Uneasy about vaccination?

March 30th, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine: It’s our turn to roll up our sleeves and get vaccinated!

It’s hard to imagine a time when we didn’t know COVID-19 existed. Now when people say “virus,” we know what they mean. The impact of COVID-19 on our lives, our activities, and our freedom has affected us all. The responsibility is ours, as a community, to help stop this virus. Now we have a new, safe, and effective tool to help us do that—COVID-19 vaccines.

It takes everyone.

We all need to step up to beat COVID-19. We ask you to join us in protecting yourself, your family and friends, and our community by getting vaccinated.

“COVID-19 vaccination is one of the strongest tools we can use to fight this pandemic together,” says Nicolette Asselin, M.D. writer for Getwell.org.

Getting vaccinated adds an important layer of protection for you, your family, and loved ones. Here are some things you should know about the COVID-19 vaccine:

  • All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are very effective at preventing the disease.
  • The most common side effects are pain in the arm where you got the shot, feeling tired, headache, body aches, chills, and fever.
  • Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available—wearing masks, staying at least 6 feet apart from people who don’t live with you, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, washing your hands frequently, and getting vaccinated. (CDC recommendations.)

We want everyone in our community to be safe and get back to hugging our families and friends and shaking hands with our neighbors.

We all play a part in this effort, and you are key. Please sign up to get your COVID-19 vaccination or ask assistance to do so, Vaccinefinder.

Additional Information:

At OasisWeCare we want you to be safe.

Please, use the reply space if you have a question.

Measure

How do you know when to worry or talk to your primary physician about your family member?

There are a number of assessments tools, but the simplest to take is called the SAGE Test.*

The benefits of this test is that SAGE can be a tool for measuring someone’s thinking ability over several years. The first time the test is taken could be considered a “baseline,” or the standard to be compared to when it’s taken again later. If scores on the test are worse two years later, this might indicate something’s wrong. Dementia diseases are progressive, worsening over time, and SAGE can help chart the progression.

Also, peace of mind can be huge. If you are stressed or exhausted (perhaps from caregiving for your loved one), then focus and memory might suffer. A person with a healthy brain may become worried that they’re showing signs of dementia. Taking a SAGE might reassure you that rather than developing an incurable brain disease, you just need more sleep.Doing this test at home is a solid marker.

View or download the SAGE Test

View or download instructions

Mental Health and problems with memory.

WHY?

More information helps doctors make a better diagnosis. The questions on SAGE are diverse, asking someone to remember the date, do simple math problems, recall the names of objects or animals, and more. Because different types of dementias affect the brain differently, this is helpful for determining what’s wrong. Someone with Frontotemporal dementia, for instance, would have difficulty coming up with the right words, but less problems with memory.

Catching cognition problems early equals better treatment. Dementia cannot be cured, but its symptoms can be managed. The sooner management begins, the easier a person’s life with Alzheimer’s disease or related illness will be. If you or a loved one shows signs of developing dementia, you can better prepare for the future, including understanding what might be required of caregivers.

*SAGE stands for Self-Administered Gerocognitive Test.

New Zoom topic

A new topic is added to our Zoom sessions

DONALD’s SPIRITUAL HOUR

Life can be hard, lonely, purposeless when suffering from an illness.

Cultivating a strong spirituality can lift and add hope to one’s life.

Without purpose one can loose the will to fight.

Limited attendance, every Thursday at 1PM.

To sign up

Vaccination Tips

Is some of the information circulating on the vaccine confusing?

Review these important points below:

Are you taking care of someone?

  • If yes, you are:
  • Home-Based Respite and Individual/Family Support staff  and entitled to receive the vaccine as part of phase 1.

Have you hired someone to take care of a loved one?

  • If yes, they are called:
  • Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) and they are entitled to receive the vaccine as part of phase 1.

Where can I get the Vaccine?

Find a vaccination clinic near where you live to schedule vaccinations ASAP.

Online scheduling (if your zip isn’t bringing a site, use the next larger town)

Phase 2

References:

Mass. Vaccine Distribution

Clinical and non-clinical health care workers doing direct and COVID-facing care

Head Injuries

Can one get Dementia from Brain Injuries?

A concussion or other traumatic brain injury (TBI) can increase the risk of developing dementia even 30 years later, according to a new study published recently.

How Does Dementia from Head Injury differ from other type of dementia?

A number of medical conditions can cause dementia. Some are reversible while others can lead to more permanent states of dementia. Alzheimer’s diseaseaccounts for about 55 percent of all dementia cases. Dementia due to a head injury is comparatively rare and accounts for less than 5 percent of cases.

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI’s) affect an estimated two to three million people in the United States each year. Between 400,000 and 500,000 people are hospitalized. It is difficult to find accurate statistics on how many people with a TBI go on to develop significant dementia, but there are three areas that we need to consider. The first is the link between Alzheimer’s disease and TBI;   the second, post traumatic dementia affecting the elderly and thirdly dementia pugilistica, (also known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy). cont

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Health Central

Christine Kennard HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

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Challenges

In dementia, day to day tasks can become a challenge, even with simple things, like getting dressed…

The family caregiver’s role is changed and comes without defiance, protest, and dare. Both involved will need to learn new roads and understand each other in new ways.

Anxiety – Agitation

In the following video, UCLA professor for the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program demonstrates new approaches to those behavioral challenges. He offers new ways to communicate and decrease anxiety or agitation.