You want to be free?
Yeah!
I'll be here if
you want but we'll make sure that he
gets out on the course.
Do you come here
at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday
morning?
Do I?
No, but I told you I would.
I always told you that.
Okay.
The number of senior citizens in the United
States is growing every year and they
increasingly prefer living out their
golden years in the comfort of their own
home but that comes with its own set of
challenges.
Adult children play a key role and it
can be a strenuous endeavor for all
involved, but luckily there are ways to
make the whole process less stressful.
I'm meeting with one family to learn
more about their challenges and guide
them as we explore ways to help them on
their journey as they are aging in place.
[Music] Tequesta, Florida a small golf
community town located a half hour drive
from West Palm Beach and home to John and
Marianne Nicholas.
I was raised in Queens, New York
Marianne's sister Rita and my sister
Sally were good friends and they thought
perhaps that the two of us, that Marianne
and I might make a good match.
It was a birthday party for me.
My 26th birthday
and Marianne made me a sandwich.
Remember what the sandwich was Marianne?
Yeah bologna and cheese.
Yep so I figured it's
pretty good, she could make a good
sandwich so the rest of it must be
pretty smart.
56 years and countless bologna sandwiches later John and
Marianne are still going strong.
We have three
children the oldest boy Richard then
comes Maureen she's in the middle and then
comes Michael.
But you know somehow I've
always heard stories about the middle
girl.
The whole thing is you don't
care who's in charge you take off on
them.
I know.
Why do you do that?
Because.
You don't like to be told what to do!
I know.
On a normal day it could be five to
six times a day that I'm talking to them.
Little did they know that their bond
would become even stronger after a
serious fall.
Phone rang and it was my
mother's 91 year old neighbor.
She basically said your mother had a
bad fall and your father was taking
her to the hospital.
Marianne slipped in the pool area and she
hit her head when she fell.
The way that
she had fallen,she fell on the the right
temple of her head.
Marianne was still conscious and rushed
to the hospital where at first the fall
seemed to have caused little damage.
The next day circumstances were very
different.
The phone rings again, get over
here now do not speed she's going in for
emergency surgery.
What they found was
the size of her head had turned into a
clot and the nurse that was looking
at my mother handed me a plastic bag
full of her hair.
My brother broke down and ran
out of the room.
We went back after surgery to meet with
the surgeon and he said across the room
Marianne you are a miracle.
The game is
on to get my mother back in shape, get
her healthy, she turned 79 on July 4th and
there's nothing gonna stop her.
Be right back.
Time for me to meet John and Marianne
and show them ways that will make a big
difference on Marianne's road to recovery.
Hi I'm Alexis I've been a
geriantologist for over 25 years now and I
found so many different types of older
adults with different types of challenges they range all the
way from mobility challenges to memory
challenges.
You've been sort of in a caregiving role
and you've been in a situation where
you've needed a little care.
Tell Alexis what you call me, nurse ratchet!
Can you be that mean John?
I can be, yeah sometimes.
The caregiving, is it is it difficult?
How does it make you feel?
Well it makes me
feel good because I'm able to help
someone that's very important to me.
He takes me shopping and he takes
me for my nails.
He's so good to me.
You know he's doing everything and I
feel badly for him.
They are such a
magical couple they really show such
love and dedication and respect and
communication with one another.
Now as a result of Marianne's
malady she's had four seizures and one
right in the kitchen here and I do know that if I didn't
operate in a very fast manner it could
have been fatal.
I'm very excited for us to be able
to introduce some fantastic products
from Marianne and John so that they can
really enjoy life as much as they would
like to.
John is an avid golfer but he's
not been able to get out and play
because giving care to his wife Marianne
comes first.
Now he takes her to the pool
every morning for some much-needed
exercise but getting back on the golf
course is something he's longing for.
If I could golf tomorrow, good if I
don't have to golf that's good too.
So I'm not
I'm not gonna waste my energy and time
being negative about it.
So even though I
just never happened to spend a lot of
time in the pool, I do now.
Marianne has developed something like when I
worked I called it pace positive
attitudes change everything and she has had a
positive attitude.
Positive thoughts and an
optimistic outlook on life can work
miracles.
Why not build on that?
When we come back we'll introduce John
and Marianne to ways that will help them live
out their golden years more independently and find out more
about how their adult child Maureen
will benefit from this as well.
[Music]
[Music] Maureen is uh, We have an
outstanding relationship and she has
grown into our second mother.
To be in
assisted-living you're not ready for
that are you, Mar?
No because we're active.
Adult children
often take on the job as caregiver but
with a busy lifestyle and work this task
can take a toll on them quickly.
I think one of the people that we forget
a lot of times is the caregiver
especially the daughter who is a young woman
and I'm sure she wonders what it will be
like in the future for her as a primary
caregiver.
Sometimes I feel very guilty
sometimes I've asked do you want me to
move in?
