Caregiver Tip of the Month

Note: The following article describes Telephone Relay Services in general terms. Every state offers the same service at no additional charge for it's residents. (All regular local and long distances charges still apply.) After reading this article, you can find more information about your state's Relay service by searching Google. Simply type www.Google.com in your browser's address window, then in Google's search box, type Telephone Relay and your state's name (e.g., California Telephone Relay) and click on the Search button.

Telephone Relay Services (TRS) allow almost anyone in the world to communicate by telephone with people who have speech or hearing loss, and who use a TTY (Text Telephone). TRS is for you if you are a hearing person wanting to communicate with deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled friends, or if you have a speech or hearing loss that makes using the telephone difficult.

What is Relay? If you use a TTY (Text Telephone), your message is skillfully relayed by an Operator, word for word, to the hearing person on the other end of the line. Then the Operator types what the hearing person has said back to the TTY user. By law, each conversation is handled with the strictest confidentiality. There are no setup or monthly charges to access Relay.

Telephone Relay Services can be used for just about any kind of call from ordering takeout to taking directions from the airport! Everything is in real-time, real easy, and available 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, including holidays.

How Relay Works
Either a TTY (text telephone) user or someone using a standard phone may initiate a call through Relay. After dialing Relay, the person initiating the call gives the phone number of the person or business being called to the Relay Operator, who then dials that number. The Relay Operator types the standard phone user's spoken words to the person using the TTY and voices the TTY user's text.

What is a TTY (text telephone)?
Looking much like a typewriter keypad with a text screen, a TTY allows a deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-disabled person to make a telephone call. The conversation is read on a lighted display screen and/or a paper printout on the TTY. Persons using a TTY may call any standard phone user by placing the call through Relay, or they may call another TTY user directly.

Relay is free to use
Telephone Relay Services are a public service. Users pay no set-up charges or fees for local calls, and there is no limit on the number or length of calls a user may make. Telephone Relay accepts direct dial, collect, person-to-person, telephone company calling cards, and any participating long distance company calls. These calls will be billed at the carrier's designated rates.

Relay Operators
Telephone Relay Operators follow a strict code of confidentiality and ethics. Relay Operators are integral to the success of Telephone Relay Services. They maintain strict confidentiality regarding the conversations of Relay users; none of the conversations are divulged. Operators become a "human telephone wire," and will not participate in conversations for any reason. To ensure equal access, Operators will type everything they hear, including background noises and voice intonations.

VCO (Voice Carry-Over)
VCO (Voice Carry-Over) is an option for people with hearing loss significant enough to prevent them from hearing and understanding conversations clearly through the phone. Using VCO and a specially designed telephone with a text screen, a VCO user can speak directly to the other person. As the other person speaks, the Relay Operator types back the words that are being said.

HCO (Hearing Carry-Over)
HCO (Hearing Carry-Over) is provided for people with speech disabilities. The speech-disabled person types his or her side of the telephone conversation on a TTY and the Relay Operator voices what is typed to the other person. The HCO user then listens as the other person speaks.

STS (Speech-To-Speech)
STS (Speech-To-Speech) is an option for people with a mild to moderate speech disability. Their words are re-voiced to the other person by a specially trained Relay Operator.

STS Internet Protocol Relay
Internet Protocol Relay provides a new way for Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) customers to make Relay calls via the Internet, instead of the public switched telephone network. Internet Protocol Relay, allows you to access the relay via your computer, web phone, personal digital assistant, or any other Internet capable device through your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Our visitors ask ...

Q. We are taking care of my 91 year old mother at home. Are there any family benefits through Medicare to help us with the costs? She now needs 24 hour a day care. She cannot walk around without help, or ever be alone again! Does Medicare provide any family support.

A. Medicare does not cover what they call custodial care, the primary type of care your mother needs. However, they could provide physical therapy which could help your mother regain the ability to walk without help, at least partially. There are a variety of other resources that could also help you with the financial aspects of caring for your mother. Beginning with the May 2004 issue of our online newsletter, Aging Solutions, and continuing each month through our August 2004 issue, we discussed these resources (including Medicare's physical therapy) in some detail. Simply click on Archives to select the issues you want to see.

Daily Living Solutions

— products for seniors —

As we grow older, it often becomes difficult to use many everyday products because of arthritis and other conditions. If you or a loved one needs a little help – or a lot – we've selected a group of practical and affordable solutions from our affiliated merchants to help overcome those limitations.

Whether you are looking for yourself, or to help an elderly senior continue living in their own home, you'll find a wide variety of supplies and accessories – raised toilet seats, safety rails, incontinence supplies, large-handle eating utensils, pain relief, diabetic supplies, pill splitters and crushers, big-button telephones, canes, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs – and much more.

Everything is sorted into convenient categories in our Solutions for Seniors section.

Caregiving – Finding the money for care at home

A variety of resources can help pay for care at home. We discussed these resources in some detail beginning with the May 2004 issue of this newsletter and continuing each month through the August issue. To review these newsletters, simply click on Archives and select the issue you want to see.

Caregiver Tip #2

— Managing your loved one's medications —

Know what medications your loved one takes

Make a list of all medications (prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs such as aspirin, antacids, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements – even daily vitamins). For each medication, include its name, generic name, dosage amount, time to be taken, reason prescribed, prescribing physician, and special instructions such as "Take with food" or "No grapefruit." Take this list with you to ALL of your loved one's medical appointments. This can help avoid dangerous prescription drugs interactions. (You can do an interactions check at the Health AtoZ website.)

Make taking medications simple

One of the best solutions is to have medications "blister packed" by the pharmacy. If that service is not available, use a medication organizer. When there is more than one person in the household, use a different color box for each and mark them clearly. There are many styles available at low cost in your drugstore. Pick one that best meets your needs. The organizer is also a big help in recognizing medication errors if they should occur. When pills are still in the box after they should have been taken, or when pills are missing that should still be there, you will have the information you need to keep a record of the time and the date of the errors. This is critically important when the physician is trying to adjust dosages to get the desired results while avoiding side effects.

Keep one pill for identification

Keep the most recent bottle and leave at least one pill in each. You will than be able to identify what is what if a mix-up or spill should occur. The bottle also has the pharmacy name and phone number, prescription number, remaining refills available, etc. You can also find an on-line pill identifier at the Drugs.com pill_identifier.

Memory issues

If your elder has memory problems, they should not take medications on their own without supervision. You need to do whatever is necessary in this difficult situation. Over thirty precent of hospital admissions of the elderly are related to medication errors or mismanagement. Do not let your elder become a statistic.

A very effective online tool for gathering, recording, storing and updating medication and other important information for your loved one is available from ElderIssues.com. Their LifeLedger Online Services can give you the information and guidance you need, and the peace of mind you want. For details, click here.

Recommended Reading and Videos

Many excellent books and videos can help guide you through the caregiving process. For our recommendations, including a brief description of each one, click here.

The material on this site is for informational purposes only, and is intended as a supplement, not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider. More