Tag: Live Better

ViaQuest’s CEO Rich Johnson Inducted into Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame

Posted on by Jeff Dixon

Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame

ViaQuest CEO Rich Johnson has been inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Along with 19 fellow service members, Rich has been awarded this honor for his post-military accomplishments and service to the community through the care ViaQuest provides. 

If you’ve met Rich, you’ll know his passion for service and his dogged determination to never give up. Rich founded ViaQuest in 1999 to satisfy an unmet need in healthcare service delivery: Providing care to individuals with developmental disabilities and behavioral health support to people in need of these critical supports, including to veterans. This service has also expanded into providing hospice care across our three-state service area, including veteran-specific programming and accreditation by the Department for Veterans Affairs and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. These offerings have allowed tens of thousands of people to live fuller and more productive lives in our community and have provided jobs to thousands throughout the Midwest.

ViaQuest’s mission and CHOICE values are directly inspired by the philosophies that defined Rich’s time in the United States Air Force. The Airman’s Creed begins by stating, “We share an unbreakable trust and the will to never give up.” The Air Force sense of trust and willpower are reflected every day at ViaQuest in our dedication to Customer Service, Humor, Ownership, Integrity, Creativity and Excellence. We have worked hard over the last 25 years to give back to the veteran community – serving, honoring and employing many veterans over that time. 

We at ViaQuest wanted to share this news with you of Rich’s induction into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. We are proud of Rich’s accomplishments, and we are proud of our company’s roots and status as a veteran-owned organization.

–The ViaQuest Team 

 

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HOW TO SUPPORT SOMEONE WITH HEART DISEASE

Posted on by ViaQuest

HOW TO SUPPORT SOMEONE WITH HEART DISEASE

Heart Disease is often very stressful for patients and their family caregivers. Patients frequently experience stress over confusing medications and uncomfortable, debilitating and frightening symptoms that are difficult to manage and accept.

Those living with heart disease often feel they are a mere shadow of their former selves. Quality of life becomes compromised and they may no longer be able to experience activities they once enjoyed. They watch who they used to be quietly slip away as the disease progresses.

Though caring for a loved one with heart disease will not be easy, the support you give as a caregiver will have an incredibly positive impact for your loved one. Beyond the tasks of daily caregiving there are other simple, yet impactful, ways you can support a loved one with heart disease.

SIMPLE WAYS TO SUPPORT A LOVED ONE WITH HEART DISEASE

  • Manage Your Own Wellbeing.  According to the Heart Foundation, it’s important for you to take time to recognize your emotional state and take real steps to manage your own health. Ensuring your own well-being helps you be a better caregiver. Get the support you need. Take some time to build a support network for yourself that helps empower you and allows you to share your emotions. Also enlist others to help so not everything is on your shoulders. Your friends and family will often welcome the chance to help out. Let them. Remember your goal is to provide the best care possible, that does not mean doing it all.
  • Find a Balance Between Smothering and Caring. It is difficult to watch a loved one face a serious illness. As a caregiver you step in bravely, wanting to comfort and support them. But remember your loved one’s world has shifted. They may want to fight to remain as independent as possible. They most likely will not want to be treated differently, or have you see them differently. A common complaint of those living with heart disease is that their loved ones hover over them too closely or treat them like they are fragile. Caregiving is empowering, but be sure to find the right balance so your loved one can maintain a sense of self that is not changed by the disease.
  • Listen. One of the most important ways to support your loved one is to simply listen. Every disease carries an emotionally difficult journey. Fear, anxiety, stress and depression may all be emotions your loved one is battling. When they want to talk, stop whatever you are doing and actively listen. Repeat back what your loved one is saying and feeling to make sure you understand. They may not be looking for anything other than to feel understood.
  • Advocate. Taking on a role as your loved one’s advocate can help ensure they are receiving the best care possible. Those living with serious illness often complain that their medical providers are not listening to them or not giving the necessary attention to what they are experiencing. Advocate for your loved one by reinforcing your loved one’s responses to physicians. Help them feel understood and their issues and concerns adequately communicated.
  • Attend Doctor Visits. There will be a lot of information shared by physicians during medical visits. Some may be difficult to understand or confusing. Especially for a patient whose disease may make critical thinking more challenging. Attending doctor visits can help ensure visits are more successful. Take notes so you can recall information as needed. Also ask questions when you need anything clarified. It will be frustrating if you leave an appointment without answers to your questions, so write them down and bring them with you. It’s too easy to forget and regret later what you wish you had asked.
  • Understand Medication. Heart medications can be confusing and the regiment of taking them properly can be difficult. You can help ensure your loved one’s well being by ensuring they gain the full benefit from their medications. Understand the purpose of each prescription, how to take it properly and what side effects it may cause. Communicate any issues to your loved one’s medical team.
  • Plan for the Future. Planning now for the days ahead will reduce anxiety and stress tomorrow. Knowledge is power. Understand the progression of the disease and options for care in the future when more support will become necessary. Ask your loved one about their wishes for end of life care. What is important to them? Understanding their wishes can help prepare for choices like hospice care that is focused on improving quality of life. 

