Month: January 2015

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Dedicated senior care Options for elderly living Seniors living independently

Three Things to Keep in Mind as You Search for Memory Care Options

Protecting seniors with behavorial care

When most people think about their senior care options, they often think of factors that don’t always deal with medical care. From the accommodations at an assisted living home to the activities in a community, these are often the aspects of senior living that are prioritized when assessing a facility. However, some seniors require their elder care to go beyond their room and board, especially if they’re looking for senior living options that specialize in treating dementia and Alzheimer’s.

People who are seeking assisted living communities with memory care have several things to think about when they consider these homes beyond the decisions that the typical senior has to make when choosing this care. Treating dementia and Alzheimer’s requires special care and attentive staff members who will make residents feel safe and comfortable. If you are looking for this level of care for a family member, here are three features you should look for in memory care for seniors:

1. Safety: Patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s may have a tendency to wander and become lost, which can put them in serious danger. In order to protect your senior relatives, make sure that the facility they live in has plenty of security and attentive staff members who won’t place them in harm’s way.

2. Treatments: As of now, there is no cure for memory loss. However, treating dementia, Alzheimer’s, and related conditions is possible through various drugs and therapies in order to keep these seniors happy. Find out what an assisted living community with memory care can do for you or a relative.

3. Care: Above all, your senior relatives should feel cared for by friendly and dedicated staff members. Dementia and Alzheimer’s patients can often feel frustrated and confused by their conditions. A skilled nursing care staff will help them calm down and stay comfortable in their assisted living facility.

Have more questions about the best senior living communities for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients? Leave a comment below. Find out more about this topic here.

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Florida public adjuster Illinois public adjuster What is a public adjuster

Three Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Public Adjuster

Flood damage tampa

If you live in a part of the country frequently plagued by natural disaster, it can be tough to successfully file an insurance claim for property damage caused by these disasters. That’s because most homeowner’s insurance policies don’t cover damage caused by floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other severe weather events.

Because of this, you may find yourself seeking the help of public adjuster services to get your insurance claim successfully filed. However, not all public adjusters are alike — and some use less-than-reputable business practices!

Not sure if you’re hiring the right public adjuster services for your needs? By asking these three questions, you’ll be able to learn whether or not you should be hiring that public adjuster to help you with your flood damage or fire damage claims:

Are you licensed to practice in my state?

Before hiring any public adjuster, it’s imperative to know whether or not he or she is licensed to operate in your area. There are usually online directories with lists of the public adjusters who practice in certain areas — be sure to talk to a few of them before settling on the one you’ll hire.

Can I consult reviews and testimonials from your former clients?

A great way to see how successful and effective a public adjuster is with adjusting insurance claims is to read testimonials from his or her former clients. Many of the best adjusters will have these testimonials ready to give to potential clients, as well — so don’t be afraid to ask.

How do you charge for your services?

Public adjusters have a few different ways of charging clients for their services — typically, they will charge a percentage of the insurance claim settlement they helped win for their clients. But because these percentages can range from just 2% to as much as 50%, you should find out how much your public adjuster will charge you before signing any contracts.

Have any other tips or advice for people searching for the perfect public adjuster services? Share your knowledge with your fellow readers in the comments below and get the discussion going!

Categories
Armillary globe Life preserver decor Nautical decorations

How to Nail Nautical Decor

Porthole clock

Believe it or not, nautical decor is not all about nautical home decorations. You can’t just stick a replica diving helmet or other nautical items on display, and think you’re done.

No, nautical decor requires a holistic approach. If you really want your interior design to mimic that of a place by the sea, you need to think about the colors. Here are a few tips to help.

The Colors You Should Focus On.

Nautical decor typically focuses on navy, khaki, and white. Those three colors should be your primary focus, and be the dominant colors you use to decorate. Consider painting your walls or ceiling these colors; buying furniture that is, compliments, or works with these colors; and laying down a rug of these colors.

The Colors You Could Also Possibly Use.

Now, this doesn’t mean you only need to use navy, khaki, and white. Many interior designers often use red, yellow, and black as secondary nautical decor colors. These are the colors you want to use as accents, painting the mantle and eaves of a room to compliment the dominant colors.

The Colors You Should Avoid Like a Maelstrom.

