This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get from family members who call Warman Homecare. Most often people contact us for home care services in response to their loved ones suffering a fall or other injury in the home.  However, the best time to begin providing home care for your loved one is BEFORE an incident occurs. This will give you time to clearly research your options and make decisions in a less stressful environment.  Warman Home Care suggests that you look for the following signs with your loved ones:

• Forgetting important information like phone numbers or what day it is
• Forgetting to turn off appliances that could lead to a dangerous situation
• Having a hard time keeping up with laundry and dishes that can lead to unsanitary conditions
• Difficulty with grooming
• Not getting proper meals/nutrition requirements
• Getting confused as to when to take their medication

These are all signs that your loved ones could use help in their home to protect them from a more dangerous fall or accident.  They may only need a few hours in the morning to help them prepare meals for the day and do light housekeeping.  In the future,  services could include help with dressing and errands.  You choose the services you need for your unique situation.  The goal is to be proactive to help your loved ones be comfortable in their own home and give you the peace of mind that they are safe.  You can never be too careful.  If you are at all concerned that a loved one is struggling with certain activities,  don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call one of our Care Coordinators that will talk through your concerns and help you learn more about your options so you can decide if home care is right for your family.

If you have loved ones in the Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington D.C. area, you should feel comfortable knowing you can rely on Warman Home Care’s superior home care providers. We believe that each senior is unique, and so is his or her situation. That’s why we strive to meet the individualized needs of every senior we work with in Maryland, Pennsylvania and D.C.

Warman home care providers are skilled and experienced. While this is important, we believe that senior care providers should also have a great personality. We work hard to match our home care providers’ personalities with the personality of the senior they will be working with. Seniors and their families will have the opportunity to meet selected care-giving candidates and select a caregiver who is the best fit.

Warman Home Care caters to diverse personalities and situations. No matter what the circumstances your loved one is encountering, Warman can be the home care solution for him or her. We offer light in-home elder care such as assistance with chores or companionship, to more intensive home care that requires more attention and special needs support or 24-hour live-in care.

Based in Gaithersburg, MD and Jenkintown, PA, Warman Home Care is close in proximity to metropolitan areas D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia. We currently provide senior care to individuals in Maryland, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

With Warman Home Care, it’s all about meeting your loved one’s needs. Call us today for information about personalized senior home care in Maryland, D.C. and Pennsylvania.

When it comes to caring for our elderly loved ones, safety is a major concern. Research from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that falls are the leading cause of injury deaths, and the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma among older adults.

Falls can lead to bruises, fractures and brain injuries, and more than one-third of people over the age of 65 in the United States fall in one year. Injury from a fall, and fear of falling, may hinder a senior’s mobility and physical fitness.

On the Web site Senior Safety at Home, Ronna Sather provides five indicators for recognizing a senior who is at risk of falling, and outlines several factors that can lead to a fall. The most common cause of falling is weakness in the lower extremities. Other factors that could cause a fall include: decreased balance, dizziness, dementia, impaired vision, as well as many disease processes.

The factors that can lead to a fall do not have to be health-related. Falls can result from medicine side-effects and environmental factors such as slippery floors, clutter, loose stairway handrails, thick or loose carpet, or poor lighting.

While there are many elements that can lead to a fall, several things can be done to prevent a fall. Regular exercise, a safer living environment, careful medicine review and regular eye check-ups can all help avoid dangerous falls in a senior’s home. For more information about home care for your loved one, click here.

Did you know that 7 out of 10 people do not have a will?  Most people do not like to think about planning for their death, but if not done, loved ones can be left with a stressful situation when the state steps in to make decisions for you.

Creating a will is not just about deciding where your money goes.  A living will can involve care directives should you become incapacitated or be put on life support, as well as establishing your power of attorney – the person you would like to make decisions on your behalf.  A traditional will can also give directives on who will care for your children in the event of your death.  These are decisions most of us would not like left to chance, but without proper directives, the state is left to decide.  They will also charge your family for legal fees involved with deciding the distribution for your estate.

Creating a will does not have to be an expensive undertaking.  LegalZoom.com and LegacyWriter.com are just two of the many online sites that make it easy and inexpensive to create a will.  An estate planner is a better choice for those who have larger assets or more complicated directives.  They can also help you plan financially for the care you may need later in life.

It is important to keep your will up to date by reviewing the documents every year to make sure that the beneficiaries are current and accurate.  For example, if a beneficiary has died, the state can step in and decide where those assets should be allocated.  Also, if you have set up additional bank accounts or trusts not included in the original will, these also can be in danger of being awarded to someone other than the person you would have chosen to be the beneficiary.

Taking some simple steps now can avoid tension and stress on your loved ones and assure that your final wishes are granted.

Do you receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits? If so, you’re likely receiving a special, one-time recovery payment this month. The recovery payment is $250. More than 50 million beneficiaries will receive more than $13 billion in recovery payments in May.
Let’s go over the basic facts so you understand how the payment is being made:

• The payment is automatic; no action is required on your part.

• The payment is a direct result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in February 2009.
• Your one-time economic recovery payment will arrive separately from your Social Security or SSI benefit; it will not be included with your monthly benefit payment.
• There are no requests to make, no applications to complete and no fees to pay.

To assist in processing the payments as efficiently as possible, please do not contact Social Security — unless you have not received your payment by June 4. To learn more about Social Security and the recovery payments, or to share your plans for your recovery payment, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/payment.
If anyone contacts you regarding your personal information or asking for a fee to help you get this payment it is probably a scam. If you are unsure about the identity of someone claiming to be a Social Security employee, hang up and call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to verify the call or you may report suspicious activity involving Social Security programs and operations to the Social Security Fraud Hotline website or call 1-800-269-0271 (TTY 1-866-501-2101).

To learn more about Social Security Online Services please visit www.socialsecurity.gov. By utilizing our website you can file for Retirement and Disability benefits, get a replacement Medicare card, request a benefit statement if they are already receiving benefits, and change your address among other things.