(upbeat music) - Welcome back to Inspire.

Coming up.

We discuss the important role of a caregiver and the emotional and physical challenges that come with this important responsibility.

And Sarah Starr is back with another moment of Zen plus more home improvement tips from our pros at Habitat for Humanity.

Coming up next on Inspire.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart using furniture to inspire conversation.

And by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Inspire.

I'm excited to be here with my great cohosts Danielle Norwood and Leslie Fleuranges.

Welcome to Inspire.

Welcome you to Inspire.

We have a great show planned for today.

And we have a couple of ladies who will show you how to make quick work out of home improvement tasks.

- And take a break to unwind.

Sarah Starr is back providing us with a bit of mindfulness through yoga.

And sometimes we need a break during our journey through life, especially caregivers.

- Yes, Leslie caregivers have a tremendous responsibility on their shoulders and on today's show, we'll discuss the crucial role of caregivers and examine the emotional, financial, and physical toll that comes along with this role.

To help us understand the issues associated with caregiving, we have Dorothy Kurtz, a palliative care nurse with Midland Care.

And Serena Kent, director of wellness and resident services at Brewster Place.

Dorothy and Serena, thank you for joining us today.

- Thank you.

- Thank you for having us.

- Tell us what a caregiver is?

What's the definition?

- Really it's an important role for anybody who is finding themselves in a situation where a loved one, or even in some cases, a neighbor or somebody that they're caring for professionally, almost always it's for another human being who is just dependent for some reason.

So it can be a newborn baby, all the way to an elder who is at end of life.

- A lot of times, there are family members who are caring for folks, and that's really where it takes an emotional toll, because if that person sometimes is working plus they're caring for someone else, is that what is difficult for these caregivers?

- I would say yes, the emotional toll, because it's somebody that you love who for some reason is needing more of you, is needing either may not be just more emotional or psychological support, but sometimes it is physical and certainly it's emotionally exhausting, but it can also be physically exhausting.

- So what are some things that both of your areas of expertise at Midland Care and Brewster?

Dorothy, if we could start, at Midland Care when someone needs you, you know, how does somebody know that they need you?

- I always say if things are just getting more difficult from day to day, and you're finding yourself feeling, I think more of a toll on your own health.

Try not to let it get that far, but if you're finding from day to day, that an individual you're caring for is just needing more of your energy, your time, your attention, then it's time to call for help.

- I say kind of the same thing, a similar thing, I say when the bad days outnumber the good days, that's kind of a good sign for when caregivers need to get more help.

I also believe in having those conversations with your loved one, if your loved one has dementia, and you notice that they're forgetting more, then that's kind of a good sign that they're forgetting more.

Maybe we need to really start looking at more care in the home or a higher level of care outside of the home.

- That's a difficult conversation to have because I have been a caregiver.

So I know firsthand what that's like to be of a senior adult.

And I also had my in-laws, both of them go into a retirement community.

And there was this loss of freedom that accompanied both of those decisions.

How do you talk to somebody who's going to be either cared for, or go into a retirement community, that this is something that's the best for you.

And it's not about taking away your freedom, but trying to help you as much as possible.

- So I like to look at either moving to a higher level of care or getting caregivers as a tool.

So by accepting that tool, you're going to be more independent.

So a great example is a walker, right?

Lots of times folks don't wanna use a walker or a cane, but that's a tool.

And that tool will help you be more independent and enjoy activities that you enjoy doing.

- And what do you do to make them comfortable?

You need to make the family comfortable so that they feel like their loved one is going to be cared for and get the best care possible.

And then how do you make the person coming to each of your facilities feel that comfort and that welcome, and that, "Hey, this could be my new home."

- A great deal of the care we provide at Midland is actually in the patient's home.

So we have different programs that are geared toward helping a person stay in their home as long as they possibly can by providing care.

But we do have a facility.

We have a hospice house at Midland Care, and we are usually seeing people in the hospice house when things are difficult at home.

For instance, if pain or other symptoms are more challenging to control in the home setting, the person can come to the hospice house.

Likewise, if the caregivers are needing a respite, the person who's receiving care can come to the hospice house as a way to give the caregivers some time to just rest.

And I think that most of the patients that we care for in that setting are really at the point in their life where they're needing more care, they're realizing that and they are maybe even seeing the toll that the caregiving is taking on their loved ones.

