Email motherhealth@gmail.com or text 408-854-1883 to get help in caring for your parents or family member with brain health issues such as stroke, Parkinsons or Alzheimer’s.

There are many Caregiver, support groups and resource center in the bay area. The internet has many info on geriatric care and home health. Be prepared as a provider for your parents with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Some emotional and physical stress comes with caring for your aging parents. You cannot do it alone. You need a respite, use our caregivers at Motherhealth. Call 408-854-1883 for 24-hr response. We help you select the best caregiver for your mom or dad.

Check Dept of Health and Social services for options and resources for caregivers (partners/spouses, family, and friends) of adults who became cognitively impaired, due to illness or injury, after age 18. Diagnoses served include Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Scleroses (ALS), and others.

We can help you navigate and find information and referral regarding caregiver issues, brain impairing conditions, community resources, and public awareness, education and training.

In some counties, FCA also provides services to caregivers of adults age 60 or over (with or without cognitive impairment) and to adults age 59 or under with demintia (not including stroke) through funding from the National Family Caregiver Support Program administered locally through Area Agencies on Aging.

Long-term care planning services include: individual and family consultation in the home regarding the client’s caregiving situation; legal consultation; counseling; respite, www.clubalthea.com can help you find onsite and online caregiver support services program and other site for on-line support group for all caregivers, an on-line group for Huntington’s caregivers, and an on-line group for Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) caregivers.

There are workshops and classes that focus on relieving caregiver stress by teaching caregivers new skills for interacting with people with dementia and caregiver self care. Also offers professional training, conferences, publications, in-service trainings to other professionals, and technical assistance.

And print info that publishes fact sheets in English, Spanish and Chinese on specific brain impairing illnesses, legal issues, in-home care, community resources, and caregiver issues. 

The National Center on Caregiving is a program that advocates for caregivers, as well as provides information and conducts research, at the national level, and works to affect policy by supporting legislation that will improve awareness and availability of services to people taking care of family or friends with cognitive impairment, or who are elderly and frail.

Reach out to your community for support and learn how others are coping. We can take you for a tour to some care homes in the bay area.

Best Tips for brain impaired caregiving for our mom and dad

1. Be patient, learn about the routine in health improvement ways that work best for your aging parents.
2. Be prepared for emergencies and avoid one with caregivers on call or respite care.
3. Senior safe your home.
4. Be on top of medication management and contact your doctor for any small signs of over dosage or drug interactions. Avoid meds if possible.
5. Whole foods nutrition, fresh air, clean water and a bedroom conducive for sleep are the norm.
6. Reach out to others in your support system for help. It takes a village to team up and support our aging parents.

Causes of Brain Injuries

Brain injuries occur due to a very wide range of conditions, illnesses, and injuries. Possible causes of widespread brain damage include birth hypoxia,^[4] prolonged hypoxia (shortage of oxygen), poisoning by teratogens (including alcohol), infection, and neurological illness. Brain tumors increase intracranial pressure, causing brain damage. Chemotherapy can cause brain damage to the neural stem cells and oligodendrocyte cells that produce myelin. Common causes of focal or localized brain damage are physical trauma (traumatic brain injury, stroke, aneurysm, surgery, other neurological disorder), and poisoning from heavy metals including mercury and its compounds of lead. Vascular disorders of the brain disrupt the flow of blood to the brain, resulting in a lesion called an infarct. Vascular disorders of the brain include thrombosis, embolisms, angiomas, aneurysms, and cerebral arteriosclerosis.

Brain lesions are sometimes intentionally inflicted during neurosurgery, such as the carefully placed brain lesion used to treat epilepsy and other brain disorders. These lesions are induced by excision or by electric shocks (electrolytic lesions) to the exposed brain or commonly by infusion of excitotoxins to specific areas.^[5]

Management

Various professions may be involved in the medical care and rehabilitation of someone suffering impairment after a brain injury. Neurologists, neurosurgeons, and physiatrists are physicians specialising in treating brain injury. Neuropsychologists (especially clinical neuropsychologists) are psychologists specialising in understanding the effects of brain injury and may be involved in assessing the severity or creating rehabilitation strategies. Occupational therapists may be involved in running rehabilitation programs to help restore lost function or help re-learn essential skills. Registered nurses, such as those working in hospital intensive care units, are able to maintain the health of the severely brain-injured with constant administration of medication and neurological monitoring, including the use of the Glasgow Coma Scale used by other health professionals to quantify extent of orientation.

Physiotherapists also play a significant role in rehabilitation after a brain injury. In the case of a traumatic brain injury (TBIs), physiotherapy treatment during the post-acute phase may include: sensory stimulation, serial casting and splinting, fitness and aerobic training, and functional training.^[6] Sensory stimulation refers to regaining sensory perception through the use of modalities. There is no evidence to support the efficacy of this intervention.^[7] Serial casting and splinting are often used to reduce soft tissue contractures and muscle tone. Evidence based research reveals that serial casting can be used to increase passive range of motion (PROM) and decrease spasticity.^[7] Studies also report that fitness and aerobic training will increase cardiovascular fitness; however the benefits will not be transferred to the functional level.^[8] Functional training may also be used to treat patients with TBIs. To date, no studies supports the efficacy of sit to stand training, arm ability training and body weight support systems (BWS).^[9][10] Overall, studies suggest that patients with TBIs who participate in more intense rehabilitation programs will see greater benefits in functional skills.^[8] More research is required to better understand the efficacy of the treatments mentioned above.

Other treatments for brain injury include medication, psychotherapy, neuropsychological rehabilitation, snoezelen, surgery, or physical implants such as deep brain stimulation.