Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

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How Do You Detect COVID–19 Symptoms in Seniors While Living Long Distance?

July 1, 2020

COVID–19  Detecting Symptoms in your loved one from a Distance

We can not always be with our loved ones. Long-Distance Families make approximately 43.5 million caregivers who have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months.  How can you keep a watchful eye on long-distance older family members for symptoms of COVID-19?  First, you will need to know what symptoms to watch and listen to.

Did you know that COVID -19 is known to develop into a severe acute respiratory syndrome and may result in death? The elderly are more susceptible to this contagion simply due to their age. Your job is to become their health detective by paying acute attention to physical symptoms and asking questions when conversing with your loved one.

Symptoms to Listen & Signs to Look for

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 may appear 2-14 days after exposure, commonly referred to as the incubation period. Common signs and symptoms can include:

  • Fever, cough or tiredness – If your loved one is suddenly not making sense or acting confused when you are talking with them, this could be an indication of having a fever and an infection.  Listen for coughing during your conversation and don’t be afraid to ask if they are napping more often or sleeping longer than usual or if they are weaker than usual.

Other symptoms can/may include:

  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing             Muscle Aches
  • Chills                                                                             Sore Throat
  • Loss of taste or smell                                                 Headache
  • Chest pain

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF MEDICAL HISTORY

If your loved one has existing medical conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, severe obesity, chronic kidney or liver disease, or compromised immune systems they may be at greater risk for contracting COVID-19.  

CALL YOUR LOVED ONE’S PCP OR ARRANGE FOR THEM TO BE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY IF MORE THAN ONE OF THESE SYMPTOMS APPEAR.

As your loved one’s health detective – Vigilantly Monitor their Physical Appearance

Call often.  Listen for symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, inability to complete sentences without having to take a breath. Are they suddenly confused or confused more than usual?

Use your technology.  Face time with your loved one. Look at them.  Are they having a hard time breathing?  Watch and count how many times their chest raises per minute. Normal breathes per minute in the elderly is 10-30. With COVID-19 the rate will be lower. Look for the appearance of lost sudden weight loss. The virus can decrease their appetite as it affects their sense of smell, making food less appetizing. Look at your loved one’s lips.  Are they discolored or have a light blue tint? This is a sign of oxygen deprivation and could potentially be very serious.

If you see any of these signs call your loved one’s PCP immediately and take/arrange for them to be taken to the hospital immediately.

JOIN ME FOR MY NEW FREE WEBINAR               

Create 5 Telehealth Products for COVID 19

WHEN. THURSDAY AUGUST 6

TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

Care Management businesses are struggling with pandemic close-downs.

Support your business bottom line, clients, and their families.

Create 5 COVID-19 products.

Products from sheltering in place through the hospital, recovery at home, discharge from an SNF, or hospital for local and long-distance elders. Increase your bottom

line as COVID spreads throughout the US and more shutdowns loom

Learn Step by Step How to Consult with Aging Families and Seniors to Choose the best Hipaa Compliant Telehealth Products to Remotely Consult with Client

  • Help a Local Family Assist a Loved One Safely Shelter in Place
  • Help a Long-Distance Family Guide a Local Loved One Shelter in Place
  • Help an Aging Family Help a Loved on Hospitalized for Covid-19
  • Help an Aging Family Care for  a Loved one Recover when Discharged from a