GETTING AN EXTRA LAYER OF CARE
Caring for someone with heart disease is demanding. It’s mentally, physically and emotionally challenging. The day-in and day-out demands of caregiving can feel overwhelming especially as the disease progresses. Heart disease is progressive and there may come a time when you need an extra layer of support.

ViaQuest Hospice teams are expertly trained in heart disease. Our care brings an extra layer of support that helps improve quality of life and eases the burdens of serious illness. If you have any questions about caring for a loved one with advancing heart disease, we’re here to help, reach out to us for options and answers. Caring for your loved one will be easier if you have a strong group of people around to help. 

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SELF-CARE FOR CAREGIVERS

Posted on by ViaQuest

SELF-CARE FOR CAREGIVERS. 7 STEPS TO REDUCING CAREGIVER BURNOUT.

It’s time again for those promising New Year’s resolutions. Every year many of us vow to make positive changes. Some will focus on eating healthier and getting into shape, others saving money or getting out of debt. Some will promise to live more fully by spending more time with family and friends or traveling more. If you are a family caregiver we hope to encourage you to add self-care to the top of your list.

Family caregivers never put on their oxygen masks first. Every day we see the care, compassion and dedication you give your loved one. As a care provider, you’re always putting others first. So where’s your oxygen? ViaQuest wishes you a New Year filled with a little more ‘YOU-care’. We know you can’t add more time to your day, so here’s a few self-care tips that don’t require much time, yet can help you breathe a little easier.

– Express gratitude. Acknowledging the goodness in your life can make you more optimistic and feel better about your life.

– Sing Out Loud. When driving, roll down those windows and SING. Singing sends musical vibrations through your body that can lift your mood. Make it loud and proud.

– Be The Original You. You were born an original piece of art. When you practice self love by being fully yourself and liking who you are, you give yourself more strength to love others. Don’t look at yourself as only a caregiver, get back to who you were before.

– Ask For A Hug. When you have the opportunity, ask for a hug. Getting a hug from a good (healthy) friend can help ease your stress. Hugs are comforting and good for your health. The firm, constant pressure of a hug can help calm an overactive sympathetic nervous system. If you’re not in a situation where you can safely get a hug, consider a weighted blanket.

– Celebrate You. Embrace the good you are doing. Acknowledge your incredible contributions to your loved one. See the best in yourself.

– Take a little ME-time. Sip that morning coffee, listen to your favorite song, the whole song, take a deep breath. Carving out even just a few minutes a day can help you reset.

