The Scoop

Thank You!

Caregivers! We just wanted to take a second and say, “Thank you!” for everything you do. From the bottom of our hearts, we appreciate the countless hours you’ve given to caring for others, for showing love and devotion to the people you care for, and for taking the time to educate yourself and learn how to be a better care provider,

November is National Family Caregiver Month. It’s a time to recognize people like you who work as in-home senior caregivers, child care providers, babysitters, nannies, special needs caregivers, tutors, teachers, and more. You’re helping others live better lives by giving of your time and energy. Thank you for all that you do!

In celebration of National Family Caregiver Month, we’re holding our second annual Care Hero search. We’re asking families to nominate their Care Heroes—the men and women who help make their lives a little bit easier—as part of this contest. The overall winner (who could be a caregiver like YOU!) will receive a $500 Care Package and be named the 2009 Care.com Care Hero. We’ll also select weekly winners, each of whom will receive a $100 restaurant gift certificate.

Do you know another care provider who should be called a Care Hero? Visit the Care.com Facebook Page and nominate them by submitting a photo and few sentences about why you’ve chosen them! If we pick the person you nominated as a weekly or overall winner, you’ll win prizes, too!

And while you’re at it, why not ask the families you work for to nominate you as their Care Hero? You’re worth it.

Thanks again for the generosity and kindness you show on a daily basis while caring for others. You are all our heroes!

Healthy Eating

A new study from the U.K.reports children of working moms watch more TV, eat more unhealthy foods, and are more sedentary than kids with stay-at-home moms!

The study surveyed more than 12,000 moms of five-year-olds. Children whose moms worked either full or part-time spent over two hours a day watching TV or at the computer on average, ate more unhealthy snacks (like chips), and were more likely to drink sugary beverages between meals. If the children had a stay-at-home mom, they watched less television and, on the whole, ate less unhealthy foods. 

As caregivers, we need to help parents keep children healthy! If you have a second, take this short survey on healthy eating -- it'll help us figure out ways to make sure children eat better and stay active.

What are some of your ideas for keeping the kids you care for stay healthy?

Getting the Flu (Shot)

Getting the flu is never the start to a good day. The fever, the chills, the stuffed-up head… blech! It’s enough to make you sick!

Okay, enough with the puns… caregivers do need to give serious thought to the flu, especially as we head into flu season. Our jobs put us at a bigger risk for catching colds than most. Babysitters and nannies practically live in a germ battleground, with tissues and Purel as their first line of defense. And senior care providers have to make sure to not only fight germs themselves, but also help keep their seniors healthy.

Every year, there’s a big debate on whether or not you should get a flu shot. Some are for it, swearing that it helps keep them healthy. Others wouldn’t touch a flu shot with a ten-foot pole, arguing that it has made them sick or, worse, that the vaccine’s long-term effects haven’t been tested thoroughly.

The first batch of H1N1 vaccine has shipped as part of the biggest vaccination campaign in U.S. history (the government is planning to purchase 250 million doses of the shot). And the seasonal flu shot is also now available at local pharmacies and doctors’ clinics in preparation for the time of year when people start coming down with the sniffles.

So now that both shots are available, are you thinking about getting either the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine or the regular flu shot? We wanted to get your feedback as well as give you a heads up with what the Center for Disease Control says about the vaccinations.

Seasonal Flu Shot
For the “normal” flu vaccine, the CDC suggests that people from 6 months old through 19 years of age should be vaccinated, along with adults 50 years and up. They also recommend health care workers and people who come into regular contact with those who’re at high risk of contracting the flu (which includes child care providers and elder care workers) get vaccinated, as well. 

H1N1 Vaccine
For the new swine flu vaccination, the CDC says that all people from “6 months to 24 years of age” should receive the shot, since this group has the highest risk of contracting the strongest forms of the virus. They do also say that older adults in the 50-64 age range should get the shot, too.

Staying Flu-Free
If you’re looking for the best way to stay healthy this flu season, the best advice we can give are the old tried and true methods: wash your hands thoroughly and get lots of fluids and rest! If you’re looking for ways to keep your work or home germ-free, there’s a handy guide here.

We wish you nothing but health this season! Share your tips for staying healthy and flu-free in the comments below.

National Pet Wellness Month

October is National Pet Wellness Month—a month devoted to raise awareness about disease prevention and the importance of twice-yearly wellness exams for household pets.

As you probably know, dog years move a lot faster than human ones! Pets age about seven times faster than people do, on average. By age two, most dogs and cats have already reached adulthood. By the time they’re four, most are “middle aged” (mid-life crisis anyone?). And when they’re seven, most dogs are senior citizens in the canine world. 

