Home Instead Senior Care Introduces Confidence to Care for Families Providing Alzheimer's Care at Home

Free Smartphone App Provides Searchable Database of Alzheimer's Care Tips and Advice

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Home Instead Senior Care^®, the leading global provider of home care services for seniors, is introducing Confidence to Care, a new book that gives Alzheimer's family caregivers the practical insights and information needed to understand, manage and prevent common behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In conjunction with the introduction of the book, the company is also launching a free smartphone app to provide caregivers with immediate tips and practical advice for the many challenging behaviors and situations family members may face on a daily basis while caring for a loved one living with Alzheimer's.

According to the World Alzheimer Report 2013, those living with Alzheimer's and other dementias are four and half times more likely than others to have care needs, and an estimated 70 percent of all Alzheimer's cases are delivered by friends and family in the home. Home Instead Senior Care is helping to arm the more than 2.85 million family caregivers with the knowledge and resources to confidently and effectively care for their loved ones, including providing background on what may cause the frustrating behaviors associated with Alzheimer's and tips for how to alleviate or prevent them.

"Whether it's helping navigate a challenging behavior, such as Dad refusing to bathe, or coping with the emotional issues of forgetting loved ones' identities, Home Instead is providing caregivers with the power to not only help those that they care for, but to help themselves as they take on this disease," said Molly Carpenter, Home Instead Senior Care's CAREGiver^SM Advocate and author of the not-for-profit book, Confidence to Care.

Available on Amazon.ca, all proceeds from Confidence to Care will be donated to dementia-related charities through the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation.

"We provide 50 million hours of care to seniors each year and have developed deep experience and expertise that we are sharing through the book and app," added Carpenter. "These resources identify the best caregiving strategies for specific behaviors, including practical, easy-to-access tips."

Home Instead Senior Care's Alzheimer's and Other Dementias Daily Helper free iOS smartphone app gives family caregivers immediate access to advice for any situation. Caregivers can use the app to search for common behaviors associated with dementia and find practical solutions. The app provides users with more than 500 searchable tips sourced from the Home Instead Senior Care network and the caregiving community. Other features and benefits include:

• Free and immediate advice and tips for dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia behaviours and situations
• Access to free caregiver resources and training materials
• Built-in rating system for caregivers to rate each tip so other caregivers benefit from their insight and evaluation of the advice
• Capability for caregivers to easily upload and share advice and tips with other users
• Ability to access all of the solutions and tips without Internet connectivity

Caregivers can download the free Alzheimer's & Other Dementias Daily Helper app at the iTunes store or on helpforalzheimersfamilies.ca.

"Caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia face new challenges each day," said Jeff Huber, Home Instead Senior Care President. "These new resources were created to help them deal with these challenges head on and have confidence in their care choices."

For more information about the book, the app and other Alzheimer's caregiving resources available from Home Instead, visit www.HelpforAlzheimersFamilies.ca.

ABOUT HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE
Founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Lori and Paul Hogan, the Home Instead Senior Care network is the world's largest provider of nonmedical in-home care services for seniors, with more than 950 independently owned and operated franchises providing in excess of 45 million hours of care throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, South Korea, Finland, Austria, Italy, Puerto Rico and the Netherlands. Local Home Instead Senior Care franchise offices employ more than 65,000 CAREGivers^SM worldwide who provide basic support services - assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), personal care, medication reminders, meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands, incidental transportation and shopping - which enable seniors to live safely and comfortably in their own homes for as long as possible. In addition, CAREGivers are trained in the network's groundbreaking Alzheimer's Disease or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging Through Research and Education^SM Program to work with seniors who suffer from these conditions. This world class curriculum also is available free to family caregivers online or through local Home Instead Senior Care offices. At Home Instead Senior Care, it's relationship before task, while continuing to provide superior quality service that enhances the lives of seniors everywhere.

Image with caption: " Home Instead Senior Care® is launching a smartphone app to provide caregivers with immediate tips and practical advice for the many challenging behaviors and situations family members may face on a daily basis while caring for a loved one living with Alzheimer's. Caregivers can download the free Alzheimer's & Other Dementias Daily Helper app at the iTunes store or on helpforalzheimersfamilies.ca. (CNW Group/Home Instead Senior Care)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131021_C5328_PHOTO_EN_32246.jpg

SOURCE: Home Instead Senior Care