Early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease gives you the best chance of a longer, healthier life. Parkinson's disease is when your brain stops making an important chemical called dopamine.  This chemical helps control movement, and helps your mood.  Parkinson's disease is a progressive disease that will get worse slowly over time.  The cause is unknown, and currently there is no cure, but there are treatment options to manage its symptoms.

It is sometimes difficult to determine if you might have Parkinson's disease.  Here are some warning signs that indicate you should make an appointment to talk to your doctor:

• Twitching or shaking of a finger, hand, or foot.
• Tremor of the hands, arms, legs, jaw and face.
• Handwriting that looks cramped.  Letters tend to be smaller than normal and words spaced close.
• Difficulty sleeping.  Early signs include uncontrollable movements on a regular basis.
• Stiff and slow.  Jerking motions and movement in a more uncoordinated pattern than before.
• Slowed movements with difficulty continuing to move.
• Problems with balance and walking.
• Constipation.  Straining to move your bowels can be an early sign.
• Speaking in low tones, hoarse voice or with little inflection.
• Masking-no expression in your face, making movement and control of small muscles in the face difficult.
• Dizziness, fainting or low blood pressure when you stand up.
• Stooped posture, leaning and slouching due to loss of coordination and balance.  Posture will change in small ways at first and will gradually worsen.  
• Difficulty eating and swallowing.

You have finally made the decision to have that minor medical procedure that requires someone accompany you and drive you home, to find that your friends and family aren't available on that day! If you have ever worried about a loved one feeling isolated and confined at home and if calling a cab to get them to appointments is not the answer, here is a solution!

Our transportation & accompaniment service is much more than just a door-to-door service.  Our caregivers go above and beyond, accompanying you or your loved one wherever is needed, ensuring safety and providing peace of mind.

Transportation & Accompaniment services can include:

• Doctor’s appointments
• Therapy sessions, Dialysis
• Medical Procedures
• Grocery shopping
• Hair appointments
• Special events (birthdays, weddings, graduations, reunions,)
• Picking up prescriptions
• Surgery (including overnight stay and pick-up)
• Religious services, plays, concerts
• Social outings with family and friends
• General shopping and errands
• Transportation and assistance with same day surgery

Our caregivers are ready to not only pick up and drop off, they also will:

• Assist with getting ready
• Accompany to the appointments
• Take notes (when requested)
• Stay until the client is ready to leave
• Drive the client back home
• Stay until the client is settled at home and ready to resume normal activities
• Prepare a light meal

Easy Livings Transportation & Accompaniment services are not a taxi, ambulance, or transit service.  Our services are provided along side our companion services.  We prefer a 48 hour notice, and we can provide service for a single event or on a regular schedule, seven days a week, including holidays.  Contact us for pricing and mileage fees that may be incurred.770-442-664

Home Care is an industry that primarily works with seniors and their families but also services younger adults who are recovering from an illness or injury. Occasionally we find that we are working with an adult who is part of a dysfunctional family. This can offer many challenges, especially for the person providing care and for the person receiving care. Of course there are no perfect families, there are always issues that someone in the family is working on and there are unique family dynamics.  Some families are able to unite in difficult times while others just dissipate farther apart.

Here are tips on how to identify a dysfunctional family and how to work through the dysfunction.

Traits of a healthy functioning family:

• Solidarity between family members
• Unity within the family unit
• Committed to resolving difficulties and differences
• Having mental and emotional resources in a time of crisis
• Relying on an outside support system when extra help is needed
• Creating an emotionally safe environment where everyone can state their opinions without judgment   
• Encouragement and support of each other
• Quick to forgive
• Respect for each others differences
• Pull together in the same direction
• Open communication
• Follow the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Traits a less functional family:

• Family bond between members is weak or lacking
• Little or no communication
• Communicate indirectly through acting out or sulking
• Extreme rigid family rules
• There are addictions with one or more family member
• High levels of tension and arguing
• Extended periods of silence, blame and avoidance as the primary coping mechanisms
• There is a shadow of unpredictability and fear cast over the family and affecting each member
• An overall message of “don’t feel, don’t talk, don’t trust”
• Conflicts and misunderstandings arise frequently and are not solved
• Don’t express feelings openly or honestly
• Family members don’t pull together to find solutions to problems; they are more likely to blame problems on each other or to leave the problems unresolved
• Emotional abuse, chemical dependency, compulsive behavior

Tips for working with dysfunctional families:

