Answers For Elders Radio Network

CarePartners Cottages are secured campuses containing a small neighborhood of three or four apartments. These unique cottages are a great solution for many issues facing those with Alzheimer's and dementia, including sundowning and socialization. Tracy Helling at CarePartners Living talks about the company, their special spot in the area of senior living, and the benefits of the cottages.

Tracy says, "We have four cottages at my cottage community. Inside these four cottages is this amazing four season discovery garden, heated sidewalks, patio heaters, patio mister. So we can optimize the amount of time that folks spend outside, if they wish to. And I was on a tour with a family, and one of my residents was walking from her cottage to another cottage, and she had a cup of coffee in her hand. And she said, 'Oh, we're out of sugar. I'm just gonna go see the neighbors have any.' And I thought, this is a perfect illustration about why this concept is unique.

"It's unique in so many ways. Sundowning is that period of time that some people start to have behaviors, anxiousness: I have to go to my job, I have to go home and make dinner. It could be between 2 and 5 or 6. Some people have it different times. What a natural intervention for sundowning. When we say, 'ok, well, we'll see you later,' and they go outside and they walk on our sort-of-figure-eight sidewalks for a while and that anxiousness and that restlessness works itself out. And then they come back to us and we go, 'oh, welcome back. Once you come on in, we have a snack, or we're watching this great movie right now.'"

• CarePartners Living website
• Tracy Helling
• More podcasts with CarePartners
• CarePartners on Answers for Elders

Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

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Tracy Helling at CarePartners Living shares three most important things to keep in mind during interactions with senior loved ones who have Alzheimer's and dementia. They can't make new memories, so correcting them and arguing with them just causes distress. Have a sense of humor when the unusual happens. And remember that every day is a new day – someone with Alzheimer's and dementia lives in the moment, so if they get angry with you, they won't carry that into tomorrow.

• CarePartners Living website
• Tracy Helling
• More podcasts with CarePartners
• CarePartners on Answers for Elders

Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Socialization and relationships are important for our mental health, and it's a core part of memory care at senior living communities. Mom or dad wants to be with peers as well as with family. Home care agencies are available to come in and provide assistance to seniors with activities of daily living. Tracy Helling at CarePartners Living joins Suzanne to talk about these factors for those with dementia and Alzheimer's. 

Tracy says, "The beautiful thing about moving your loved one, either from a home environment or from, say, an independent living or assisted living to a specialized memory care is the folks. Everybody has dementia. No one's going to say, 'You've said that three times.' No one's going to say, 'You know where the bathroom is, you've been there six times today.' No one is going to say that.

"One of the things we see when people come from other environments is people have been noticing that there's something not tracking, they have noticed. So they shut down socially, they stop doing activities, they stop pursuing relationships. When they come into a specialized memory care, everybody's in the same boat. There is, interestingly, a bump up in both the appetite and socialization, using their brain. They're in their tribe Nobody's going to make them feel 'other' in this environment. Some of these things are very stressful for families. For us, it's a Tuesday. So we all understand how this works. We don't get tired of reminding, or queuing, or any of that. So I think that specialized memory care is a beautiful place where we see people begin to actually function at their optimum level. They're with other people in an environment, and with a routine, that is absolutely pleasant for them."

• CarePartners Living website
• Tracy Helling
• More podcasts with CarePartners
• CarePartners on Answers for Elders

Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy Helling at CarePartners Living joins Suzanne to talk about memory care. CarePartners has senior living communities in Washington and Arizona. She talks about the warning signs of dementia, comparing them with natural signs of aging. For instance, forgetting something in the microwave is common, but forgetting that microwaves aren't a good place to keep your keys is not. Forgetting someone's name is common, but forgetting their spouse's name is not. If you're afraid to leave them alone, if safety becomes a concern, the greatest thing you can give them is an elevated level of care: memory care.

• CarePartners Living website
• Tracy Helling
• More podcasts with CarePartners
• CarePartners on Answers for Elders

Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Probate is a court process to retitle assets. Probate is designed to create a “final accounting” upon death. It is the legal process of “proving up” a Will, or verifying that a Will is valid, takes place in one of two instances. First, if a person dies leaving behind a Will, or second, if the deceased has died intestate, that is, has not left behind a Will or estate plan of any type or the Will cannot be found. Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to give us a primer on probate.

Steve says, "Probate is a Latin term that means 'to prove,' and it's essentially to prove who died and prove what their assets are. So, it's this court process to retitle things. Probate is not caused because you have a will, and it's not caused because you don't have a will. It's really caused because there are things that need re-titling."