– Accept Help. When caring for someone, it’s so difficult to accept help. Many feel it is their sole responsibility to care for their loved one. Others feel no one will care as deeply or as well for their loved one as they do. But accepting help will empower you to be a better caregiver. We can’t do our best when we’re running on empty. When friends or family say they want to help, they mean it. Let them take a bit of the responsibility off your shoulders. And when it’s time for an extra layer of support, ViaQuest can bring an entire team of expert, compassionate care that helps empower the care you are already giving.

The new year can be a time of new beginnings. While it may be challenging to consider your own needs, these very simple steps can help. Caregiver burnout is real and can take a devastating toll on your own health and well-being. Even just a little self-care can go a long way to help ensure you are able to provide the best care possible to your loved one. Consider making 2023 the year of self-care. And remember, if you or your loved one needs an extra layer of support, we’re always just a call away. Learn how ViaQuest Hospice cares for the mind, body, and spirit.

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The Promise of Better Selfcare in 2022

Posted on by ViaQuest

It’s the time of year for resolutions, where we reflect on positive changes we want to focus on in the new year. One of the best New Year’s resolutions family caregivers can make is one focused on their own wellbeing – selfcare. Our blog is dedicated to helping you keep the promise of better selfcare in 2022.

Better Selfcare

Since many caregivers seldom consider their own needs, it’s important to realize that selfcare is not selfish. In fact, it’s vital. Think of it this way, when you pay real attention to your own wellbeing, you are considering the needs of your loved one. Practicing selfcare ensures you can be the best version of yourself for those who need you most. Without it, it’s like taking your car on a road trip while the gas is on “E”. So, let’s say it again – selfcare is far from selfish.

As you make the promise of better selfcare in 2022, key selfcare practices should focus on the mind, body and spirit. Here’s tips on how:

1. Mind

Our mental wellbeing affects every aspect of our lives and impacts our physical health. Practicing mental selfcare can bolster our energy, happiness, physical health and psychological well-being. These simple steps can help improve your mental wellbeing.

  • Practice Gratitude. When caring for a seriously ill loved one, it’s hard to see beyond the burden of the disease. But focusing on what is beautiful, good and hopeful in your life can really help. Gratitude is powerful. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, improves their health, and helps them deal better with adversity.
  • Meditate. Meditation can provide immediate relief, no matter what the stress or anxiety. It can help you regain a sense of calm, peace and balance. And the benefits don’t stop once you stop meditating, they carry you through the day. Try and find time every day to meditate, here’s a great guide by the Mayo Clinic on different types of meditation.
  • Reconnect with Nature. Researchers have long been touting the benefits of nature on mental wellbeing. Studies have shown being outdoors lowered levels of cortisol, a hormone that’s a marker for stress. Spending time in nature has long term mental and physical health benefits. You don’t have to hike the Andes, you can do simple adventures like visiting your local park, taking daily walks or spending time on your patio.

2. Body

Caring for your physical health is crucial for you to be able to care for someone else. Too often caregivers forgo their own health needs to care for their loved one. Maintaining your own physical wellbeing is protecting your ability to care for your loved one. These simple steps can improve your physical health.

  • Don’t Forget Your Preventative Health. It’s important to make sure you get your preventative health screenings. If you missed these last year, this should be your number one resolution in 2022. This is a gift to yourself and your loved one.
  • Get Some Sleep. Sleep plays an important role in your physical health. Sleep affects our immune system, appetite, breathing, blood pressure and cardiovascular health. Make a promise to yourself to take the time to get some good rest.
  • Exercise. Exercising more is the top New Year’s resolution. No wonder, exercise is powerful medicine. Not only does it play a key role in health and disease prevention, it’s a great stress buster. When you exercise regularly you feel more powerful and have more energy to care for others. Make 2022 the year you get moving.

3. Spirit

Caring for your spirit is just as important as caring for your mind and body. It actually has a direct impact on our physical health and mental wellbeing. Caring for our spirit empowers us. These simple steps can help you uplift your spirit.