Nursing Home

  • Help an Aging Family Care for a loved one Recover when Discharged from a

Hospital

WHEN. THURSDAY AUGUST 6

TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

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Filed Under: Aging Community & Covid-19, Aging Family, aging family crisis, Aging Life Care Assocaition, aging life care manager, ALCA COVID-19 Crisis, ALCA Products for COVID_19, Blog, coronavirus, coronavirus marketing, Coronavirus safety elders, coronavirus shut down, CORONAVIRUS Stay at Home Plan, Covid-19, COVID-19 & Care Management, Covid-19 Nursing Home, Covis-19 Services, FREE WEBINAR, GCM COACHING SKILLS, GCM COVID 19 Crisis, GCM products in COVID-19, GCM technology, GCM Webinar, geriatric care management emergency proceduress, geriatric care manager, geriatric social worker, Home From the Hospital, inquiry COVID-19, Long Distance Care, Long distance caregiver, Pandemic, Symptoms of covid -19 Tagged With: aging family, aging life care manager, aging parent care, aging parent crisis, care manager, Care Managers Working with the Aging Family, caregiver burden, COVID-19 -inquiry, COVID-19 & INFECTION CONTROL, Covid-19 Symptoms, COVID-19 Telehealth product, GCM Telehealth Product, long distance care provider, long-distance, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, social distancing covid-19

Why is CMS Loosening Nursing Homes Infection Control in Pandemic ?

May 9, 2020

When 20% of COVID-19 cases are in Nursing Homes -CMS Rolling Back Infection Control

Insanely CMS and the FEDS are considering rolling back infection control in a nursing home in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic -when more than 20 % of the cases in the US are in Nursing Homes.

The mind-boggling idea was reported in USA Today. A rule proposed last year by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would modify the amount of time infection prevention must devote to a facility from at least part-time to “sufficient time,” an undefined term that lets the facility decide how much time should be spent.

Why do you need infection control in a nursing home- even before COVID -19?

Over 4 million Americans are admitted to or reside in nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities each year and nearly one million persons reside in assisted living facilities. Data about infections that occur in these skilled nursing home include on a normal day before coronavirus

  • 1 to 3 million serious infections occur every year in these facilities.
  • Infections include urinary tract infection, diarrheal diseases, antibiotic-resistant staph infections, and many others.
  • Infections are a major cause of hospitalization and death; as many as 380,000 people die of the infections in LTCFs every year.
  •  

Nursing Homes deaths May Be 50% of All Deaths in Pandemic

These infection control rationals were before COVID-19. Now, in the midst of this black plague of the 21st Century, it is thought, according to the Washington Post that nursing homes may account for 50% of death BEFORE infection control is further diluted by CMS.

Cities& States Reduce COVID-19 Risk in Nursing Homes -Feds Increase Them

In contrast to the blighted policy idea of the Federal government, Detroit, as a city, has tested every nursing home and in addition, is testing all staff and providing them with PPE.San Francisco is also now testing every resident of a nursing home. States like Maryland and Wisconsin and testing all nursing homes.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that at the end of the pandemic we may find out half of the deaths in the pandemic were from residents of nursing homes. In light of all of this carnage and potential destruction of the elder population in the US- why then are  CMS and Trump loosening infection control? Is this throwing salt into the would of frail elders, madness, an attempt to delete people on social security, incompetence at CMS or CMS following the bedeviled destructive policy of the Trump administration? We need answers but will we as a country get them in time?

Filed Under: aging life care manager, Aging therapist, ALCA & Skilled Nursing Facility, ALCA COVID-19 Crisis, Blog, CMS & Nursing Home Policy, coronavirus, coronavirus shut down, Covid 19, COVID-19 & Care Management, Covid-19 Death Nursing Homes, Covid-19 Nursing Home, death and dying care manager, geriatric care manager, INFECTION CONTROL & COVID-19, infection control SNF, Nursing Home Deaths, Pandemic, Trump Administration Tagged With: aging life care manager, care manager, coronavirus, Covid-19, COVID-19 & INFECTION CONTROL, COVID-19 deaths SNF's, Federal Response To Covid-19, geriatric care managers, geriatric social worker, nurse advocate

Do You Have Universal Health Precautions in Place with COVID-19

May 6, 2020

Assurances You Must Give Your Clients of Universal Precautions In COVID-19 to Trust You

 

In this pandemic, you will have to give your potential clients assurance that your care providers can render concierge caregiving, companionship, and personal care services and quality of life have completed the Corona Virus universal precautions training and have all necessary masks and gloves for each case. You should assure that caregivers should are required to take their own temperature prior to each shift and all shifts are available. In addition, you should tell clients or potential clients caregivers are able to pick up and deliver groceries, medications as well as do light housekeeping and cooking or you will arrange for meals to be delivered from the restaurant they choose. 

