November 2021 - Golden Heart Summerlin

Thank the Family Caregiver in Your Parent’s Life

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Craig Bass

In-Home Care in Las Vegas NV

The Tuesday following Thanksgiving is named National Day of Giving. It’s a global movement designed to get people to give to others. Whether you’re marking the day by volunteering for a local non-profit or shop exclusively at local farms and locally-owned shops, it’s time to give back.

One way to celebrate National Day of Giving is by thanking the family caregiver taking care of your senior parent. If your brother or sister, aunt or cousin is caring for your senior parent, here are some of the best ways to support them.

Ask What They Need

Reach out to the family caregiver and ask what’s needed. Stop by for a day and help out. If your sister is there every day and is sick of cooking meals, offer to cook for her. Make a meal for your parents and your sister to eat together. Wash the dishes after.

You might find your brother would love to have someone else help out with the yard work for a change. Help out and rake while he watches a movie with your parents. Do the shopping for him.

Treat Them to a Meal at a Favorite Restaurant

Pick a night to take the family caregiver out to dinner. Pick the caregiver’s favorite restaurant and go out for a meal together. If that’s not possible, order takeout and bring it to the house.

Make sure you tell your family member that you’re doing this. That way, a meal isn’t prepared and ready to serve when you show up.

Buy a Gift You Know They Love

Your sister is an avid reader. Purchase an e-reader and gift card she can use to fill it with books. Your brother has been talking about a movie that’s coming out next weekend. Buy tickets and take him to see it.

Pay attention to the things you hear your siblings talk about. For National Day of Giving, treat your family member to whatever you know they want but haven’t taken time to purchase.

Arrange Services to Ensure They Get a Break

If you have a family caregiver who is with your parents every day, make sure they have the chance to take a break. They need a few days off each week. Respite care is one way to ensure a family member has days off.

Respite care is an essential service where an in-home care aide stops by. The aide stays to help out while the family caregiver takes a break. Make arrangements for respite care by calling an expert in in-home care.

If you are considering in-home care in Las Vegas, NV, for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

Is Home Care Right For Your Mom?

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Craig Bass

Home care in Summerlin NV

Your mom is aging and wants to stay in her home. One way to do this is by hiring caregivers to help out. How do you know if home care is the best decision for her?

Sit down with your mom and ask these questions. Once you have her answers, gather the family and discuss her feelings and theirs.

How Well Does She Do With Daily Activities?

Activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living are important indicators of the necessity for home care. If your mom cannot remember to take her daily prescriptions, she needs someone to remind her.

Suppose she is no longer able to drive to stores or her doctor’s office. Can you take off all of the days she’d need a ride? Would caregivers help you avoid having to cut your hours at work or rearrange your plans?

ADLs and IADLs include things like cooking meals, paying bills, shopping for household supplies, and cleaning the home. If she struggles with any of these, it indicates a need for home care.

Does She Feel Lonely or Isolated?

How many visitors does your mom get each week? Does she ever say that she feels lonely? Caregivers from a home care agency can offer companionship services. Your mom doesn’t have to feel alone or isolated.

Her caregiver can take her out to lunch or a museum, join her on appointment days, and help her shop for groceries, clothes, and other essentials. She always has a friend available on the days she wants company.

Is It Hard for Her to Shower, Dress, and Take Care of Her Oral Care?

Can your mom shower and dress on her own? Does she put on clothing that’s appropriate for the weather? If she’s having difficulty brushing and styling her hair, zipping her pants, and putting on shoes, she needs someone to help.

What about her teeth? Can she brush and floss her teeth on her own, or does arthritis pain in the finger joints make it impossible? Home care helps with personal care, grooming, and hygiene.

Don’t Wait, Hire Caregivers Now

Home care is one of the best ways for your mom to stay independent as she ages. With a helping hand, she lives at home without risking her safety or happiness. A home care aide assists with more challenging activities of daily living.

There is no fear of the caregiver taking over. Caregivers will step back and let her do the other tasks she can do on her own. Call a home care agency to learn more.