• Probate articles by Steve Waltar
• Legacy Estate Planning at Answers for Elders
• Legacy Estate Planning website
• More podcasts with Steve Waltar
• Find an attorney near you at the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys website
• Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

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Although Joint Tenancy offers some short-term conveniences, in the long run it poses a host of problems that can cost you and your loved ones many times the expense and headaches you thought you were avoiding. Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about the difficulties of using joint tenancy while trying to plan your estate.

Steve shares an example. "It's a stark story. The mom had already been through a probate, because her husband died, and so she wanted to avoid that. She did a will, listed her three children. That's fine. But the problem was, then she took her $400,000 brokerage account and she thought it would go through probate. 'I'm gonna add my son to the account. He knows more than I, he studies Morningstar, blah, blah, blah.' Well, son was a pretty good kid, but one day he was driving to the Seahawks game and he was in a car accident, and it was his fault. The PI attorneys are pretty good. They do asset checks before they sue people, and they saw that he owned this joint account, he was on title with mom. And so when they collected $100,000 judgment, they went after and they took it from that account.

"So joint tenancy is you adding someone to an account where you each own 100%. It's not like a house. In Washington, a husband and wife own a house, they each own half. When you own a joint — a liquid account — the default in Washington is 100%. So it could be a $2,000 bank account. Well, that's not a huge amount. But a brokerage account, why would you add children to that? And then when mom died, the balance of that account didn't get controlled by the will. It went to the son.

"It is a probate avoidance tool. It can be appropriate in limited circumstances. But why in the world, once children are out of your house, would you add them to your accounts? It's much better to make it payable on death to them, and give them a power of attorney to manage.

"Joint tenancies,  it's done all the time. I have a report called 'The Trouble With Joint Tenancy,' it just gives a lot of the details. It's very easy to create. You just go down to a bank and you have a bunch of people on an account, they all own it. Anyone can withdraw all the money. It'll only go to the survivors, your will and trust won't control it."

• Joint Tenancy article by Steve Waltar
• Legacy Estate Planning at Answers for Elders
• Legacy Estate Planning website
• More podcasts with Steve Waltar
• Find an attorney near you at the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys website
• Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you don't file estate planning documents, your state will do it for you, perhaps not the way you expect. Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about various options available when planning your estate, what happens when you list beneficiaries, generally how wills work, living wills, living trusts, and Medicaid planning.

Steve says, "There's lots of benefits of proper estate planning. Avoid probate, that's very common. It's to protect your assets from creditors, or at least from your beneficiaries. Many people want to leave a legacy, they want to pass on their values, they want to lower estate taxes. And sometimes people want to do generational planning for the grandchildren as well. So the list is long. There's a lot of who gets what, when, and how.

"70 to 80% of people die without a will. If you die without a will, the state has one for you. And it's different in every state. If you're married, certain property goes to your spouse, but if you have separate property, it would only be half, and the other half would go to children. It may choose the wrong people, or it may be ineffective. You certainly can't do estate tax planning. You certainly can't do legacy planning. That's the big one you want to avoid. The other one, it's not a very good practical one, we can joke about it, is to have the last check to the underwriter bounce. I don't know people who want to outlast their estate. Spend it all, it's not a really good plan."

• Legacy Estate Planning at Answers for Elders
• Legacy Estate Planning website
• More podcasts with Steve Waltar
• Find an attorney near you at the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys website
• Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Estate planning attorney Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about having an estate plan. Families run into gotcha moments where they discover a loved one hasn't files certain documents, or haven't made plans, and are left to second guess what they want. In this segment, Steve introduces the concept of estate planning and different types. Most people don't want it to be a curse, but a blessing, and it's about protecting yourself during your lifetime. Make sure your wishes are honored they way you want to be honored.

What exactly is estate planning? Steve says, "I like this definition. It's not perfect, but it's what I've been using for 25 years. It says I want to be in control of my estate as long as I'm able. If I become unable to manage my estate, I want to be the one who designates the person to manage my estate for me, without court intervention, following my death. I want things to be as easy on my loved ones as possible. I want my estate to pass to the people and organizations that I want, when I want, and how I want, a little bit of control. I want a smooth administration of my estate. And finally, I want there to be an absolute minimum of conflict delays, court costs, and taxes. And though I love you, Steve, attorney fees."

