Supporting a Loved One With Declining
Health: Tips for Family Caregivers

Are you a family caregiver? You’re not alone. According to Family Caregiver Alliance, there are over 43 million people in the U.S. who provide unpaid care to a family member. As a result, there are countless resources out there designed to support and assist family caregivers with common challenges. Don’t hesitate to leverage these resources when things get difficult. Caring for a loved one who is in decline is one of the most difficult things you can do. It can be incredibly draining, both on an emotional and physical level. In this article from WytCote, we’ll share some tips to help you cope during this challenging time and make effective care decisions for your loved one.

Consider Long-Term Care

If your loved one is in declining health, it’s possible that their care needs are beginning to exceed your capacity to provide support. This indicates that it may be time to consider long-term care. Moving a loved one into long-term care can be beneficial for everyone. In long-term care, your loved one will receive consistent, round-the-clock assistance aligned with their specific needs. And you’ll have more time to focus on your other obligations and your own needs.

Don’t wait until the last minute to look at your long-term care options. The best time to begin considering long-term care is before it becomes necessary. This will give you and your loved one plenty of time to evaluate different care facilities and work out the financial logistics of the move. Then, when you begin noticing signs that your loved one could use additional assistance, you’ll know exactly what steps to take to get them into a suitable long-term care facility. 

Watch out for signs that long-term care would be best for you and your loved one:

Make a Plan to Pay for Long-Term Care

Many seniors and their loved ones worry about long-term care costs. Because long-term care can be expensive, it’s important to plan for these costs well in advance. Genworth reports that the median monthly cost to stay in an assisted living facility is $4,500. That cost increases to $9,034 to stay in a private room in a nursing home facility. Start exploring your funding options now.

Many seniors decide to sell their homes to pay for assisted living. If this could be a good option for your loved one, help them calculate their home sale proceeds to determine how much money they can expect from a sale. You’ll have to consider important factors like your loved one’s outstanding mortgage balance, the estimated sale price for the home, and real estate agent commissions. Use an online home sale proceed calculator, so you don’t have to do the math yourself!

While you may be tempted to skip the real estate commission by selling the home on your own, this is not a good idea. Selling a home without an agent is time-consuming. What’s more, your inexperience could lead you to spend a lot of money upfront and see very little in return. Working with a real estate agent is well worth the cost of their commission, especially given that homes sold by agents tend to sell for more money.

Leverage Helpful Technology

Until your loved one moves into long-term care, consider using technology to make life easier for both of you. The right senior care tech tools can ensure your loved one is safe in their home and facilitate remote monitoring when you’re not around. Look for apps, assistive devices, and other handy tools to solve your biggest daily challenges. For example, if you’re constantly worried that your loved one is going to fall when they’re home alone, a fall monitor can provide some invaluable peace of mind.

To help your loved one regain some sense of independence, set them up with virtual assistants and smart home technology. A voice-controlled smart home setup will enable your loved one to adjust their environment, set reminders, call friends and family, check the weather, and stay up-to-date with the latest news regardless of their mobility or tech-savviness. 

Take Care of Yourself

Taking time to care for yourself and your own needs is essential when you’re facing a stressful caregiving experience. The physical and emotional demands of caring for a loved one in declining health can take their toll, and the last thing you want is to get burnt out. While it may feel a little selfish to care for yourself when your loved one needs your attention, nothing could be further from the truth. Taking time for your needs will enable you to provide the best quality care. 

Take steps for your well-being to protect your physical and mental health:

Nothing about being a family caregiver is easy. Remember, all the work you do to care for your loved one is having an enormous impact on their life. If caregiving is becoming too difficult, there’s nothing wrong with considering long-term care. Help your loved one find a facility that offers assistance and support to improve their quality of life and give you more time to take care of yourself. 

Is your loved one moving into long-term care? WytCote has created a solution offering monitored care for seniors in care facilities called SeniorSense. Check out our website to learn more!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: Pexels

Will Blockchain Survive the 2022 Cryptocurrency Crash?

Yes. Blockchain will not only survive the crypto market crash 2022, but it’s also about to surge in many different industries. The future may not be as bright for crypto just yet, no matter how much Elon Musk continues to throw his support behind Dogecoin.

Blockchain Is Not Cryptocurrency, And Crypto Is Not Blockchain

When it comes to worldwide mass excitement, be careful who you bring to the party. If things go bad, you might be found guilty by association. Blockchain and crypto exploded onto the general public’s consciousness at fundamentally the same time. It’s no wonder many people have trouble seeing the difference.

