It has been a weird couple of years, so let’s take a moment to review safe driving tips for older adults, to revisit some issues you might face when traveling with senior loved ones, and to consider ways that travel — and local rules in areas you may be traveling to — might have changed in the wake of COVID-19.

Before you get together with friends and family later this month, there’s one thing you should take care of right now — get your annual flu shot. Then while you’re at it, make sure that your older loved ones and family members with health issues have gotten theirs as well.

Spearheaded by the Caregiver Action Network (CAN), National Family Caregivers Month honors the more than 90 million Americans who care for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease or the frailties of old age. CAN serves a broad spectrum of family caregivers by providing free education, peer support and other resources. Please visit their website at the link below for more information.

At Overture Home Care, we participate in Alzheimer’s awareness and fundraising events not just in November, but throughout the year. This year we supported Longest Day events in June, and many of our team members took part in the Fort Worth Walk to End Alzheimer’s on October 30. Our commitment extends into our daily work as well. Since 2018, we have been a Dementia Live® authorized organization and we are dedicated to providing empathic and enriching care for our clients with cognitive impairments, including those with Alzheimer’s disease. Although the root cause of this terrible disease has not been fully determined and there is no current cure, there are supportive therapies, interventions and directed activities that can make life with Alzheimer's easier for patients and more bearable for their families.

More than 30 million women in the US have or have had breast cancer. Of those, more than 50% are over 60 — and more than 20% are over 70. Yet despite such representation among patients, under-diagnosis and under-treatment of the elderly remain serious issues that can lead to poorer outcomes for seniors.

Did you know that your unused or expired prescription drugs could end up lost, stolen or improperly disposed of in ways that threaten children, pets, wild animals, streams and rivers, our water supply and our neighborhoods?

Remaining active can be a steep challenge for a homebound senior. All the assistance, positivity and encouragement that we recommended in our last post are doubly important for loved ones whose physical range is limited. But remember, homebound seniors often need more than physical activity and stimulation. A truly healthy lifestyle requires mental and social activity and stimulation as well. For the homebound, outlets for such activity can be hard to find.

If you are worried that your older loved ones have fallen into the two-thirds who lack regular exercise, there are ways you can help. But before launching into a regime of early morning family hikes or signing them up for CrossFit, keep in mind the catch-22 issue many older folks face when starting an exercise program after a period of inactivity…

Overture Home Care announced today that it has received the 2021 Best of Home Care – Employer of Choice Award from Home Care Pulse. The Employer of Choice Award is granted only to the top-ranking home care providers, based on caregiver satisfaction scores gathered by Home Care Pulse, an independent satisfaction research firm for home care. Overture Home Care is now ranked among the best employers of in-home caregivers in the region.

How do you want to be treated when you are facing the end of your life? What is important to you? If you aren’t able to speak for yourself, what do you want the people making decisions for you to know? Do you have someone you trust to make those decisions — and is there someone who trusts you in the same way?

Do you ever get the feeling that your older family member is feeling a little bored? As we age, it’s really common for us to lose interest in hobbies we once loved; we’ve either long since conquered them, or we can’t quite tackle them like we used to.

If you’re struggling with finding ways to keep your loved one interested and engaged, here’s a great list of options for activities both in and out of the home.

Congratulations to Vivian, our inaugural recipient and namesake of our new award, the Vivian Y. McNary Caregiver of the Year Award!

Denise Helms, CEO of Overture Home Care, a Fort Worth, Texas-based home care service company, has announced a new service: concierge nursing.

Recreational activities, familiar hobbies, work-related pursuits, involvement in daily tasks and social interaction can help people living with Alzheimer's remain engaged and content, reducing agitation and potentially dangerous wandering behavior.

At Overture Home Care, we provide care to our clients with Alzheimer's in the familiar warmth of their own homes, allowing them to age in place with dignity and comfort.

Icy roads made travel during Snowmageddon a challenge. But with patients in need of care and caregivers in need of transport, a group of four-wheel drive truck-owning men on our management and office support team got together to form an Overture mini fleet.

The week of Snovid — or Snowmageddon — here in North Texas was a challenge to say the least. Despite an emergency planning session and calls to all our clients and caregivers on the Friday before the bad weather set in, the hurdles we faced were more challenging than we anticipated.

One downside to our senior friends and loved ones spending so much time alone this year is that quality of life can really take a turn. Here’s a helpful list of strategies to maintaining healthy memories and active minds. And, the best part, all of these activities can be done safely at home.

Whether you’re able to see your aging loved ones in person or on video call, please review these warning signs to keep a lookout for. While we’ve kept our senior friends safe from COVID-19 through social distancing, the isolation is really taking its toll. This checklist will help you easily determine if your loved one could use some help – and companionship. If you’re visiting by video, see if your loved one can safely show you around their home to check for some of these signs.

Well, friends, we know Thanksgiving won’t look like holiday celebrations in the past. You’ve already made the hard decisions and the tough calls, and even though it hurts, you did the right thing.

Have you made your virtual gathering plans yet?