Because pets age so quickly, they need regular health evaluations to make sure they’re doing okay. The same way you schedule yourself an annual physical, you should do the same for your pets (and encourage the owners you work for to do so, as well). Major health changes in animals can occur over a relatively short period of time, so regular check-ups are a key part of keeping pets healthy. 

The point of National Pet Wellness Month is to encourage pet lovers to schedule wellness exams “twice a year for life!” This allows your pets’ vets to detect, treat, or prevent problems before they become life-threatening. 

If pet safety and health is important to you, make sure you have twice-a-year exams scheduled for your four-legged friends. If you're a pet sitter, encourage the families you work for to do the same! They’ll appreciate the thought, and so will their pets.

Online Safety for Care Providers

Hi, I’m Donna L. – VP of Member Care and Safety for Care.com. I head up the Care Team, which is responsible for making Care.com easy and safe to use. When I’m not working, I love spending time with my family and watching the Red Sox (as you can see here)!

We’ve recently added several new features to make sure all of our members have the safest and most secure job search possible—whether they’re a care provider like you looking for a great job or a family looking for care. 

We’re doing our very best to spot safety issues before they cause problems for you. So I wanted to take a second to warn you about one scam that’s going around the web and, unfortunately, has impacted more than a few families. 

Here’s the way it works…a stranger emails you, either to your own email address or through a website you both use, claiming he wants to hire you or asking you to buy a product like a TV or a video game console for him. These strangers say they’re overseas and can’t buy the products on their own. If you agree to help them out, they’ll send you a money order to cover the price of the product. But when the money order arrives, the dollar amount on it is wrong—it’s way, way more than the price of whatever they want you to buy. If you ask them what happened, they’ll claim they got two checks confused, and ask you to deposit the money order, keep what you need to make the purchase, then send them the leftover amount.

What you don’t know is that the first money order is fake. If you cash it and send the money back, your bank will hold you responsible for the amount of the fake money order. It’s a check cashing scheme, and you could lose hundreds or thousands of dollars if you fall prey to it.

I’m writing today to warn you to be careful! If anyone asks to pay you before you meet in-person or send a check from another country, please use caution! If you think something’s fishy, please let us know by contacting the Care Team. You can also use a new safety feature by checking the “Flag As Inappropriate” option on an email or a job post—that will bring the issue to our attention quickly and we’ll be able to help you out. And if someone does send you a check or money order, you should take it to local authorities before trying to cash it. 

As you know, Care.com is a great place to find a job. We’re doing our very best to keep the whole community safe and secure. If there’s ever anything we can do to make your experience using Care.com better, just let us know.

Good luck finding a great, new job!

Cheers,

Donna

Gargling with Licorice May Help Seniors Avoid Sore Throats after Surgery

If you are caring for an elder who is scheduled for surgery, here’s some information that could be of help.

A recent study found that people who gargled with a licorice solution five minutes before receiving anesthesia, reported much less soreness in their throat after the surgery. Sore throats generally result from a breathing tube being inserted into the mouth and then down into the lungs during surgery. For some, the tube can be very irritating, and the resulting soreness makes it difficult for many post-surgical patients to swallow. And this can lead to other problems, such as resistance to eating or taking medication. This resistance can then lead to an IV being need to deliver the food or medicine. But then the IV can lead to an infection.

All of these complications can contribute to fatalities, and gargling with licorice is an easy way to prevent them.

For the study, the gargling solution was made of .5 grams of licorice combined with 30 ML of water. The recipe involved boiling the licorice powder in the water and then filtering it. No additives were involved.

The patients about to have surgery gargled for 30 seconds just 5 minutes before receiving anesthesia.

If you're wondering why the researchers tested the licorice solution, the answer is that they wanted to do a scientific test to see how effective it really was, since it has been used to reduce inflammation for thousands of years in different parts of the world.

Preparing the licorice solution yourself is not that difficult. Peeled licorice root can be purchased in both dried and powdered forms. Or licorice root is available as capsules, tablets, and liquid extracts.

Important note: Don't try this remedy without your doctor's permission! Be sure to discuss it with your senior and the senior’s doctors to see if the doctors advise trying it in your senior’s particular case. Never do something like this without your doctor's permission!

Has your senior experienced a sore throat after surgery? And did it lead to complications? Has your senior tried to gargle with licorice? Share your experiences with the Care.com community! We'd love to hear from you!