We'll figure it out because I
feel sometimes that I'm not doing enough
which I don't have any question about
what I need to do but it's a lot.
You know I'm doing everything
possible as her daughter to make sure that
everyone is happy, healthy, and progressing.
We've invited Todd Houghton
from Comfort Keepers to find out how a
caregiver can lighten the load for
Marianne and John.
So I came in to actually
meet with John to discuss the situation
that's going on with his wife Marianne
and talk about how we at Comfort Keepers
have come in and enhance the quality of
life that they have around their home.
So Comfort Keepers you know we
really provide peace of mind to you and
to your family as well.
I understand your
daughter Maureen's also part of the
caregiving.
When she comes in and she
looks over things she helps helps us, she
organizes the house she has a way of
it's a really a gift where she'll go
into my closet or her mother's closet
and organize everything.
Color-coordinated.
She has a life too right but she always
finds time to come in.
Right.
People are often in a position in life
where they don't want to admit that
they need help or that assistance because
they're not ready to be at that place in
the aging process.
We believe in an aging
place and providing dignity and peace of
mind and security and safety.
One of my primary concerns is the
development of trust.
Mhm, you know the compatibility
and the trust are two huge issues those
are both things that we take very
seriously.
We go through a real rigorous process to
vet our care givers we put them through
strong background checks and everything
that goes with that reference checks and
all that to make sure they're of reputable standards and things
like that to be in our organization.
So that's
where the process starts, we come in and
we do a complete assessment of the
individual to understand what the needs
are and then we also do a full safety
assessment of the home as well.
So this is the master bedroom and taking
a quick look around it looks like you've
secured this room pretty well.
Sounds good!
Yeah no throw rugs down it looks like
you know she can maneuver quite well in
the room in here.
So that's good you have
a master bathroom in here as well?
Yes.
Right here.
Okay great!
Let me just
show you in.
Great it looks like you've
already kind of started some processes
in the bathroom here with a nice shower
seat in there for to give in the shower.
I would probably recommend removing the
rug just that's a hazard that she's in
the bathroom coming out of the shower
she could slip on that.
Good idea!
Yeah.
So by having a comfort keeper
in the home you know a few days a week
can really help alleviate that task mode
when when Maureen's here and she can
spend time with with her mother.
She can even take her mom out to get her
nails done or shopping as well.
This is Nicole Baker a former caregiver
herself who is spending some time with
John and Marianne to give them a feel
for what it would be like to have
someone around.
How many days a week can
you come?
It's totally up to you Marianne
if you want someone there one day a week
for a few hours we can do that, if you
want someone there every day we can do
that as well.
It'd be nice to get away
from him once in a while.
I'm sure he
would love to get away from me.
I think that it's important that John
can go out and live his life but not feel
guilty that he's abandoning her or
leaving her by herself.
The goal is to get you back to your
normal routine with just a little bit of
help with a friend.
He used to go play
golf on Saturdays and Wednesdays and
I'd be free as a bird.
I can't wait for
that day.
Our goal is to match her with a
caregiver that makes her feel so comfortable that she totally
forgets that he's even gone and when he
comes home she'll have a great story
to tell him.
I know also that you have gadgets and
things like that products that you try
to incorporate to help them reduce their
isolation, allow them to communicate
maybe more with families.
We have
this here its called the GrandPad.
It's kind of like a play on words, its
iPad but grand as and grandparent so
it's Grandpad.
It is a tablet that was
designed specifically with seniors in
mind.
The icons are very large the
seniors are able to view the screen and
click on the screen and interact with
the grand pad.
The Grandpad is a great
tool to eliminate social isolation in
seniors.
When we come back we'll introduce the Nicholas family to
more technology that will help make
life easier and safer for everyone
involved.
[Music]
(Music) Well we have cellphones I'm
still fairly cellphone illiterate.
I can't deal with
you and the phone system anymore, you've
been on my plan you broke through the
screen of your phone, I call you never
hear the phone.
Are you picking on me?
I'm not picking but it's ridiculous.
It just goes on and on with the
phone.
Where do I begin?
Even yesterday there was no
answer on the home phone, no answer on
the cell phone.
Anytime he hears a phone
could be in Walmart is that my phone
no dad yours is like it's always they
don't know how to dial they don't know
how to text, they don't know how to do
anything.
I have to admit it I'm on the
list of dumbies when it comes to knowing
what all the buttons are and everything
else.
He just wants everything simple they
want to go back to basics.
To help them
do so we set up Maureen on a lunch date
with Angela Fisher-Enders from TracFone.
She's going to introduce Maureen and her
parents to the perfect phone to fit
their needs.
I'm talking to Maureen today she called and asked if I
could provide her some cell phone
options.
I hear you have some cell phone
problems.
Yes, it's my mother.
I had a bad fall so I need
to know that I can get them lickety-split.
It's important for me to
upgrade my parents situation because
they're not utilizing the phone correctly and they're having
trouble with it.