Some colors, however, you have to avoid like a ship steers away from a massive storm. Bright pinks, lime greens, and day-glow oranges are all utterly and completely antithetical to nautical decor. Basically, if it looks like something a teeny-bopper would wear to a pep-rally or to a nightclub, it shouldn’t belong with your nautical decor.
nautical decor

It’s not hard to nail a nautical theme, but you do have to put a bit of thought and planning into things, considering all of the different components that make up a room. If you’re designing a nautical themed room, use navy, khaki, and white as your dominant colors, red, yellow, and black as your secondary colors, and avoid neon colors. If you do, you’ll be fine.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Categories
Caring for your parents Multiple options for senior living The best senior living

Three Things to Keep in Mind When Choosing the Best Senior Living Options for Mom and Dad

Senior assisted living

When most people look for adult care options for an elderly parent, they are often faced with tough decisions. Questions come up about where their parents should live, or which type of elder care is best for them. There’s also the misconception that senior living isn’t too exciting for the residents of these homes, which may push some seniors to put off the decision of moving into assisted living.

However, senior living doesn’t have to be a “boring” option for your parents, whether they want to retain their independence or not. Here are some tips to consider when looking into the inspired senior living options in your area.

    1. Choose a location. Some areas are fairly limited with local senior care options, and moving away may be necessary in these cases. Other regions, however, have plenty of options to choose from. In general, the closer to home and other relatives seniors are, the better off they may be. This way, everyone is happy around the holidays, and there’s little to no travel involved when you want to visit.

    2. Compare activities and amenities. It’s a fact that not all senior assisted living homes are created equally. Even homes that are focused on assisted living and memory care for seniors need to have something to keep seniors occupied, whether that’s a vibrant community or other options for socializing or planned activities to keep everyone happy. Many of the most inspired senior living options have group classes and outings to help seniors stay active and ward off depression, which can be common in the elderly when they are isolated.

    However, don’t ignore the care that your relatives would receive, either. Of the one million seniors in assisted living, approximately half are over 85, and around 75% of those residents need help with three or more of their daily activities. Make sure that help is available if and when your parents will need it, so they can be comfortable at all times.

    3. Don’t ignore safety. Just because your parents may have a preference for independent or assisted living homes doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider the safety of your local senior communities. Make sure that the building is secure, with entry for residents and staff only. All units in the buildings should have proper fire safety and home security, too. Also, check bathtubs, stair railings, elevators, and doorways to make sure that they are accessible, and ask about wheelchair accessibility when you visit too, if needed.

Need more advice on finding the most inspired senior living options for your relatives? Be sure to ask others around you for advice, especially if they’ve moved their parents into one of these facilities. You can also leave a comment below for more suggestions on finding the right senior care for your mom and dad. Continue.

Categories
Donation pick up Helping families in need St vincent de paul donation pick up

Assisting Others Through Apparel

St vincent de paul clothing donations

The number of people helping families in need by donating clothing is on the rise! In 2013, individuals gave roughly $2406 billion (70%) to charity, a 4.2% increase from the previous year. 16% of donations in 2013 were given by the education center, and 5% was received from corporate giving.
But what are the benefits of giving charitable clothing donations, instead of saving time by throwing out the things you no longer use?


Donating clothes is good for the environment. Almost 5% of total garbage in landfills consists of clothing or household textiles made of fabrics like cotton, polyester, nylon, and rayon. 5% may not seem like that much, but when you consider that 90% of textile waste is perfectly recyclable, you will wonder why more people aren’t sending their lightly used clothing to people in need. In 2006, used-clothing purchases kept 2.5 billion pounds of fabric out of landfills!

Charitable donations are often tax deductible, so if you spent a lot of money on certain clothing but never wear it, you may save some money on your taxes by sending said clothing to an organization who will distribute it to families in need. To be sure that the charity will get the most use out of your donation, make sure you are donating working items. There should be no rips or stains, and all the necessary pieces should be included. Make sure you wash your clothing before it is donated, too.

Charitable clothing donations are convenient to give! Aside from the obvious benefit of cleaning out closets, dressers, and storage bins, it is easy to give to people in need. Many charities have a donation pick up service, so if you have a large amount to give, you don’t have to worry about stuffing everything into your car. With donation pick up, you put in almost the same amount of effort as throwing things away, but instead you are helping people!

The best benefit of giving charitable clothing donations is that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you help other people. Helping others is a great way to boost your mood, and you will find that you might even like to make it a regular activity. Read more.