Asking for Feedback

As a housekeeper, you depend on keeping your clients happy in order to pay your bills. And if you want to grow your business, happy customers are the ones who will refer new clients to you. So, do you know how satisfied your clients are with your work?

Some clients tell their housekeepers that they are pleased with their work, but many don't. Are those clients satisfied or are they thinking of finding another housekeeper or doing the cleaning themselves? During these tough economic times, with everyone trying to cut back as much spending as possible, having happy clients is more important than ever!

In order to find out how your clients really feel about your work, and therefore how steady your work will be, why not leave them a questionnaire? That way you can learn what parts of your work your clients are content with, and what you can do to improve.

If you leave your clients an anonymous questionnaire, with a stamped envelope addressed to you, you are more likely to get results. You can type one up, and then have copies made. The expense will be well worth it.

Here are some questions you can ask:

• How would you rate your house cleaner’s work, from 1 to 5 stars? 1 star is pretty bad, while 5 stars is great.
• What does my housekeeper do well?
• What does my housekeeper need do differently?
• Does she do everything she is asked to do?
• Is she reliable and on time?
• Is her fee appropriate?
• Suggestions:

By requesting feedback, you show your clients that you are a professional and that you take your work seriously. The result can only be a win-win, enabling you to improve your services and your clients to get the kind of housekeeping care they want.

Have you ever asked for feedback? How did it go? Did you learn something helpful? Share your experiences with the Care.com community. We’d love to hear from you!

Interviewing for Pet Care Jobs

So, you've scored an interview and are halfway to your next pet sitting job. Now what? Well, being prepared and putting your best paw forward means more than just having the ability to give the right answer to the right question—it also means knowing what to ask.

Here are our top tips for doing your homework and making sure your next pet care job is a match made in All Dogs Go to Heaven and not a fight between cats and dogs.

Meet the Pet Parents -- All of Them

If you're dealing with a family pet, you may be dealing with not just one or two pet owners, but an entire gaggle of caregivers. Make sure to find out whether it's mom, dad, both, or a grandmother, teenager, or roommate with whom you'll be communicating regarding the pet. When you're speaking for those who can't (i.e., your pet client), you want to make sure you're not playing a game of parrot or telephone with their wellbeing.

Meet the Pets

So, now you've met the family and feel like you're part of the pack. But the hard part is just beginning: will you hit it off with the family hound or the hair-raising feline? Since the dog, cat, hamster, horse or Dodo bird is the one you're going to see and spend the majority of your time with, it's imperative that you not only tolerate each other but actually bond. Be upfront if you don't think it's a great match—nothing hurts or is more upsetting to a pet owner than a pet sitter who doesn't click with their pet.

A Day in the Life

Before accepting any pet sitting gig, make sure to walk your clients through your normal pet sitting routine, and have them walk you through their pets' routine(s) as it would be structured if the owner was home. The clearer the expectations and the more transparent you each can be with each other, the less likely you are to have any miscommunication—an important part of maintaining healthy, happy pet while the owner is at work or away.

Sign On, Sign Off

Now that you've won over the pet owners, it's time to negotiate payment and reimbursement, terms, type and length of services.  The more organized and professional you can be when walking your clients through the laundry list of considerations, the more smoothly the process will go and the more respect you will build in your clients' eyes. Draw up a pet sitting contract explicitly stating your pet sitting agreement, and make two copies so you'll each have one on file.

What are your best tips for preparing for and going through a pet sitting interview? Share them with us by leaving a comment below!

Interview Checklist: What to Do, What to Say, What to Wear

Interviewing for a new job can be nerve-wracking. Prepare for your interview by reading the tips below. Leave a comment with any additional advice.

Be Safe: When you’re meeting a potential employer in person for the very first time, you may want to meet in a public place like a local coffee shop, particularly if you’re not familiar with the neighborhood where the family lives. Be sure to arrange safe transportation for yourself to and from the interview, and let your family and friends know where you’ll be.

Be on Time: Punctuality is important to parents who are looking for a babysitter or nanny. Their time is valuable, and they’re probably looking for help with their kids so that they can save time or have more time to themselves. Don’t waste their time by arriving late. Be early. If you can’t be early, be on time. If something comes up or you get stuck in traffic, be sure to call as soon as possible to postpone or reschedule.

Be Dressed Appropriately: At Care.com it never ceases to amaze us how many caregivers submit profile pictures in which they’re sloppily or scantily dressed. You don’t need to wear a ball gown or a business suit to your babysitting interview, but you should be neatly and fully dressed.

