Staying around hometown and waiting for the economy to pick up is one option for the June 2009 graduates.   How long is the wait going to be though? How long will it take to find jobs? Young people have a tough choice: stay put or move to a new location. You can't just sit around and wait for things to start happening, you've got to go where the opportunities are. 

 

Employers are either reducing work force around the country or, at the best case scenario, they are simply not hiring. Under these circumstances graduates will need to improvise, adapt and overcome obstacles. The question is: should they stay where they are or should they go. Unemployment rates vary by city, state and country. Moving to a new location could be the best solution. For many, however, moving to a new location is not going to be an option simply because it is way too expensive to rent a place in a new city. The cost of getting there is nothing comparing to the price of apartment rental, security deposit, utility bills and the overall cost of living. 

 

A very innovative solution to this problem is finding a free place to stay while looking for a job. There are many seniors living alone in their family homes and trying to stay there rather for as long as possible. Moving into nursing homes is the last resort. Most elderly don't need full time care. They just need someone to take care of things around the house for them.   12 - 16 hours a week is probably plenty of time to do that. Unfortunately, with their retirement plans and 401K savings depleted by the recession, hiring someone to work 16 hours a week could be a very pricy proposition. Here is where the youth steps in - exchange part time work for free accommodations. At current day and age, a background check and reference check can be run quickly and easily.  

 

A good place for the young and the old to meet is Host & Care global community that connects students looking for free accommodations with families and elderly looking for care.   Elderly, disabled or families in need of care create their profiles and offer free room or free room and board to a student willing to help out on part time basis. It is a win-win for all: homeowners can finally utilize their spare bedroom that they were heating and cooling for years anyway and get the much needed care for their home, themselves, their kids or their pets. Young people can move to a new area and have the luxury of stress free job search. They don't have bills to pay so they can take time looking for a job. Once they find one, they can save up almost all they earn since they are living rent free. Instead of starting out in debt, they start saving what they earn. 

 

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Hiring a care provider for an elderly or disabled can be a very expensive proposition.  You have all the expenses of maintaining a household in addition to paying for the senior care.  However, thanks to Host & Care a solution is on the horizon.  You can now find a part-time, live-in student volunteer to assist you with daily chores and help you around the house.  

If you have a spare bedroom in your house you can join Host & Care and search for a care provider who is volunteering to help out on average 16 hours a week for free.  You can contact him or her on our website and conduct a background and reference check in addition to directly talking to her on our chat, watching video, looking at the pictures, sending e-mails or conducting face to face interview on line.  

In addition to getting free home care from a student volunteer you get a companionship of a person on daily basis.  You also have someone to live-in in your home with you so in case of emergency you are secured knowing that there is someone around.  

Saving thousands of dollars in elder care expenses is very important during the recession.  You probably lost a lot of money from your retirement investments last year and now you are wondering how long you could go on like this.  With the advancement in medical care we all live longer lives and so we need more money to last us for a long period of time.  

Nursing home and assisted living facilities cost thousands of dollars per month and do not offer you the comfort of your own home.  The care givers are most likely uneducated and overworked.  They are strangers just like your potential volunteer.  However, once you conduct a background check and invite a volunteer into your house you will become friends or even like family.  This will never happen at the nursing home.  

Do you need more than a part-time care?  Do you need someone to take care of you full time?  You can pay a small stipend for the extra hours or you can open your house to a single parent.  We have many single parents volunteering their services and they are willing to work much longer hours.  Some of them have a child who is old enough to help out as well. 

The arrangements are up to you.  You pick a caregiver, you agree on the number of hours per week to work, on all the rules and chores that need to be done.  

 

 

 

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Undoubtedly the best way to spend the senior years is to live at your very own home.  There is no nursing home or assisted living facility that can replace the comfort of your own house. 

