Hope you enjoy this fact sheet about Alzheimer’s Care in the United States (page 1) and Canada (page 2).  If you have any questions, simply call our Sonoma County  Home Instead Senior Care office at 707.586.1516 anytime.

From the Home Instead Senior Care© network and Vickie Dellaquila, certified professional organizer and author of Don’t Toss My Memories in the Trash, here are 10 reasons seniors can’t or won’t give up on their stuff.

1.  The Sentimental Attachment.  The beloved prom dress represents the history and memories of the event; it’s not the dress itself.  Save only a piece of the dress to make a quilt or display in a shadow box.  Scrapbooking and converting photos to DVDs are other ways to save treasured keepsakes without all the extra mess.

2.  The Sense of Loyalty.  Older adults who’ve received gifts from family and friends may be reluctant to part with them.  Encourage your loved one to give unused gifts back to the giver or grandchildren.

3.  The Need to Conserve.  Seniors are the original green people. Appeal to a senior’s desire to help others.  “You went through the Great Depression, now it’s time for you to let go and help someone else.”  Counter a senior’s inclination to conserve by appealing to their desire to give back.

4.  The Fatigue.  A home with a lifetime of memories can easily become too much for an older adult to handle.  Help seniors manage clutter by establishing online bill paying.  Also, get your senior off junk mail lists, which can put them at risk for identity theft, and buy them a shredder.

5.  The Change in Health.  Seniors who have suffered a brain trauma or stroke, who are wheelchair bound or who are experiencing dementia may no longer be able to manage household duties, which could contribute to clutter.  If you see a health change, encourage your senior to visit his or her doctor and consider a professional organizer and caregiver to help your loved one.

6.  The Fear.  Seniors often fear what will happen if they give up their stuff, like the older adult who saved three generations of bank statements.  Use logic and information to help seniors understand it’s O.K. to let go.

7.  The Dream of the Future.  Those clothes in the closet don’t fit anymore, but your loved one is sure that some day she’ll lose enough weight to get into them.  Ask seniors to fill a box with clothing they don’t wear much and make a list of the items in the box.  Agree that if they have not gone back to the box in six months to wear the item, they will donate that to charity.

8.  The Love of Shopping.  Today’s seniors have more money than any other previous generation of older adults and they love to shop.  Clutter can become so bad seniors can’t find things and they repurchase items they already have, contributing to the clutter cycle.  Try to convince seniors to cut back and to say “no” to free stuff.

9.  The History and Memories.  Keepsakes represent history and memories.  Encourage seniors to take old photos to a family reunion and share with several generations.  Let seniors know they can contribute to the history of their time and leave a lasting legacy by donating to museums and historical societies, a theater and library, or churches and synagogues.

1o.  The Loneliness.  Stuff can become a misplaced companion.  Loneliness may also lead to depression, which makes it difficult for seniors to get organized.  Consider the services of a professional organizer and caregiver.  For more information, go to the National Association of Professional Organizers at www.napo.net or visit www.homeinstead.com/sonoma. 

For more information about how you can help a senior or elderly loved one get organized, simply call your Rohnert Park senior home care office at 707.586.1516.  Our Home Instead CAREGivers can be a companion and reduce seniors’ loneliness and fear associated with parting with possessions they have collected over the years. 

Editor’s Note:  Other experts contributing to these tips include Katherine “Kit” Anderson, CPO-CD, president of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization; University of Kansas Professor Dr. David Ekerdt, who is coordinating a “household moves” project to determine the role that possessions play in older people’s housing decisions; and University of New Mexico Researcher Dr. Catherine Roster.

Hug someone you love today and then record their story on video or audio. It just takes an hour of your time.

While everyone is rushing about on Black Friday and getting in to the hustle and bustle that the Holidays bring, an organization called StoryCorps has declared today as the National Day of Listening. 

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. Since 2003, more than 50,000 Americans have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps, making it one of the largest oral history projects of its kind. 

As part of their onoing efforts, StoryCorps first launched the National Day of Listening in 2008.  According to their website:

On the day after Thanksgiving, set aside one hour to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose:  an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood.

You can preserve the interview using recording equipment readily available in most homes, such as cell phones, tape recorders, computers, or even pen and paper. Our free Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide is easy to use and will prepare you and your interview partner to record a memorable conversation, no matter which recording method you choose.

Make a yearly tradition of listening to and preserving a loved one’s story. The stories you collect will become treasured keepsakes that grow more valuable with each passing generation.

Here at Home Instead Senior Care of Sonoma County, we believe it is so important to listen to your loved ones, especially the elderly or seniors who have lived such rich lives, and to preserve those stories for many generations to come.  We applaud the efforts of the National Day of Listening and trust that you’ll make every day a day to listen to a loved one’s story.