  • Reconnect with Friends. When life overwhelms we often give up time with friends. But friends are important. Good friends bring connection and happiness into our lives. They enrich our days and make us feel part of something important. Don’t isolate yourself in 2022, give yourself the company of good friends.
  • Build Your Nest. Environment matters. Your space impacts your mood. Creating a peaceful, beautiful space for yourself can lift your mood and happiness. An appealing space is inviting and offers a respite to unwind. Spend some time building your nest, it’s your safe harbor in a storm.
  • Do Something Uplifting. What uplifts you? Many find joy in attending their favorite church, others find joy volunteering or helping a neighbor or friend. Find what uplifts you, it will nourish your soul.

A new year has long been the symbol of new chances and new beginnings. Making your selfcare a priority is not selfish, it’s the best resolution you can make, for you and your loved one. And remember, if you or your loved one needs an extra layer of support, we’re always a call away. Learn how ViaQuest Hospice cares for the mind, body, and spirit.

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Keeping a Loved One with a Serious Illness Home for the Holidays

Posted on by ViaQuest

Keeping a loved one with a serious illness home for the holidays

To many, the holidays represent special time with family and friends. The holidays are about being together no matter if it’s celebrating with a few friends or joining a huge family celebration. Celebrating with those around us is what gives the holidays meaning and joy. As the song goes, there’s no place like home for the holidays.

Unfortunately, seriously ill patients are often hospitalized during the holidays for health issues that could have been prevented through better end-of-life care. A hospitalization is stressful and unwanted any day of the year, but during the holidays, it can be even more emotionally challenging.

ViaQuest helps keep your loved ones with serious illness home for the holidays. Our expert care coupled with protocols that identify patients at high risk for hospital readmission can help keep your loved one out of the hospital.

How We Can Help Keep Your Loved One Home for the Holidays

Disease Specific Care. Our team specializes in advanced illness and provides the disease specific care that controls the symptoms that often lead to rehospitalization.

Out of Hospital Care. Often patients with a serious illness bounce back to the hospital within 30 days of being discharged. ViaQuest offers a seamless transition into the ViaQuest Hospice Program which focuses on symptom management, pain relief and improved quality of life. This extra layer of support helps avoid crisis situations and provides the optimal care that reduces rehospitalizations.

Individual Plans of Care. Each patient is unique and so is their plan of care. ViaQuest creates individual plans of care tailored to each patient and their specific serious illness. Patients receive ongoing evaluation and plans of care change as the disease progresses and symptoms change. Our patient-focused care helps ensure early identification and assessment of any changes in health status.

Medication Education. Of all medication-related hospitalizations that occur in the USA, 33%–69% are the result of medication noncompliance. Medications can be confusing and difficult to manage. ViaQuest educates and empowers patients and their family caregivers to understand their medications and their benefits. We help reduce complexity and put measures in place to alleviate misunderstanding, confusion or forgetfulness.

24 Hour Support. Distressing symptoms can often result in calls to 911 or a trip to the ER. With ViaQuest you have round-the-clock access to nurses, who are one phone call away.

We understand how much it means to have family and friends together during the holidays. We’re here to provide the care and support that will help your seriously ill loved one stay home safely this season. We all deserve the chance to build special memories this time of year. Accepting an extra layer of care this year may be the first step to yours.

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5 Tips to Live Better with Serious Illness

Posted on by ViaQuest

September is Healthy Aging Month, a month ViaQuest focuses on ensuring seniors have the support they need to live as fully as possible. The national dialogue around Healthy Aging Month focuses on encouraging seniors to take charge of their well-being by aging with a healthy body (physical health) and a healthy mind (mental health).

Taking charge of our well-being also includes focusing on ways to improve quality of life for seniors living with chronic or serious illness. Living with a serious illness can feel life-altering, overwhelming and sometimes hopeless. But taking positive steps to cope with the stress and life changes of illness can help improve quality of life and feel empowered.