So it's usually a big relief to patients and families when they come to the hospice house, it gives the sons, the daughters, the husbands, the wives, an opportunity to be just that in that role.

While the staff at the hospice house take over the hands-on care.

- What about at Brewster, Serena, - At Brewster Place we encourage residents to make their apartment, their room, their own.

So in independent living, people pick out their own paint colors, flooring.

We want it to be home.

I always tell people it's another transition.

Just like when you moved out of your mom and dad's house and you moved to a dorm and then you got married.

So I like to tell people it's a transition.

So in assisted living, we encourage people to bring photographs, bring paintings, make it their own, because we know it won't be the home that they may be lived in for 30, 40, 50, 60 years, but we want it to be comforting- - Be as comfortable as possible.

And we will have more of this.

So do stay there more discussion on caregiving.

- But right now let's tackle a home improvement project.

(upbeat music) - I am Janice Watkins, CEO of Topeka Habitat for Humanity.

Drywall repair is more than just something that is for aesthetic purposes.

It's important to have a proper sealant to allow protection from smoke and fire combustion.

Drywall errors can happen with just a moving something about in digging the drywall, or it can (hammer hitting) really take place.

(hammer hitting) So we have a hole in our drywall that obviously needs repaired for multiple reasons.

The first thing we wanna do is to kind of clean up that hole so that it's gonna be easier to repair.

We can do this by taking a utility knife and kind of cleaning up around the edges to make that smoother.

(upbeat music) To allow a smooth application of a drywall patch.

There are multiple ways to go about that, but the quickest and easiest way to repair drywall is through a self adhesive patch.

You can obtain this from any hardware store for just a couple of dollars.

They come in multiple sizes.

In this instance, we've made sure we have plenty of room to patch our hole.

We're just going to peel off the backing and place it as such around the hole so that we can begin the process of reapplying and fixing our drywall.

(upbeat music) Once we have all of our joint compound or mud applied and our patch covered, we're going to take a larger drywall knife, and we're going to feather the ends so that we have less work to do on the completion stage and have a nice, smooth finish around our patch.

Now, as you can see, we can see some of our patch.

So this is an important first step.

This is not a quick process.

We're going to let this be nice and smooth and then dry, and then likely have to add a second coating of mud or compound so that we can have a nice clean patch to our drywall repair.

Now that we have applied our first coat of compound or mud, we can go back through and we can start the smoothing process.

As you can see, our patch is not quite dry.

The area is gray and not all of the way white or translucent.

So we're going to use this existing patch.

You're going to start with the sandpaper.

(sandpaper scraping) Lightly go over the edges to make them nice and smooth (sandpaper scraping) With drywall, this really is for the aesthetic purposes of applying paint towards the end, so that we can have a nice, smooth surface.

On flat walls and non texturized drywall, this is going to be extraordinarily important as we're going to see every cosmetic issue when we apply paint.

You can also use a wet sponge to aid in this process, which we'll just kind of smooth it down.

And we're gonna feather the edges till it's nice and smooth.

We're going to continue repeating that process until our edges are nice and smooth.

And we're able to see zero imperfections and apply our coat of paint.

Thank you for joining us.

And we hope you get inspired to address your own home maintenance.

(upbeat music) - We're back with Dorothy Kurtz and Serena Kent.

Ladies, in the last segment, we talked about the importance of caregiving and the emotional and physical toll this responsibility can have on caregivers.

Let's move now and discuss what resources are really available to caregivers.

When we were talking a minute ago, you mentioned something Dorothy about the PACE program.

Can you tell us a little bit about that, that Midland care offers?

- Absolutely.

So PACE is actually a Medicare type of program.

PACE stands for the Program of all inclusive Care for Elders.

And that is by elders.

They mean people 55 years old or older, who actually have some sort of limitations, health issues, et cetera, that are limiting their ability to live independently.

And they also qualify for nursing home placement in the state of Kansas.

However, with PACE, people stay in their own homes for the most part, and PACE becomes their healthcare provider, hands-on care provider in the home, transportation.

They also have a day center, which is wonderful.

And here in Topeka, and so family members are able to go to work during the day while their care receiver or their loved one is at the PACE center, doing activities and having lunch, taking naps, socializing, but also seeing the doctor or the nurse practitioner, if they need to see a medical person at the time.

- One of the things we've talked about, a lot of people don't wanna go anywhere, if they can't take their pets.

- That is a difficult, difficult thing because people see their pets kind of as a member of their family.

