A Place for Mom® Launches Caregiver Toolkit for Families; Includes Exclusive Holiday Tips and Advice from Joan Lunden

Health Advocate Joan Lunden Partners with APFM to Help Families Connect and Converse

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Dec 17, 2014, 09:59 ET

SEATTLE, Dec. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A Place for Mom, Inc. (APFM), North America's largest senior living referral service, announced today the availability of its Caregiver Toolkit, a comprehensive resource containing 75 pages of educational guides, checklists, tools and worksheets to help families as they learn and plan for senior care.

With more than 90 million Americans traveling for the winter holidays, APFM sees a regular spike in searches for senior living communities and care around the New Year as families visiting home recognize changes in the safety and wellness of aging loved ones. APFM's Caregiver Toolkit serves as a guidebook for families to discuss health and care issues and start the process of planning for senior care.

"A visit to a parent's home for the holidays is a great opportunity for adult children to proactively look for signs indicating safety and health issues that may affect their parents' quality of life and ability to live independently," said Jennifer Mellet, Chief Senior Living Advisor at A Place for Mom. "We've always been proud of the numerous resources we provide families to help them plan for senior care. The Caregiver Toolkit is another way we're making it easier for families to access information they may need to address a sensitive situation."

As part of the launch of the Caregiver Toolkit, Joan Lunden, a health and wellness advocate working with A Place for Mom, shares her tips for making the most of holiday visits with aging loved ones, including five easy ways to assess their safety and well-being:

Take stock of their home. Look for stacks of unopened mail and piles of laundry. Does the home appear reasonably clean and tidy, or is there unusual clutter?
Check the fridge. Is there outdated or spoiled food that might indicate an inability to go to the grocery store or market?
Check the cabinets. Are there misplaced items like cleaning supplies in the food pantry, or expired prescriptions in the medicine cabinet?
Assess your loved one's appearance. Are mom and dad well groomed, do you notice any significant weight loss or gain?
Watch your loved one. Are they able to hear well, follow conversations and recognize other family members? Do they interact equally well in an unfamiliar environment?

As a skilled reporter and the longest running host of Good Morning America, Lunden has years of experience interviewing people and creating memorable stories. To encourage families to have more in-depth conversation and broach the topic of senior living, Lunden offers her personal family interview guide. With nine categories and more than 50 questions, the guide helps families learn more details about an aging loved one's life, including their experiences growing up, life as an adult and parent, and what they envision for the future.

Joan Lunden's guides and the Caregiver Toolkit are available for download exclusively at www.aplaceformom.com.

About A Place for Mom
A Place for Mom, Inc. (APFM) is North America's largest senior living referral service with more than 300 senior living advisors providing resources and personalized assistance in finding senior living services. Using its nationwide network of over 20,000 providers, APFM helps families find options based on a loved one's stated needs, preferences and budget. This may include independent senior housing, home care, residential care homes, assisted living communities and specialized Alzheimer's memory care. The service is offered at no charge to families as providers pay a fee to APFM. For more information, visit www.aplaceformom.com, call 1-877-311-6099 or visit one of APFM's social networks at Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Senior Living Blog and Pinterest.