If your elderly parent or parents are still staying in their own house, you may be concerned about their safety and their well-being, you don't know if they are taking their medications properly and if they are eating. You have no idea about their diet and how they get the food to the house.  You might need to hire live in care.  Live-in caregiver can help your parents with basic chores, make sure they take their medication, provide them with transportation, cook and even do light housekeeping. If need be, the caregiver can also help them with bathing and dressing. This can be a very expensive proposition.  On average, you have to expect to pay at a minimum $15.00 an hour.  However, chances are, your elderly parent lives in a family home with plenty of room to offer housing to care provider in exchange for care.  Conducting a background and reference check is easy, reliable and inexpensive. 

Host & Care is a community that connects students and travelers looking for free accommodations with families and seniors looking for care. You offer free room and board in exchange for getting live-in personal or home care.  The benefit of this type of exchange is tremendous.  You have no out of pocket expense and save a lot of money while at the same time you get the peace of mind.  If you are looking for options for taking care of your elderly parents, consider at home caregiver services. This enables older people to stay at home and gives caregivers an opportunity to work or study outside of the house. If you have siblings who also take care of mom or dad, you should discuss the possibility of getting a caregiver in to help out with caring for your parents.  Elderly neglect their health care: The effort of arranging transportation to and from the doctor's office, having prescriptions filled and picked up at the pharmacy, and understanding what the doctor tells her and who won't take the time to insure she understands, is enough to make anyone avoid the health care system altogether.  A live-in caregiver would take care of all these steps for you.  Elder caregiver will stay with your senior parent at the doctor's office to hear everything the doctor explains to mom. Although elderly won't admit it, she likely will never remember most of what she is told by the doctors and nurses. If the care provider weren't there with her, you can't explain anything to her and she is left to struggle with the prescription medications and forgotten advice. 

Senior caregiver also works as a confidant and adviser: elderly often won't admit to being hard of hearing, incompetent in buttoning her blouse, or forgetful of many normal daily chores that need to be done. Live-in care giver gently makes it obvious you are there for her anytime 24/7, and are more than happy to talk with her about troublesome issues. Just the promise of this availability is reassuring enough to her self-esteem.  Many times, just knowing that someone is there and available will prevent depression, anxiety, and the feeling of helplessness.

Nutrition issues: Seniors typically give up cooking foods like they used to do. It's a lot easier to pop a microwave dinner into the microwave now and then. Appetite is decreased as a result of less demand from a body that has little activity, less exercise, and less caloric requirements. Often a senior will pick one or two foods they like and only eat those daily. It results in lack of balanced nutrients, vitamins, and required proteins such as certain amino acids.

 

When mom does not live with you, you really don't know what her nutrition is lacking. A live-in caregiver will make sure that elderly has a bottle of good multivitamins, enough food ready to eat and drink in the fridge, and some red wine to sip on daily to supplement her nutrition.

Safety issues: Elderly tend to fall down as a result of poor depth perception, fading vision, weakened leg muscles, and lack of attention to their surroundings. It's a great help in prevention of falls if you eliminate rugs they can trip over, furniture that becomes unstable with use, moving items to lower shelves where older ladies can easily reach them, give away her shoes with leather soles, install bath and shower bars as well as hand rails at any place she must go up and down steps, make latches on doors easy to open, and remove any items that can fall on her from high up storage spots.  Having student volunteer live in the house with an elderly person will alleviate the danger. 

Money worries: For seniors money is a constant worry. When their bank account gets low, then they start skipping doctor appointments and eat less. Make sure their money is readily available to them while mom is still alert, clear minded, and oriented to time and place.

Hidden trauma problems: Seniors do not want others to think they are deteriorating to a point where they are unable to take care of themselves. They hide the bruises, cuts, and abrasions that occur and others might perceive as incompetence. Pain, stomach aches, bad headaches, arthritis of joints with decreased range of motion, and they'll also keep you from noticing.

The mental side of aging: The most traumatic problem mom's face is the thought that their mind is no longer clear or stable. One of the first symptoms to show up is losing track of recent memory, people's names, and dates. Forgetting to take medications or to take them at proper intervals can be very serious-under-dosing, and bad health problems return-over-dosing, and suffer bad side effects seems somewhat common in elderly folks.