 

EVEN IN A PANDEMIC, CONCIERGE CLIENTS CAN AFFORD PRIVATE GCM

Concierge Client’s Can Afford You Due to Income Disparity in the US and NO LONG TERM CARE COVERAGE  Under Medicare.

Concierge customers are sadly the only customer who can afford you because Medicare does not cover long term care and, in an age of income disparity, 75% of all wealth is held in the hands of the upper 10%. They will choose you -the geriatric care manager over your competition if you have products and Four Seasons services to deliver those products- rivals do not have.

Products make sense to a high-end customer who is brand /product-oriented in purchasing anything that reflects who they are. Think Gucci purses, Rolex or Montblanc watches Dior dresses and now COVID-19 Home From the Hospital or END of LIfe Services.

4 Seasons Mentality for GCM Clients Key

All  care management customers in upper 10% relate to products not peace of mind

The Four Seasons offers a template in identifying and responding to a client’s needs – availability of 24 -hour room service, one-hour dry cleaning.

 From the moment, a guest sets foot into a Four Seasons establishment, the staff is trained to identify and respond to that client’s needs in an integrated fashion.

A Geriatric Care Manager must apply a Four Seasons Mentality to an older identify client’s needs. So, you must assess their quality of life needs, home care needs, types of referral sources they prefer, and preferred service delivery. Most important their health care needs and psychosocial needs must be identified and delivered under the same high-quality delivery by a professional care manager.

At the time care management services are started, the client may have a range of physical, emotional,

intellectual, and spiritual problems needs. The Concierge care manager’s role is to identify these needs and provide integrated, continuous solutions to meet the client’s needs.

COVID-19 PRODUCTS/SERVICES IN A PANDEMIC

Rather than tell clients you do assessment– offer products they are seeking  – like relocation (moving an older person), VIP  Care Management, Quality of Life (increasing the joy in an older person’s life who is lonely with Stay at Home Restrictions), Dementia Care, Home from the Hospital,( which many desperately need, especially during the COVID -19 epidemic), Medication Assessment,- End of Life Services, Products that pinpoint exactly what the older person needs are in a pandemic & ongoing and why the family is desperately calling for help. But these products need to be

Jaguar level, not a Hyundai buy. To do this, develop continuously integrated solutions through a product procedure placed in a company operation manual, along with all of your products so you ensure your staff can deliver, step by a step-that high-end product that the Concierge client just purchased and demands.

Free Webinar-

 

How to Sell VIP Clients a Menu of Products They Want To Buy During the Pandemic

Learn in this webinar:

COVID-19 Assurances You Must add to Your Products &Staff 

Income Inequality and No Coverage For Long Term Care Controls On Your GCM Market

Why Sell VIP Products rather than Geriatric Care Management


Why VIP GCM Clients prefer GCM Products
How to Develop a 4 Season Menu of Products
How to deliver 4 Seasons Service With VIP Products

VIP Products to Add to your Menu of Services

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Filed Under: Alcohol Abuse and Aging, Blog, coronavirus, coronavirus shut down, Covid 19, COVID-19 & Care Management, GCM COVID 19 Crisis, GCM products in COVID-19, GCM Webinar, geriatric care manager, Income inequality, INFECTION CONTROL & COVID-19 Tagged With: aging parent crisis, care manager, CORONAVIRUS WEBINAR, Covid-19, COVID-19 & INFECTION CONTROL, COVID-19 PRODUCTS, COVID-19 SERVICES, marketing during COVID-19, nurse advocate, nurse care manager

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