And so helping them just kind of talk through who might be able to take the pet.

How come they might have to give their pet up.

Unfortunately, there's people that just neglect, really seeking any kind of help, even medical attention that's needed because they're concerned about their pets.

So I think it's just listening with an open heart.

What do you think?

- Yeah.

There are facilities that do accept pets.

We've had cats before where at Brewster and dogs in our nursing home.

So just ask, you never know.

I would always encourage people to just ask if they can bring their pet or if their pet can come for a visit.

Sometimes people, daughters or sons can bring the pet in and their mom and dad can see them.

So yeah.

- I wanna shine a positive light on something 'cause you know being in a facility is not so bad because again, you get catered to, for three meals.

You have game nights 'cause I know my mother-in-law enjoying it.

She's playing dominoes and bingo and kind of like being on the love boat with the cruise director.

And you're enjoying a lot of things that you might not get it if you were living at home.

- Yes, the social aspect.

Lots of facilities.

They do like social hour, happy hour.

We're doing a resident art show.

We've taken residents to the Kansas city zoo.

You cater your programming around what the residents wanna do and then you make it happen.

'Cause it's all about quality of life.

- Absolutely.

So where can some of the caregivers, some family members, where can they get some emotional help?

We talk about how draining this all is.

You all help out the caregivers at all?

- One wonderful resource, especially if somebody has somebody that they're caring for, who has dementia would be the Alzheimer's association here in Topeka.

And then Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging is also another one that's very helpful.

At Midland We've got a caregiver support group.

- And briefly before we run out of time.

If you have someone in your home, who is older and the family thinks they need to seek another place to live, but they're unwilling to, they don't think they need the help.

How do you help the process.

- With a family meeting often and that's a big thing that we do in palliative care at Midland is bringing patients and families together to discuss goals of care and to discuss any medical concerns that are going on to make plans for the future.

We kind of walk along beside folks.

- Dorothy and Serena, thank you for your time with us on Inspire Today.

And thank you for providing us with some much needed information on caregiving.

We're getting ready to go and slow down a little bit.

Sarah Starr is going to treat us to a moment of zen.

(upbeat music) - Thanks ladies, I'm Sarah Starr.

and I'm excited to bring you a bit of inspiration to add to your daily activity routine.

In today's practice we'll be focusing on twists.

Twisting stimulates our abdominal organs, helping with detoxification, which then helps to boost our energy, improving our overall health and wellbeing.

Join me for this quick accessible yoga practice as we fire up our digestive system, as well as stretch our spine, shoulders and chest while using a chair for support.

Relax and remember your happy yoga smile.

Namaste.

(upbeat music) You begin by stepping your feet wide, rooting down through your feet with your toes turned opened slightly.

Place your hands to your thighs, fingertips pointing inward, inhale, lengthen your spine.

Exhale draw opposite shoulder to opposite knee, inhale to upright, exhale repeat to the opposite side.

Continue coordinating this movement with your breath.

Lengthening from the base of your spine, to the crown of your head.

Breathing deeply, releasing tension in your abdomen, rib cage and spine, creating more space and ease through your upper back.

(upbeat music) Posing in upright, inhale, lengthen your spine.

Exhale, rotate your torso to the right, placing your left hand to your right leg.

Reaching your right arm to the sky.

Turning your head to look towards the right hand, unwind and repeat to the opposite side.

Inhale, lengthen your spine.

Exhale, rotate your torso to the left.

Reaching your right hand to your left leg and your left arm to the sky.

Rotating from your navel, ribs and chest.

(upbeat music) Unwind and return to center, extend your left leg, flexing though your U.

Place your hands to your right thigh for support.

Inhale, lengthen your spine.

Exhale, fold forward out over your legs.

Folding forward from your hip creases.

Rotating your upper thighs inward slightly.

(upbeat music) Inhale, lift your torso to upright.

Continue to extend through your left leg, drawing your right knee in towards your chest.

Adding a twist, inhale, lengthen your spine.

Using your left hand to clasp.

Exhale, rotate your torso to the right, reaching your right arm back and open extending towards straight.

Maintain your hip spacing forward.

Rooting your left heel into the earth.

Lengthening from the base of your spine upward.

(upbeat music) Exhale to unwind and return to center repeating to the opposite side.

Extend your right leg forward.

Placing your hands to your left thigh for support, inhale, lengthen your spine.

Exhale, fold forward out over your legs.