Care provider will organize mom's medicines for her is a great help to her as well as being a smart way to avoid overdosing problems. Or, just checking how she organizes her meds and takes them. Nursing homes are well known for medication errors, missed doses, and patient care neglect. So, when possible, check out these things thoroughly.

Emotional connections: When senior is well established in her residence, way of life, friends she sees daily, fun events she enjoys locally, and has a well established comfort zone, it is unwise to yank her out of there and force her to live with you or near you.

It does is destroy all her relationships, disrupts all her familiar surroundings which have given her mental comfort, and exposes her to all the insecurity she has been trying to avoid at this time in her life.

 

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We have become all too familiar with nursing homes. Families in the United States usually move their elderly loved ones to a nursing home for a long-term or permanent rehabilitation service. However, in 1990s, assisted living facilities were born giving the elderly and their families a better option. Assisted living facility is referred to different names in different states. It is also known as senior housing in Colorado while other states refer to it as retirement living home, adult living facility, elderly care housing, among others.

Nursing home is a skilled care facility for senior citizens who need 24-hour medical attention. This is for elderly with chronic medical conditions who needs and requires round-the-clock skilled care, long-term attention, and also for short-term recovering patients after being discharged from the hospital.

On the other hand, assisted living residence is for seniors who cannot independently live in their homes, who need assistance in their daily living activities and would want to grow old in an environment that provides a warm, peaceful, and safe home environment with new and balanced lifestyle and socialization, thus, allowing them to nurture new friendships with other residents and subsequently improve their physical, mental and emotional condition.

Nursing homes typically provide room and board, meals, skilled nursing and personal care, and medication management services, and social and recreational activities for their residents. While senior housing offers long term elderly care and assisted living guidelines which includes the following services: Care management and monitoring, help with activities of daily living, housekeeping and laundry, medication management, recreational activities, security, transportation, and two or more meals per day.

Nursing home long-term patients are being assisted in multiple daily activities such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring in and out of chairs or bed, and the like. These also include residents with cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia. Nursing homes provide a secure environment and an array of services to meet the physical, medical, and social needs of their residents.

Assisted living residents only needs assistance with meal preparation, activities of daily living (ADL), medication support and household chores, and/or require supervision due to a cognitive impairment related to disorders such as mild Alzheimer's.

More than 50% of the nursing home residents were women, and 14% were under 65 years old. The average age of a nursing home resident is 86 years old (Source: US Census Bureau 2007). While more than 900,000 Americans live in approximately 39,500 senior care in the country. The average age of a senior living care resident is 85 years old and the average length of stay is roughly 27 months.

Lastly, the average daily cost for assisted living is still less than half the average daily cost for a private room in a nursing home. The average rate for a semi-private room has increased by 1.1% from $189 daily (in 2007) to $191 daily (in 2008) while the average assisted living rate has increased by 2.1% from $2,969 monthly (or approximately $98 daily in 2007) to $3,031 monthly (or approximately $101 daily in 2008). The average rate for a private room in an Alzheimer's wing is $219 and $198 for a semi-private room in the same wing. Rates vary by region and depending on the number of services included.

Quality of Life - the key difference between living at home and living in an assisted living home.

 

 

Have you gotten that call in the middle of the night telling you that your mother who is 2,000 miles away has fallen and is in the hospital? Has your father come for a visit and had a slight stroke? These circumstances can interrupt your everyday life and send you into a state of panic and fear. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO WHEN YOUR PARENT IS HOSPITALIZED IS TO PUT YOUR PANIC AND WORRY ASIDE AND SHIFT INTO WARRIOR MODE. Here's what you need to do.

1. Don't panic. It is natural to be fearful and overwhelmed when your mother or dad is rushed to the hospital. Accept your feelings as natural, but put them aside right away. YOU ARE YOUR PARENT'S BEST ADVOCATE. If you live far away, immediately call a friend who can go to the hospital and be your liaison on the ground until you get there. You will quickly get frustrated and angry trying to get information about what's happening with Mom or Dad unless you have someone on the scene looking out for YOU and letting you know what's going on. If you can't get to the hospital, there are also elder care advocates like myself who can be your eyes and ears and fight through the system so your parent gets the best care.