• Change is difficult and takes time; be patient with yourself
• Keep in mind you are not responsible for changing of “fixing” the whole family
• Communicate effectively, be kind, tell the truth and emphasize the positive
• Rely on your own sense of what’s right and do what you believe is best at the moment
• When it’s necessary to deal with the family, try to deal with the family member who is the easiest to work with
• Suggest, guide, support and educate
• Don’t address ALL of the challenges
• Protect your own boundaries
• Avoid getting caught up in the drama.  Step back and pretend you are watching a movie
• When you leave, leave it all behind
• Remember you can’t change behavior but you can change your response to it

Keep in mind change is something which most human beings resist and have great difficulty with.  One of the hardest things to realize is that change is up to each individual, not anyone else, including the family.  Everyone has had a conflict with their family at some time or another, but for some it is more of a lifetime struggle involving much confusion and emotional pain.  To break free, the individual must take back control over their life.  Breaking free involves developing a new, healthier support system of people who respect boundaries and changes.  Some support resources are:

• Social events
• Hobbies
• Religious Affiliations
• 12-step support groups
• Therapy
• Anything that makes you smile!

If you are finding it difficult to juggle it all - work, family, errands and other demands that often leave you over taxed.  Where do you turn when a loved ones needs are more than you can manage on your own?  What do you do when some of the care alternatives seem like a complication rather than a solution?  We understand, in fact, we have been there.

Consult Atlanta's most trusted source for quality Home Care, Easy Living Services. Offering flexible care plans designed to guarantee safety, comfort, companionship and personal care and attention to your loved one at home.

Finally, a real solution.  At last, peace of mind.  Call us at 770-442-8664.  

Each week, Easy Living Services interacts with clients that are struggling to make decisions not only for themselves, but also for a loved one.  Each family has questions and we took our most common queries and posted them below.  We hope you find them useful!

• Compassion, Passionate about helping others & Skilled -  Caregivers that are Certified Nursing Assistants who have a minimum of 5 years experience.  Demand a rigorous screening process that includes an extensive background check, in-depth interview and personal and professional reference checks. Only with an agency that provides this are you ensured of working with a highly skilled caregiver who is passionate about caring for those who need assistance.  For your peace of mind, our referred caregivers meet all of these criteria and are fully insured.
  

• All non-medical assistance that will keep your loved one safe and comfortable at home, at the hospital or in a nursing or re-hab facility. Companion / Homemaker / Personal Care - Caregivers can provide light housekeeping, errands, meals, socialization and companionship.  Personal Care can include bathing, dressing, grooming, safety, sanitation and meal preparation.
  

• Ensure that your provider has a large staff of qualified, professional and reliable caregivers -  In the event of  caregiver illness or emergency absence this ensures that a replacement is available. Easy Living Services maintains a backup program and has a large network of professionals available to assist with your needs.
  

• You will want to ensure that caregivers are screened, trained, have an excellent work ethic and are insured for your safety - Caregivers that have been professionally trained specifically in working with persons who are disabled, recovering from an illness or injury as well as senior care must be adequately screened to ensure that they are qualified to care for your loved one.  Working with an agency is like having an insurance plan ensuring that you have a qualified caregiver available when you want and need "life made easier".
  

• Clients requiring around the clock care can opt for a caregiver to live with their loved one.  The caregiver must be able to sleep 7-8 hours at night and have a separate room for sleeping.  Live-in services are available for both Companion and Personal Care. Instead of paying an hourly rate Live-In rates are normally a flat fee per day making the cost a more affordable option.   Easy Living Services rates are highly competitive - starting at $175/Day.

• Yes. Some clients require only part-time care. Easy Living Services offers hourly care services starting at only $16.95/Hour.  (Some minimums may apply.)        

• Your caregiver provider should be available 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  When their office is closed, there needs to be an on-call knowledgeable person availble to assist with any emergency needs. Easy Living has an on-call knowledgeable person available to assist with emergency after hour needs 24/7/365.
  

• Ask yourself if a bigger company is necessarily a better company. Home Care agencies are one of the largest growing industries in today's market.  "Big business" has seized this opportunity.  Franchised, "locally owned" agencies are on every corner.  A franchise owner typically goes to franchise school for a couple of weeks and then becomes apart of a large corporate run entity.   At Easy Living you control your Home Care service and selection guided by our expertise and insight.  At Easy Living caring is more than just a business, it is our philosophy in action every day! 
  

Easy Living works with only the best Atlanta caregivers. Many of our clients have used our service for 10+ years and the feedback is consistent in superior levels of satisfaction. We are your Home Care staffing expert - we've been assisting Atlanta families for over 20 years!

For more information on professional In-Home service for your loved one, please contact Easy Living services today at (770) 442-8664.