Here are five tips on how to live better with illness:

Understand your Condition

They say knowledge is power. Understanding your illness allows you to prepare for managing symptoms and lifestyle changes. It also allows you to work toward acceptance of a new reality by redefining your goals. Gaining knowledge will help you feel more in control vs. overwhelmed by your disease.

  • Talk to your doctor. Ask for resources for additional information that they find reliable and helpful.
  • Research national organizations. Most chronic or serious illnesses have national organizations dedicated to improving quality of life. They can be a resource for education, insights, connection to others and support.
  • Consider joining a support group. Support groups offer connection with others going through similar medical problems. It can be a supportive place to gain tips on how to cope and insights from shared experiences.

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude may sound like impossible advice. It’s difficult to consider anything positive connected to a serious illness. But it can be done. Often people with a life-limiting illness refocus on what really matters. They shift perspectives to live with renewed purpose centered on the most important things in their lives. To remain connected to what’s important try practicing a “three things of gratitude” daily mantra. One easy way to do this is to end or begin each day with saying out loud three things that make you grateful. Researchers have found that focusing on gratitude greatly improves mental health and empowers us to deal better with life’s struggles. Reminding yourself what’s still worthwhile and positive in your life can help you remain emotionally strong.

Remain Connected

Illness can make you feel isolated and less connected to family and friends. After all, they’re not going through what you are. How can they possibly understand? You may worry that your relationships will change. The negative voices in your head can get really loud: they will treat you differently; you will become a burden; they want you to remain positive; you can’t share your real emotions. Don’t let yourself retreat into a shell. Relationships are vital to quality of life. Staying connected to others and participating in social events will booster your mental health. Time with true friends and close family can boost happiness and reduce stress. Friends relieve stress, provide comfort and joy, and prevent loneliness and isolation. Especially during those times when we need them the most support.

Pursue Joy and Purpose

Illness can rob our sense of identity and purpose. Life becomes the disease. But it doesn’t have to. Life can still bring you joy and purpose. Life can triumph over illness. Pursue activities that bring meaning, value and purpose to your life. These are the things that will shape and define your identity separate from your illness. If your medical condition has limited your ability to pursue some of the activities you previously enjoyed, pivot, and adjust your sails toward a new direction.

Travel virtually. You might have traveled the world and miss flying to far destinations the across ocean. Exploring the world can happen from your living room. Travel documentaries, movies, travel destination shows, and novels set in far away places can help you satisfy that wanderlust.

Do the “I wish I had”. There’s always that one interest we wished we had pursued. Maybe you played guitar in high school but gave it up. Or you’re an avid reader and always wanted to write a novel. Or the easel and paint brushes are still in the attic. Pursuing a renewed interest can help give you a new purpose and renewed joy.

Create something to pass down. What are you known for – cooking, jokes, stories, crafts? Write down your recipes, write a joke book, commemorate your stories, teach a loved one your crafts. Create something your family will treasure.

Support a cause. When you support a cause that is important to you, you not only help them continue their vital mission, you improve your emotional wellbeing and regain a sense of purpose. You can find great value in what you do for others.

Connect with nature. Studies have shown that spending time in nature is an antidote for stress: It can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve your mood. You don’t have to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan, it can be as simple as spending time in your yard, picnicking in a local park, walking your dog, gardening or going fishing.

Find Extra Support

There may come a time when you need more help than friends and family can provide. If you have a family caregiver like a spouse or adult child, you may want them to simply be your husband, wife, significant other or child again, not your caregiver. Help is available. Research community resources like Meals on Wheels, senior centers, Area Agency on Aging, Aging and Adult Services or Facebook Groups dedicated to your illness. ViaQuest Hospice can also provide an extra layer of support. Our care focuses on improving comfort, easing the stress and burden of illness and enhancing quality of life. ViaQuest offers real support: expert medical care from our nurses, CNAs and volunteers who share caregiving duties, chaplains who offer spiritual support

and social workers who align community resources. If you have questions about gaining extra support we can help determine care that best meets your needs. Reach out to us today for options and answers.

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