Steve adds, "You actually can affect people after you're gone. I think estate planning is really about choice. It's choosing things, protecting yourself during your lifetime. Last I checked, we all die. Maybe you want to protect the kids from lawsuits and divorces. So good estate planning means you're protecting your assets. Proper estate planning probably means keeping out of court while you're alive. Traditional estate planning may cover final expenses and, and trying to lower estate taxes. And there's modern estate planning, there's sophisticated planning, there's estate tax planning, and then legacy plan that involves your life experience. So really, it's a blend a lot of things."

• Legacy Estate Planning at Answers for Elders
• Legacy Estate Planning website
• More podcasts with Steve Waltar
• Find an attorney near you at the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys website
• Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about holistic care, why those over 55 should incorporate some of these practices, and share some of the most popular ones that can be done at home. Weiss provides balanced functional wellness education and coaching based on the the six pillars of health: exercise, stress, sleep, nutrition, gut health, and emotional health.

Dr. Weiss starts by defining holistic care, saying, "By definition, it's really the ability to take care of your physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social health. And really just understanding the connectivity between all of it. We have a very compartmentalized medical system. You have specialists for absolutely everything. Now I'm a firm believer, I've been in that world for the last 26 years. But there's a lot more that you can do. And I call it a sick care system, honestly, because I think that there's a lot of profitability for people being sick, and if you don't take care of your health, now you're going to be forced to take care of your illness later.

"Being able to have an open mind to understand that there are other ways to understand how your body works, and understand the connection between your physical and your mental health, your socialization, and your spiritual wellness. There's all kinds of wonderful studies that show, if you dig a little bit deeper, you can get into root cause health and just kind of get to the bottom of why things are happening... We can remedy some of these illnesses and symptoms in a different way."

Dr. Weiss has a Spring Into Action promotion, her Thrive over 55! 60 days to Optimal Health Coaching Program. Work personally with Shawn to address all 6 pillars of health, which includes personalized plans of action.

Dr. Weiss shared a video called the "Endocannabinoid System, the Hemp Plant, CBD and Optimal Health." Watch this valuable information session featuring Dr. Erin Luecke, PT, DPT and Dr. Shawn Weiss, PT, DPT. Learn how the ECS impacts our health, the importance of sourcing, breaking stigmas, and how to encourage conscious conversations. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/lUShMGDhSUc?si=Va8EauCWVHt7b6nl

Learn more:

• Shawn Weiss
• Senior Health and Wellness website
• Dr. Weiss's Health and Fitness Coasting for Optimal Health website
• Hear more podcasts with Shawn Weiss
• More about Thrive over 55

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Diagnoses of depression and anxiety have risen 25% since the pandemic. Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about ways depression and anxiety can be reduced holistically.

One of the best things to do for depression and anxiety is to exercise. If you are over 50 and are feeling a bit lost and want to make changes, check out Shawn Weiss's Fit Over 50 30 day Coaching Program that will address the 6 Pillars of Health, that includes improving emotional health.

How do you start? Shawn says, "The first thing, you have to get an assessment. There are many wonderful standardized assessments. Just going to your primary care physician would be my first suggestion, because they will point you in the right direction, and then they start trying to rule out other things. If you have somebody who has cognitive impairment, it's very difficult to diagnose because there are overlapping concerns. There's a term called pseudo dementia, when somebody who believes they're demented, but they're actually severely depressed. You do the screenings and you're really trying to weigh and pinpoint exactly what's happening. Medicare has our standardized depression questionnaires that we do with everybody. And if you meet that criteria, then you really should do something about it. Medication is probably the first line of defense in depression, simply because it just takes the edge off, and once you improve those symptoms, especially if you have cognitive impairment, you'll tend to see an improvement on the other side of that.

"I'm always going to say, well, I don't want to do medication, that would be the last resort. You want to address the underlying causes of the depression. Is it a big life event, is a stressor triggering it? You're going to dig a little bit deeper, and you can do that even in counseling, and a lot of people in the older generation don't want to go to counseling, but there's so many things that you can identify. Like, there's been a death in the family, and maybe there's going to be your health diagnosis, all these things that can trigger sadness. Therapy is really good because it allows your brain to process."

Dr. Weiss shared a video called the "Endocannabinoid System, the Hemp Plant, CBD and Optimal Health." Watch this valuable information session featuring Dr. Erin Luecke, PT, DPT and Dr. Shawn Weiss, PT, DPT. Learn how the ECS impacts our health, the importance of sourcing, breaking stigmas, and how to encourage conscious conversations. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/lUShMGDhSUc?si=Va8EauCWVHt7b6nl

Learn more:

• Shawn Weiss
• Senior Health and Wellness website
• Dr. Weiss's Health and Fitness Coasting for Optimal Health website
• Hear more podcasts with Shawn Weiss

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.