Be Prepared to Answer Questions: Your potential employer will probably want answers to questions like these:

• Tell us about your child care experience.
• How long were you at your last position and why did you leave?
• What did you like best and least about your last job?
• What kinds of activities did you do with the child you cared for?
• What do you think children need most from a caregiver?
• How do you handle discipline issues?
• What do you like about child care?
• What activities do you enjoy doing with children?
• Do you have any special skills or interests you can offer our child?

Be Prepared to Ask Questions: Don’t forget: you’re also interviewing them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the job and about the kids. You might want to consider asking questions like these:

• Can you walk me through a typical day? (Or night or week, depending on the job.) What are your family routines, and who are the people involved?
• How many hours per week would you want me to work?
• What do you expect of me? Will I cook meals? Do housework? Wash clothes? Provide homework help?
• Are you open to my taking your child to local parks or playgrounds, or would you prefer that we stay at your house?
• What are your rules for talking on the telephone? Watching television? Using the internet?
• How do you expect me to discipline your child? At what point should I contact you if a disciplinary issue arises?
• What resources and contacts do you have if there is an emergency?
• Does your child have any medical conditions, such as asthma or allergies? Is he on any medications?
• Does he have any chores and responsibilities?
• What are her favorite activities, books, and toys?
• What do you and your child enjoy doing together?
• Are there activities your child wants to do that you don't enjoy, but that I might do with him?
• Does your child have any nicknames? Imaginary friends?
• Is there anything that frightens your child?
• Does your child have unusual habits? Should I try to help him break that habit?
• Is there any behavior you would like me to reinforce?
• Should I pay special attention to certain issues you would like your child to work on, such as sharing or playing with other children?
• What sorts of sibling rivalry issues are there, if any? When do they arise?
• Should I be aware of any religious or cultural preferences?

Managing Meds: How to Organize Your Senior's Meds and Avoid Dangerous Interactions

A recent study found that more than 80 percent of adults age 57 and older take at least one prescription drug a day and that about half of them regularly mix drugs with over-the-counter medications and supplements. One in 25 older adults may experience a major drug interaction! Plus many seniors have problems keeping their medication regimen straight and may take too much or too little of a medication or take it at the wrong time of day.

Check out these suggestions for managing your senior's medicines and for making sure she doesn't suffer from harmful drug interactions.

Keeping meds straight Keeping track of the medicines your senior is taking can be difficult and confusing. You don't want your senior to take too little or too much medication, which could easily happen if she isn't organized.

Here are tips for organizing your senior's meds to help ensure that she takes them in a timely and safe way:

• Use a daily pill "med minder" organizer. It usually holds 7 compartments, one for each day's worth of medications. Keep a dosage schedule nearby that includes a physical description of each pill, such as "red capsule" or "small white pill." You may need a separate "med minder" for each meal, depending on how many medications your senior takes.
• Creating a dosing schedule chart. Using a computer with a spreadsheet program (or a hand-written chart), list all medications, the times they need to be taken, and a space by each dose so you or your senior can check off when the medication was taken. If your senior needs to take certain pills with meals, put them in a little bowl by her place setting before the meal starts so she won't forget about them.
• Make a list of all of your senior's medications. Include the name, dosage, frequency, side effects, and any allergies your senior has to medications. Keep it handy at all times.
• Check prescription labels often. Check the expiration date and refill information of your senior's meds. Discard old medications! When running low on a medication that has a refill, call your senior's pharmacist sooner rather than later so your senior won't miss any doses. Keep medications in their original containers, except for those you put in a med-minder organizer. The labels contain important information such as dosage and expiration date.
• Purchase an electronic pill reminder. There are several pill reminder gadgets on the market. You can input the name of your senior's medication, how often she needs to take it, and if she needs to take it with food or water. An alarm will sound alerting you to what medication your senior needs to take and how much. Some electronic pill reminders "talk," relaying information verbally, which can be very helpful. NOTE: When your senior travels, put her meds in her carry-on luggage so she will have them readily accessible, even if her checked baggage gets lost.

Beware of drug interactions. Mixing and matching might work with clothes, but not with medicine. Drug interaction risk is increasing as medication use by seniors grows. If your senior takes six different drugs, she has an 80 percent chance of at least one drug interaction! Be sure your senior's doctor knows everything your senior takes regularly, whether prescription, over-the-counter, or natural dietary supplements.