If you are considering home care in Summerlin, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

Easy Ways To Improve Your Senior’s Nutrition

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Craig Bass

Senior Home Care in Las Vegas NV

November is Good Nutrition Month and now is a great time to pay more attention to your senior loved one’s nutrition. Seniors often struggle to eat enough food and to eat nutritious foods. Sometimes seniors skip adding fresh vegetables to meals because they have a hard time shopping. Other times they may find it difficult to prepare fresh vegetables which need to be chopped or cut and cooked. And often seniors don’t get enough protein because they don’t want to make a large meal just for themselves. If your senior loved one isn’t getting the right nutrients here are some easy ways you can get your senior parent to eat better:

Meal Preparation

The easiest way to encourage your senior loved one to eat more nutritious foods is to prepare them ahead of time for your senior loved one. Either you or a senior home care provider can take fresh vegetables and wash, cut, chop, peel, and prepare them. Then portion them into single servings and put those containers into the fridge clearly labeled. Do the same for proteins by preparing chicken breasts, steaks, burgers, or any other type of protein your loved one enjoys. Cook them, portion them into individual servings, label them, then put them in the fridge. Your senior loved one can choose a protein and whatever they vegetables they want for each meal and easily heat them up in the microwave.

Sharing Meals

Sharing meals with your senior loved one is another way you can encourage them to eat better quality foods. Or have a senior home care provider share meals with them during the week if you’re busy at work and can’t make it to your senior parent’s house for a meal. Being able to share a meal with someone else is often enough to get seniors to make better choices about what they are eating.

Supplements and Drinks

Nutritional supplements and drinks don’t replace the vitamins and minerals that seniors can get from fresh vegetables and fruit. They also don’t replace animal protein like chicken breasts. But supplements and protein drinks can be an excellent way to supplement a senior’s diet to make sure that they are getting the extra nutrients they need and getting them in the right amount. Before you start giving your senior loved one any supplements or nutritional drinks you should ask their doctor if there are any foods that your senior should stay away from because of the medication that they are on.

Subscription Boxes and Food Delivery

If the reason why your senior loved one isn’t getting the right nutrition is that they don’t like to shop or find it difficult you can sign them up for a food delivery service or a CSA farm share box that will deliver a box of fresh locally grown vegetables and fruits directly to your senior loved one’s door on a regular schedule. That way your senior parent can enjoy fresh food without the hassles of shopping every few days to get it.

If you are considering senior home care in Las Vegas, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

4 Reasons Why Senior Pets and Seniors Are a Perfect Match

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Craig Bass

Personal Care at Home in Summerlin NV

It’s Adopt A Senior Pet month which means it’s a great time to consider adopting a senior pet for your senior loved one. Pets and seniors are a perfect match. Pets provide love, companionship, and socialization for seniors so that they have a lower chance of developing depression. Spending time with pets has been proven to lower stress levels for seniors and reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke. Adopting a pet that needs to be walked, like a small dog, is the perfect way to get your senior loved one out of the house on a regular basis. Here are a few more reasons why senior pets are the best companions for seniors:

They’re More Settled

Puppies and kittens are adorable, when they’re sleeping. When they’re awake they become tiny furry balls of chaos flying through the house. They get into everything. And they climb things, knock things over, pull down curtains, and use their tiny baby teeth and claws on everything with paw range, including humans. Older pets have already gone through their crazy baby stage and they are more settled into adult behaviors.

They Don’t Need A Lot Of Vet Care

Older cats who have been neutered don’t really need a lot of vet care except for their yearly checkups and vaccinations. They don’t need multiple rounds of expensive vaccinations like babies, and they don’t need expensive spay/neuter surgery. A healthy older pet can be very affordable for seniors, especially if you choose a high quality food that will keep them healthy.

They’re Perfectly Happy To Nap All Day

Senior pets are the best napping companions. They are perfectly happy to curl up with your senior loved one and sleep away the day or the night. Seniors can enjoy having their furry companions around while they watch TV, read, play games, or do tasks around the house. But when it’s time to nap or to sleep at night seniors are more likely to get the deep rest they need when they have a furry cuddly bundle of love to curl up with.

They’re Easier To Care For

Caring for senior pets is much easier for seniors than caring for puppies or kittens. Crate training a puppy, or training the puppy to signal when it needs to go outside, can both be time-consuming, difficult processes. Older dogs are already trained and don’t need the extra time and care that puppies do. Older cats are pros at using the litterbox and tend to not have accidents like kittens do. And seniors who are worried about taking care of their senior pets can get help from a personal care at home provider. A personal care at home provider can make sure that the pets are walked and fed and have plenty of clean water so that your senior loved one doesn’t have to.

Source:
https://aginginplace.org/seniors-and-pets/

If you are considering personal care at home in Summerlin, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

Month: November 2021