There was so much excitement and money surrounding both crypto and blockchain that investors and enthusiasts alike didn’t bother to investigate the details. Fast forward to the cold hard reality of the crypto winter. The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have plummeted so fast, many people are too shocked and afraid to draw any distinctions.

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The Main Differences Between Blockchain And Crypto

In the simplest terms, blockchain is a way to store data on a digital file. It’s an open database that is duplicated among many, many computers. This open distribution makes it completely transparent so that the data contained therein can be verified by many users.

This widespread ability to be verified means no one central agent can change the data. This decentralized ability to verify makes the data contained in the blockchain extremely secure.

Blockchain was originally conceived as a technology to manage a cryptocurrency. If you think of blockchain as the tool and bitcoin as the product, it’s easy to see they are related but distinct. Here are some other differences:

Blockchain is an open form of big data – Cryptocurrency is a virtual form of money.

Cryptocurrency is based on anonymity -- Blockchain is all about as many people as possible having exactly the same information.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, USD Coin, and BNB are all forms of cryptocurrency that rely upon blockchain technology – Blockchain is a tool that is used in many different industries.

The blockchain solution is unaffected by stock market fluctuations – cryptocurrencies are susceptible to wild swings in value like a bear market on Wall Street.

Blockchain is intended to keep things like personal finances secure – Cryptocurrency is promoted by people who want to increase value.

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The Different Types Of Blockchains

There are four different types of blockchains and each one has both pluses and minuses:

Public Blockchains – This is the type of blockchain that is most closely associated with Bitcoin and other forms of digital currency. Public blockchains provide a ledger that is easily accessible to anyone who has registered as an authorized user or node. Everyone shares the same information.

PROS: Highly secure. As long as users employ the protocols sincerely, it is difficult for hackers to target.

Transparent. Everyone gets the same information, and the more people that have it, the more secure it is. Transactions of any kind are instantly available to everyone.

CONS: Slow rate of transactions. Transactions Per Second (TPS) are slower than other blockchains because there are so many nodes, and it’s time-consuming for every node to process the same transaction

Significant use of energy. Here again, so many nodes have to process/verify data, and this can mean millions of computers using up energy.

Private Blockchains – Private blockchains are a closed systems accessible only by authorized users. The entity that owns the private blockchain controls the security of the network. An example of a private blockchain would be an organization that enables only verified participants to interact with its own supply chain of products.

PROS: Lightning fast. Because of the limited number of nodes, each transaction is distributed to the network instantly. Private blockchains have an extremely high TPS.

Size doesn’t matter. The number of nodes can scale up or down as needed depending on what is called for by the owner of the blockchain.

CONS: Centralized control. One agent controls many factors. This central control runs counter to the decentralized inspiration of a blockchain; however, within the closed system, there are many benefits.

Security questions. Since all control is centralized, a private blockchain doesn’t benefit from the same dispersed transparency. By its very nature, a private blockchain is more susceptible to hackers. The owners of the private blockchain must take precautions.

Consortium Blockchains – More than one company, agrees to manage and operate the blockchain according to their joint needs. This type of blockchain is still a closed system, although it does answer many participants.

Hybrid Blockchains – Many consider this a closed system; however it benefits from the advantages of both private and public blockchains. Based on the protocols, some of the data is made public, and some of it remains private. Confidentiality stays high for certain private data, and security increases for public data because it’s so transparent to so many users.

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Smart Contracts And Proof Of Stake

Smart contracts and proof of stake are two popular topics when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrency. Proof of stake is a way to achieve consensus to validate cryptocurrency transactions. Smart contracts are programs that are triggered to run if and when a set of agreed-to conditions are satisfied. In this way, all parties are notified immediately.

Banks And Financial Institutions Are Just the Tip Of the Blockchain Iceberg

To learn just how many industries are racing to adopt blockchain technology, click here.  

Healthcare is one of the industries that is gaining the most benefit from blockchain capabilities. 

Imagine having every single detail of your entire healthcare history accessible in seconds only to those of which you approve. As healthcare becomes more and more sophisticated, so too does the amount of data increase. Keeping all this data current, organized and secure is a big challenge. And yet, the rewards to the patient can be phenomenal.

Companies like Wytcote are revolutionizing the quality of healthcare for seniors so that they can lead safe and independent lives while staying connected to their loved ones.