Natural doesn't mean harmless! Be alert to potentially dangerous interactions with the following:

• St. John's wort (lowers effectiveness of many meds)
• Fish oil, garlic, ginger, gingko, feverfew (bleeding risk)
• Magnesium and Thiazide (bad with certain cancer drugs)
• Red clover, dong quai, licorice (hormonal risk for women on Armatase inhibitors after breast cancer), ginseng (increases blood pressure and, when taken with blood-thinning drug Coumadin, can cause excessive bleeding)
• Folic acid (interferes with Methotrexate)
• Grapefruit juice should not be taken with certain blood pressure-lowering drugs or statins.

Other things you can do to avoid harmful interactions:

• Get all prescription drugs filled at a single pharmacy, allowing the pharmacist to do a thorough drug interaction check each time a new prescription is filled for your senior.
• Consult a pharmacist periodically to ensure medications your senior is taking aren't interacting with each other.
• Don't ignore over-the-counter drugs. Taking decongestants for allergies or flu can raise blood pressure in some seniors.
• Watch out for medications in the valium family such as Ativan and popular sleeping pills like Ambien or Lunesta. They can have a negative effect on seniors dealing with memory problems. These medications, even in small doses, can make memory worse! Other drugs that can result in decreased memory: Benedryl (antihistamine), Detrol LA (urinary incontinence medication), and Regian (nausea treatment). Also, certain antidepressants can interfere with blood pressure-lowering drugs. If in doubt, ask your senior's doctor about these interactions.
• Beware of Warfarin interacting with other drugs. The popular blood thinner interacts negatively with many medications, such as sulfa drugs and NSAIDs (anti-inflammatories), sometimes resulting in severe bleeding or blood clots. Consult with your senior's pharmacist or physician if your senior takes Warfarin and needs other medications.
• Alcoholic beverages can interact adversely with numerous medications, including certain antifungal antibiotics, antidepressants, and asthma medications. Ask your senior's doctor about this possibility if your senior likes a glass of wine at dinner!
• If your senior takes a medicine ending in "cycline" she should probably avoid taking it with dairy products.

NOTE: If your senior is taking a new medication and you suspect a drug interaction with one she is already taking, call her doctor immediately. Also, save the inserts that come with medications so you know where you can look up possible side effects. Better safe than sorry!

Helpful resource on drug interactions: Public Citizen's Worst Pills, Best Pills 

Should your senior take pain relievers? Read all about it. Is Tylenol safe? Should your senior switch to aspirin? Figuring out which pain reliever your senior should or should not take can give you a headache!

Recently, a federal advisory committee warned that taking too much acetaminophen, a common pain reliever found in many over-the-counter drugs, including Tylenol, can result in long-term liver damage!

The panel recommended that the FDA ban two popular prescription drugs, VIcodin and Percocet, because they contain acetaminophen; switch "extra strength" doses of the drugs (equal to two 500-milligram pills) to prescription only; and lower the total recommended daily dose from 12 tablets of regular strength Tylenol to less than 10 pills. (See Pain and the Elderly: New Recommendations)

It is possible your senior is taking potentially liver-damaging medicine without even realizing it, because acetaminophen is found in a lot of over-the-counter cold remedies, such as Nyquil, as well as in pain relievers and other popular meds. But before you toss our your senior's Tylenol and head for the aspirin aisle, listen to what drug safety specialist Dr. Paul Watkins says:

"It would be a real shame if people in reading these stories got the idea that acetaminophen is not safe." The New York Times article goes on to point out that every drug has risks and side effects, but over all the risk of acetaminophen to any individual is low. "Far more people are harmed [internal bleeding, developing ulcers] by regular use of aspirin and ibuprofen. Because acetaminophen is in so many products, consumers need to be vigilant about reading labels, and they need to keep track of how much of the drug they are ingesting daily."

NOTE: Tylenol is safe when taken as directed. But check y our senior's meds (prescription and over-the-counter) to make sure she isn't unknowingly taking more than the recommended acetaminophen dosage!

There are new drugs being developed right now that may be very beneficial for your senior. For example, a once-a-day polypill that combines aspirin, blood-pressure, and cholesterol drugs has been shown to sharply reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, potentially offering a way to save millions of lives. Other new drugs claim to selectively kill cancer cells without harming normal cells.

But it's important to look at possible side effects of these "miracle cures" and how they interact with drugs your senior is already taking. One pill can inhibit or exaggerate the effects of another.

You can help your senior organize the meds she is taking and make her more aware of the risks of taking multiple medicines. Medication is supposed to help, not harm, your senior!

What has helped you manage your senior's medicine, so she doesn't take too few or too many pills? Has she experienced any problems with interactions or side effects? Share your experiences and suggestions with other caregivers by posting a comment. Can't wait to hear from you!