So I brought a couple things,
one thing I brought was the this new ZTE phone it's a little bit
larger screen it's lighter weight but
certainly it goes fast has a great camera
and should have all the apps that
they need.
The second piece of it was the plan so
that's the phone.
Okay.
But then there's
the plan and there's lots of choices are
one one choice is a 30 day plan that's
our least expensive is there it's $15
for 30 days.
The plans that are available
I'll tell you I think it really is gonna
be a nice match and then if we find out
that that's not enough data or not
enough text or whatever we can buy an
add-on card or we can change the plan
there's no hidden fees.
I mean there's no extra what you see is what you get.
I'm really excited to get them hooked up
with TracFone.
Now that Maureen has given her
stamp of approval it's time for Angela
to pay a visit to John and Marianne.
Let's see how they like their new phones.
Just like me my phones getting obsolete.
Right now they just have one cell phone
between the two of them but it's small
so it's hard to use and it's also the
screen is broken.
Frankly I'm not
comfortable with it.
My daughter tells me I don't even know how
to shut it off.
Well I've brought a couple ZTE TracFones
today for you to try.
The large screen, the large numbers, it
was a friendly phone.
And is it easy to turn
off and turn on?
Right over here just
that silver button.
Okay.
And it'll say off,
power on, very nice.
Marianne you talked
earlier about your family and your
friends that you talk to, do you have any
idea how many minutes that you use in an
average month?
People of that age tend to
not use data as much as the Millennials
let's say and so our plans are actually
smaller.
And so you pay just for what you
need and we actually call it for moments
that matter.
As much as John wants to be
near Marianne at all times the occasional separation is almost
impossible to avoid.
Today I went outside
just to water some of the flowers Marianne
decided to to connect the iPad to
recharge it or something and she bent
over and she flipped.
If she had the
ability to press a button after she fell
I would have been right in the house
in split seconds.
Of course we've
thought of a solution for them on this
as well.
Alexandra Chapman from ADT health is
here and she's brought along a couple of
devices that will come in very handy for
John and Marianne.
Today I have our
regular medical alert system as well as
our fall detection medical alert system
and so what these pendants do is that
you can wear them 24/7 and whenever you
need help you'd be able to press the
button and a signal goes to our ADT
monitoring center.
With ADT medical alert
Marianne can go wherever she needs to go
and feel the confidence knowing that if
she needs help she can get it whenever
she needs it.
Tell me about the fall
detection system how does that work?
If there is a fall there's an
accelerometer in the system and it's able to
detect that there is a fall and so if
you're unable to press the button it
will still send a signal to our monitoring
center.
It's reassuring to know that there's a
device available that will detect the
fall.
Well Marianne had a built in
alarm system before and it goes like this
John!!!
Well the system that we're providing Marianne
today is the ADT on the go system so
this is the system that has GPS location
so she can go she can leave the home and
live about her day and know that she has
ADT there for her at all times.
It's not too heavy.
No it's not heavy and it can
also you know be tucked within a blouse
we can adjust it to be light a little
bit higher on your chest.
You could just have access to help 24/7
with when you're wearing that so we can
press the button on Marianne's pendant
and we can actually take it.
Marianne she's speaking to you.
Not only will the system help Marianne
but we believe it'll help John because
it'll give him the ability to leave the
home and feel confident knowing that
Marianne can get help when he's not
there.
Coming up after the break we will
find out more about ADT health and their
mission to help people who are at higher
risk for falls.
[Music]
[Music] John is awesome he never really
would be willing to say that he was
willing to leave Marianne's side.
To find out more
about ADT health I met up with David
Johnson.
I'm used to ADT security but I
don't know much about health.
Yeah absolutely ADT health is a
division of ADT security services it
provides a personal safety net for folks
that wish to gain some bit of
independence.
Once the individual the care
recipient actually connects with someone
on your side what how does that happen
and who are they connecting with?
That connectivity is done via
cellular communication and that goes
directly from the device to our
monitoring centers.
Our call center staff are
actually the creme de la creme within
our call center operations.
What's the full circle of the service?
Once we
receive a call one of our specially
trained staff members will take that
call they can locate that individual via
GPS they can also get alerted whether
it's a fall detection or if they or if
the person has pushed the button.
So many people say I want to just age in
place I want to age at home what makes
this such a special product for that?
There's of course a cost to moving into a
senior living facility or or the like
and so this provides a really
economical opportunity.
And then how about the ADT
pendant, don't you feel better if she has
that on her?
I think it would be very
good for her.
Then are you going to let the Comfort Keepers
do what they need to do?
Absolutely.
And then
you're gonna maybe play golf again right?
Yes.
Are you putting your feelings aside a
little bit?
Dometime asolutely.
I will not allow myself to think oh I got a
bad deal when I got married it was
for better or for worse and I'm just
doing what I'm supposed to do,
positive attitudes change everything.
And that keeps me going.
[Music]
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