2. Contact your mother or dad's physician immediately. As a side note here, it is very important that your parent have a general internist physician (preferably a gerontologist if you can find one) WHO IS WILLING TO FOLLOW YOUR PARENT TO THE HOSPITAL IF NECESSARY. This is obviously something to arrange now, before any unforeseen hospitalization occurs.

Many hospitals now promote to patients a new system of "hospitalists" -- these are physicians who only work at the hospital and don't have a private practice. The problem with this is that your parent will be a new patient to the hospitalist and you might not have the same hospitalist every day. WHAT YOU WANT IS YOUR PARENT'S PHYSICIAN WHO KNOWS YOUR PARENT'S HISTORY TO VISIT THE HOSPITAL EVERY DAY AND DIRECT YOUR PARENT'S CARE! This is very important for the continuity of care for your mom or dad and for your comfort. A hospitalist might not pick up on something about your parent that his or her own physician would because of their history together.

3. Don't be intimidated by the hospital system. The reality is that hospitals have their own protocols and systems which may work for them, but may not necessarily work for you! You land in a place that's all new to you -- and they've got the advantage. Do not be afraid to ask questions of the nurses, other staff or the physicians. Hospitals tell us that their mission is to take the best care of their patients, but the reality is the only person who will be looking out for the best interests of your parent is YOU or YOUR ADVOCATE.

When my mother was in the hospital, I walked up to the nurses' station behind which about 10 people were chatting away, and the one who was sitting at the desk right in front of me refused to look up. I finally called out, Hello, anybody home? And they all turned in disbelief, but I got what I needed.

4. If possible, keep your parent in the hospital for THREE OVERNIGHTS. True, you do not have complete control over this, that's why the presence of your parent's own physician can be so important, but if your parent will have to go to a rehab facility or go home for therapy, and he or she is on Medicare, Medicare will only pay for follow-up treatment if your parent has spent three full overnights in the hospital. Not days, but overnights.

Don't let them try to push Mom or Dad out too early. If it's legitimate for them to stay in the hospital, make sure they stay. I had a friend who unfortunately did not know the three-day rule at the time, and her mother wanted to leave the hospital early. She needed therapy at home as the doctor prescribed but had to pay for it herself because she did not meet the three-overnight rule.

5. Manage the hospital's discharge planner. Within a day or two of your parent's admission, you will meet the discharge planner, whose job it is to arrange for where Mom or Dad goes and what help they need after the hospital. THIS IS VERY KEY -- if your parent is going to have to go to a rehab facility, a skilled nursing facility, and the three-day rule is met, Medicare will pay for the best or worst facility. IT IS YOUR JOB AS ADVOCATE TO FIND OUT THE BEST FACILITY AND GET MOM OR DAD IN THERE! This will make a world of difference in their aftercare.

The discharge planner will give you a list of facilities in the area. They are not ethically allowed to tell you what the best ones are. Typically, they will ask you to pick three, and then whichever of those three facilities has a bed on the day Mom or Dad is discharged from the hospital, that's where they'll go.

BUT HERE'S THE CATCH -- THERE MAY ONLY BE ONE GREAT FACILITY IN THE AREA. SO HOW TO GET THERE? First, you have to find it. Ask friends, families, colleagues. If you've hired an advocate, they'll be able to guide you. If you're on the ground, go visit the facilities. Ask for a tour of the skilled nursing facility. Talk to the admissions officer at the facilities you like. If one stands out above the rest, keep talking to the Admissions officer at that facility (you won't know exactly what day your parent will be discharged) and tell the hospital's discharge planner that you want your parent to go there.

