Rosemarie’s Encouragement Is Key for Parkinson’s Client
Home Instead® Care Professional Rosemarie Weiner might be the best encourager in all of West Tennessee, maybe the entire Volunteer State. Just ask her client, an 84-year-old man who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about six years ago. Rosemarie has been helping him and his 81-year-old wife for more than a year. They insist that Rosemarie is like a family member.
Rosemarie earned one of the highest professional senior-care honors in the state when she recently was recognized as one of the nine recipients of the First Caring Heart Award presented by Alzheimer’s Tennessee. She serves her clients on behalf of Home Instead of Jackson, an award-winning franchise owned by Bryson and Linda McQuiston.
To be clear, Rosemarie’s Parkinson’s client does not have dementia, unlike about 20 to 40 percent of all Parkinson’s sufferers. While Rosemarie has drawn many dementia clients at Home Instead, this is her first Parkinson’s client. She has been far more than just “up to the task.”
Asked how she assists the client, Rosemarie said: “Trying to keep active if you have Parkinson’s is the key. I help him with exercises and encourage him to do them. Whatever the activity, if it is safe for him, I tell him, ‘You can do it. It’s OK.’ He is very motivated and very sharp mentally, and I try to keep him on track. The more he moves and tries to do things physically, the better it is for him. He still wants to do the grocery shopping. Once in a while I will do it.”
Rosemarie added: “He doesn’t have the Parkinson’s symptoms as severely as Michael J. Fox does or as Muhammad Ali did. Sometimes my client’s leg movement can be problematic. We both joke that his room looks like a nursing home, with all the equipment he has because he is preparing for the future. He has two types of walkers and just bought a mobility scooter.”
The client’s wife is showing signs of memory loss, and Rosemarie helps her, too, when needed. Rosemarie explained: “The client’s wife is very spry and very sweet – they both are super sweet. She knows her memory is slowly declining and is discouraged. Again, encouragement is a key. Whatever she wants to try to do, I say, ‘Go for it.’ Safety comes first, and I keep an eye on that. I do want to allow her to do as much as she can. She loves her plants and takes care of them, and she can still prepare meals. I took the initiative one day and asked if she wanted to go to Lowe’s. It was a good opportunity to get her out and give her a change of scenery, and she loved the suggestion.”
Smiling from ear to ear, Rosemarie said: “I really like both of them. They say I am part of their family, and I have that same feeling.”
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