to four days a week can lower your risk of Alzheimer’s.  This is something we can add to our Alzheimer’s Care list.

Below is some information from two articles that I have found on this study.

Study Links Adding Fish to Your Diet May Ward off Alzheimer’s

Eating at least one serving of baked or broiled fish a week could improve memory function, increase brain volume and stave off Alzheimer’s, according to a new study recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, Health News reports.

While previous research has suggested that including fish in one’s diet may have brain-boosting effects, the latest study from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center suggests that consuming non-fried fish can battle against the brain shrinkage and cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s.

“We found higher levels of working memory in people who ate baked or broiled fish on a weekly basis, even when accounting for other factors, such as education, age, gender and physical activity,” said lead research author Dr. Cyrus Raji.

The study consisted of 260 adults with normal cognitive function.  They were tracked for over a decade. Based on questionnaire data, 163 of the participants consumed fish on a weekly basis, with the majority eating fish one to four times per week. This study was the first study to add MRI imaging to support its findings.

The brain volume and memory function of each study participant was measured via MRI.  It was measured both at the start and at end of the analysis. The findings revealed that those subjects who ate more fish possessed better memory function and larger brain areas, including the posterior cingulated and the orbital frontal cortex, as well as the hippocampus, which is known to shrink in people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Raji said that in those with larger brain volume, “The risk for Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment went down by fivefold within five years following the brain scans we conducted.” He stated that he was “amazed” that the benefit was seen among people who ate fish as little as one to four times a week. “We’re talking about just a half serving a day, and that would be a very small lifestyle change that can affect disease risk a long time down the line.”

These results support a study published in the Archives of Neurology last year that found that consumption of a Mediterranean-style diet high in fish, fruit and vegetables was associated with a 38% less likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease over the following four-year period.

Experts speculate that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils may reduce inflammation of the brain and play a role in brain development and nerve-cell regeneration. Oily fish (such as salmon, herring, trout and sardines–varieties that are not commonly fried) have the highest content of essential omega-3 fatty acids.

Because there weren’t any health benefits linked to the consumption of fried fish in this current study, there could be more to the story, such as lifestyle factors or the type of fish consumed.

LA Weekly by Samantha Bonar & HealthNews by Drucilla Dyess

Alzheimer’s Care services offered to clients living in St Petersburg, Dunnellon, Ocala, Tampa, Inverness, Hernando, New Port Richey, Lecanto, Crystal River etc

If you get a “Whale” level car wash at Soapy’s Car Wash in Ocala, they will donate $2.00 from every wash to the Hospice of Marion County.  This promotion will run through the month of December.

A “Whale” wash includes:

• *Foam Bath, spot free finish, plus blow and towel dry
• *Under carriage wash and wheel bright
• *Tri-color clear coat conditioner or Element shield and tire shine

There are two locations both in Ocala:

• *1621 SW 19th Avenue Road, Ocala, FL
• *11265 SW 93rd Court Road, Ocala,FL

Follow this link to print out the coupon:  http://www.hospiceofmarion.com/images/events/SoapysCarWash.pdf

Or just mention the Hospice of Marion County special when washing your car at Soapy’s.

**************************************

Hospice Care is available to people of all ages, from children to the elderly, who are in the final stages of life.

Elderly Care Services provided in Ocala, Marion County, St Petersburg, New Port Richey, Dunnellon, Clearwater.

It was early evening when Lee Ferrero got in his car to make the trip home from a meeting for work. He’d done the trip many times over the years, and he looked forward to the drive.

Several hours later he found himself in open farmland in unfamiliar territory. He pulled over, brought out a book of maps, and realized he’d driven two hours past the turnoff to his home in Los Osos, California.

“It was terrifying,” he remembers now. “I thought, I didn’t mean to come here. How did this happen? I just zoned out.”

But he wasn’t just zoning out. A visit to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, showed Ferrero was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia.

“That car ride was a real wake-up call,” he says.

After his trip to Mayo, Ferrero’s wife insisted he get a professional driving evaluation to make sure he was safe to drive. His driving was fine — the only problem was that he might wander off again down the road.

It has been five years since that fateful car trip. The disease forced Ferrero, an Air Force veteran, to retire from his position as president and CEO of the Private Industry Council of San Luis Obispo County. Now 64, he doesn’t want to sit home all the time, and still drives and walks around.

To decrease the chance he’ll wander again, Ferrero writes down exactly where he’s going so he can refer to it later, and he wears an ID bracelet with a 24-hour emergency response number. He hasn’t had another wandering incident, but knows he might at some point as his disease progresses.