This is so important and the trickiest part. When you find out (usually the day before) when Mom or Dad is to be discharged, call the facility (or facilities if you're blessed to have several you like) and ask if they will have a bed open the next day. Some hospital discharge planners are wonderful, others are annoying and territorial. They may see you as interfering with "their" job. But put any concerns about that aside, and recognize that they are treading on YOUR territory, where Mom or Dad goes will make no difference to them, it will make all the difference to you. If there's a bed open where you want to go, tell the discharge planner that day -- tell them you've talked to the admissions representative at the facility, there's a bed available, and you want Mom or Dad to go there. DO NOT GIVE IN AT ANY POINT AT THIS STAGE. YOU'VE DONE THE HARD WORK, IT'S TIME FOR MOM OR DAD (AND YOU) TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF YOUR INVESTIGATIONS AND ADVOCACY!

Remember, regardless of your past history, fighting for your parent at this time in his or her life when they may need you most, can become the most rewarding time of togetherness for both of you and lead to great healing, if needed, and joy. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it. Hopefully, with these tips in mind, you can focus on loving your parent to the best of your ability and not on the frustrations that come from navigating unknown waters.

 

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Families face few problems when hiring an Au Pair. Agencies charge families a considerable amount of money for placing an Au Pair in the family home and her salary is a considerable weekly expense. Additionally, you don’t really know whom you are getting to live with you in your very own house until the last moment. Au pairs face few problems as well. They move to a new location eager to see the country, experience the culture, do sightseeing, take some classes, make friends and have an amazing experience to remember for a lifetime. Unfortunately, when they work 45 hour week they don’t have time or energy left to do any of the exciting things they set out to do. Host & Care offers a solution to all of the above problems. Using Host & Care free social network volunteer au pairs offer to provide part time childcare in exchange for free room and board. This form of exchange gives volunteer au pair free time to study, make friends, socialize, do sightseeing and go out while at the same time she has free room and board. Family gets free part-time childcare which saves thousands of dollars. In case of school age children chances are you don’t need someone to be working 45 hours weeks for you. Your child comes home from school at 3 pm in the afternoon and you are back from work around 6 pm. That is 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you can spare a bedroom, you can now afford an Au Pair. Europeans do it all the time. Your volunteer au pair will get to enjoy life in another country, in a way that can really help them to authentically live a country's "life style." The benefits of having a free au pair are many. Since an au pair resides in the home, the whole family will get to know her/him very intimately. An au pair will become part of the family and can provide consistent support to the children. For young children especially it is important that they are able to form a bond with their care provider, and an au pair is able to facilitate this in a way that builds a long lasting relationship. Your Au Pair can be available as needed and if you need additional hours as the occasion arises you can agree on her hourly wage. The au pair's primary responsibility is to care for the children, and she/he will have their own experiences and time off around the family's schedule. An au pair can be available to take kids to music lessons or soccer practice and can watch them in the evening if it's finally time for a special date! An Au Pair cares for the children in their own home. While day care and after school programs are wonderful and needed services, time and again studies show that children, especially young children, enjoy the time they are able to be in the comfortable, relaxing, and familiar environment of their own home. Because an au pair lives in the family home, this need can be supported in a very unique way. Typically au pairs are also able to provide assistance with household chores such as laundry, grocery shopping and food preparation. This is a huge benefit for families because it gives parents the ability to spend more quality time with their children rather than constantly worrying about keeping up with the house. Bringing an au pair into the family creates a cultural exchange for both parties. The au pair is able to live and breathe the experience of living in a new country and the new culture that comes along with it. But, the au pair also brings her/his culture with them; traditional songs, or stories, a new language, and/or special foods, all of which introduce the whole family to new things that they otherwise would not likely have experienced. A unique opportunity presents itself for your children to learn a foreign language from your volunteer. You can make it unstructured and built into daily lives or you can agree on predefined number of hours per week. Hosting an au pair can be a unique and exciting way to meet childcare needs for a family. The benefits of having a volunteer au pair can offer both children and their parents are great, and at the same time, a young person from another country is given a fabulous opportunity to explore the world! Stop saving pennies on clipping coupons and start saving thousands of dollars on childcare.

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