Folding forward from your hip creases, keeping your right leg active by flexing through your U.

(upbeat music) Inhale, lift your torso to upright, keeping your right leg where it is.

Draw your left knee in towards your chest.

Inhale, lengthen your spine.

Exhale, use your right hand to clasp your left leg, rotating your torso to the left, reaching your left arm back and open extending towards straight.

With each inhale, lift through your sternum and with each exhale, gently twisting deeper, (upbeat music) Exhale to unwind and return to center.

(upbeat music) Transitioning into a modified seated twist, inhale, reach your arms overhead, lengthening your spine.

Exhale, rotate your torso to the right, reaching your left hand to your right leg.

Placing your right in behind you for support.

Continue here or to increase this stretch, press your right leg over your left.

Gently press your left arm into your right leg, using it as added leverage.

Eating your left side body incoming around to the right deepening this twist.

Exhale to unwind.

Repeating to the opposite side.

Inhale, reach your arms overhead.

Exhale, rotate your torso to the left reaching your right hand to your left leg.

Placing your left hand behind you for support.

To increase this stretch, cross your left leg over your right, gently press your right arm into your left leg.

Using it is added leverage deepening this twist with each inhale, lengthen through the crown of your head and with each exhale gently twisting deeper, allowing this twisting action to be atonic for your spine and belly organs.

(upbeat music) Exhale to unwind and return to center.

Completing your practice for today.

(waves crashing) Namaste.

(upbeat music) Thank you for joining me.

Hopefully I've inspired more activity and mindfulness in your day.

See you next time.

(upbeat music) - Thank you Sarah Starr for that moment of mindfulness and you guys, this is something that is such a deep conversation, but the mindfulness yoga, those types of things are great ways that caregivers can cope.

Danielle, I learned something about you today.

I did not realize about you and your grandmother.

How close would you mind expanding on that?

- Sure.

My grandmother raised me from the time that I was three months old.

And so it was a very interesting transition when she became older and not able to care for herself, that the person who was the main figure, the disciplinarian is now having to take her cues from me.

And now I'm making the decisions.

And needless to say, it was a hard time because granny had always been granny and then now granny's having to like, "Okay, Danny, whatever you want."

She had macular degeneration in both of her eyes.

And so how do you tell somebody who's always been so responsible and independent, oh, by the way, now I'm going to take the keys and now I'm selling your car.

So you really can't be driving this car anymore.

It was a hard conversation.

Of course, she died at 82 and that was just a huge transition in my life because I'd always been doing something for her or a great granny.

And so to not have them in my life, it's like, well, what's my purpose now.

And it took me a moment to really try to transition to just being on my own.

But it's a difficult thing.

- Taking care of my own mother.

I know the difficulties of wanting to make sure that they're getting the best care and needing to be there.

Sometimes if you're out of town, like we were, you'd wanna make sure that they're getting the best care.

You have to show up and let them know that there's someone there that cares and also make your loved one know that you care.

It must be terribly lonely to be in these places even though you make friends and meet new people.

At the end of the day, they're not the same people that you've been around for so many years.

It's a different journey.

It's a new path that people have to take at this stage in their life, which is can be very depressing actually.

- And it's important that the person who is doing the caregiving gets care themselves.

You gotta take a break.

You have to do things that speak to you.

Spirituality was huge for me and being able to talk to people and just share my emotions.

And sometimes they weren't the prettiest just because there's frustration.

And if you don't have water in the well to take care of yourself, you can't water other gardens.

And so having a full-time job and taking care of granny and trying to my own needs, it's all very difficult.

But at the same time you do what you can.

You sacrifice what you can because they sacrificed for you.

I'm so blessed that we had as many years as we did together and years that I will always treasure.

So this whole conversation has been really good for me.

And the show has been wonderful to reflect back on that time and to send well wishes and prayers to those who are going through what or about to go through it, because everybody's going to be in that situation at some point.

But that's all the time that we have for today.

We sure hope that you've been just as inspired as we have by the powerful stories and the features showcasing the magnificent women making moves in our community, our nation, and our world.

As a reminder, you can watch this program again watch.ktwu.org.

- And if you're so inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what's coming up on future shows and get access to additional content.

Be sure to visit our website at www.ktwu.org/inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring you on KTWU.

On behalf of the wonderful Leslie and the wonderful Danielle, and the wonderful you.

Thank you for watching Inspire.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart using furniture to inspire conversation.

And by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.