“I forget things I never used to forget and I know it’s only going to get worse,” he says.

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and Family Caregiver Month. About 60% of the nation’s 5 million Alzheimer’s patients will wander, according to Beth Kallmyer, senior director of constituent services at the Alzheimer’s Association.

“This is such a big worry for families,” she says. “We tell them their loved ones can wander off at any time, even when you just go into the kitchen for a minute to start dinner.”

Kallmyer advises families that there’s no way to keep an eye on someone 24-7, but that there are some steps they can take to decrease the chances their loved one will wander.

1. Keep wandering top of mind
Sometimes families are surprised when their loved one wanders. Lawrence Schonfeld, an Alzheimer’s expert, has noticed sometimes families forget that wandering is a huge risk because they’re so overwhelmed with other aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.

That can be a fatal mistake.

“Families are worried their loved one will leave the stove on in the kitchen, or they’re annoyed when their loved one asks the same question over and over again,” he says. “Wandering isn’t always their major concern.”

2. Pick up on the red flags of wandering
Wandering can happen at any time, but it’s more likely in certain situations, such as when someone with dementia is in unfamiliar surroundings.

People with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia often leave clues that they’re about to wander. If your loved one says, “It’s time to go to work,” she might truly be headed out the door in a few minutes. “I want to go home” might mean he’s about to go in search of his childhood home, and you have to stop him.

3. Distract them
Don’t say “Dad, you haven’t worked in 30 years,” or “Mom, you’re already at home.” Reasoning won’t work. Instead, distract.

“If they say they want to go to work, tell them ‘OK let’s go see if we can find your shoes,’” Schonfeld suggests. “By the time they get their shoes on they’ll have forgotten about going to work.”

4. Block (or disguise) the exits
For safety reasons, you should never lock or trap a person with dementia in a home alone. If someone is there with them you can block the doors. There also are screens you can buy that look like, say, library books, so your loved one won’t realize it’s in front of a door. You can also put a lock toward the bottom of the door; Kallmyer says people with dementia won’t think to look for a lock in such an unusual place.

Another idea: Put a mirror or a stop sign on the door, or you can try putting a dark rug in front of the door. People with late-stage dementia might think it’s a hole and won’t go near it.

5. Label your rooms
Sometimes people with dementia will go wandering off in search of the bathroom or a glass of water and get distracted and actually leave the house. The Mayo Clinic suggests putting a picture of a toilet on the door to the bathroom or food on the door to the kitchen, so they can more easily find what they need.

6. Keep them busy
“Sometimes people wander out of boredom, or because no one’s paying attention to them,” Kallmyer says. “Spending a lot of time watching TV isn’t good. Have them wash dishes with you, or fold clothes.”

You can also enroll your loved one in an adult day care program so they’ll have interesting activities or hire a companion through a senior home care agency to spend time with your loved one.

7. Take a walk
“Have them take a walk or exercise with you,” Schonfeld suggests. “They may be so tired afterwards they’ll want to sit for a while.” Even if they’re not tired, the social engagement of the walk might be enough to keep them from wandering in search of company.

8. Provide safe wandering
Create a path through the rooms of your house as a place for your loved one to wander, or a circular trail through a fenced backyard, the Mayo Clinic advises.

There are now GPS shoes track dementia patients

9. Consider technology
Some devices alert you if a door is open in the house. Others tell you if your loved one has wandered beyond a certain area. You can even attach a GPS to your loved one and then go online to find him on a map; the GPS might be on a bracelet or in a shoe.

The Alzheimer’s Association has an overview of electronic devices that can help keep track of Alzheimer’s patients, and the association also has information about the ComfortZone and other safety products it sells. American Health Assistance Fund has a partial listing of companies that sell safety products. These devices can be expensive and some have a monthly service fee.

10. Find the right facility or caregiving agency

Many families aren’t sure they can safely keep their loved one with dementia at home. The Alzheimer’s Association has a guide to determining what kind of care you need, and a guide for finding nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and/or caregiving/senior home care agency.

Schonfeld recommends you check out a facility to see whether it has any complaints against it, especially those that involve wandering. The National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center has a list of state ombudsmans’ offices, which can help you find the complaints.

Be sure to ask the right questions.

“Is the door monitored, either electronically or by staff?” Schonfeld says. “Do they have electronic devices to keep track of people who wander? And ask about their strategy for what they do if someone does wander off.”
Are they experienced in working with Alzheimer’s patients?

CNN By Elizabeth Cohen, Senior Medical Correspondent

Senior Home Care for New Port Richey, Ocala, Dunnellon, St Petersburg, Clearwater, Tampa, Inverness