August 2022 - Golden Heart Summerlin

6 Tips for Caring for Your Senior in Extreme Heat

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Craig Bass

Home care in Las Vegas NV

Summer is wonderful, except when the heat gets to be unbearable. If that’s what your senior is experiencing, you might want to try some of these ideas for cooling her down a bit. Overheating is the earliest sign that heat-related illnesses are on the way, so doing everything that you can to keep your senior as cool as possible is vital.

Talk with Your Senior’s Doctor

Set aside some time to talk with your elderly family member’s doctor about her individual risk factors around heat. This can help you to understand how your senior’s health is affected by hot weather. It also can help you to put together a plan for managing unexpected reactions to heat.

Prioritize Hydration

Hydration is your elderly family member’s best tool against heat. Ideally, she needs to sip water all day long instead of chugging it at once. Spreading out her water intake throughout the day helps to ensure that as she sweats and urinates, her water stockpiles are being consistently replenished. It might be helpful to ask your senior’s doctor how much water she should be drinking each day.

Look at Medication Side Effects

Some medications have some side effects related to hot weather and that might be a big problem for your elderly family member. If it’s been a while since you read the patient leaflets for her medications, you might have forgotten about some of those side effects. Either flip through those leaflets or talk with your senior’s pharmacist about how her medications may be affected by hot weather.

Time Activities Carefully

It’s vital that your elderly family member isn’t trying to do too much in the hottest parts of the day. By timing her activities carefully, you can help her to avoid overheating. Home care providers can help your elderly family member to stay on target with routines that allow her to rest during the hotter times of the day.

Keep Curtains Closed During the Day

Closing windows and curtains can do a lot more to keep your senior’s home cool than she might realize. Even a couple of degrees can make a big difference in how she feels. Home care professionals can help your elderly family member to keep up with little details like this that can help her to stay cooler.

Offer Cool Showers or Baths Before Bed

Before bed, your elderly family member might feel too hot from the day. Taking a cool shower or bath before bed can help to lower her body temperature and make it easier to sleep. If you’re not able to be there with her, home care providers can assist your elderly family member with safely cooling down before she heads to bed.

The dog days of summer might stick around for a lot longer than most people want them to be there, but there are things your senior can try that can help her to stay cooler. Try some of these ideas and see if they help her to be more comfortable.

If you are considering 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.

Employee of the Month – Anita B.

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Craig Bass

Please join us in congratulating Anita B. as Golden Heart’s Employee of the Month for August 2022. Anita is from Myanmar Burma and is married with one daughter and one grandson. Anita has been a caregiver for more than three years. She enjoys being a caregiver because it brings her joy to be able to help seniors and she is blessed to be able to work with such wonderful people.

Golden Heart thanks Anita for being such an amazing team member and wonderful person!

6 Tips That Make It Easier to Transition to Home Care

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Craig Bass

Home Care in Summerlin NV

Your dad needs home care services, but he’s nervous about having a caregiver around to help him all day. How can you help him transition from being on his own to having home care around to help out?

Do Your Research

Research home care so that you understand what does and doesn’t happen with the arrangements. One issue that often arises is that families expect the caregiver to be available at the last minute, and that’s not always possible. Availability does vary from one town to the next.

Let Your Dad Be Part of the Planning Process

If you allow your dad the opportunity to help with decision-making, he’ll feel like he’s had his say. Because he was involved, he may be less nervous about what to expect, and that makes it easier on everyone.

When you talk to a home care specialist, have your dad nearby. Use speakerphone if you’re calling or bring him to a face-to-face meeting.

Make Sure He Knows Caregivers Don’t Take Over

One of the biggest fears older adults have with home care is that it will take away their independence. Reassure him that the caregiver only helps out when he’s struggling. The things he does on his own are left for him to complete.

Do a Walkthrough of What He Should Expect

Take a couple of days and do a walkthrough of the services your dad will be receiving. Act like a caregiver and ask him to provide his input throughout the day. Talk to him about what the caregiver is doing and why, and answer any questions he has.

Be Present For the First Few Days

Try to be in your dad’s home for the first few days that he has a caregiver with him. What’s important to remember is that you want to be in the home but not in the way. Set up a temporary home office from a den or bedroom.

If your dad is panicking, you can come help out. Make sure you allow time for the home care provider to try to resolve things without your interference. If the caregiver has questions, you’re close by for answers.

Have a Full List of Questions Ready

Gather with the rest of the immediate family who helps your dad out. Get together a list of questions they have. If your brother wants to know if he’s still able to visit without notice, jot it down. When you call to talk to a home care advisor, you’ll have the questions ready to go and won’t forget anything.

Call a home care specialist with any questions you have. Go over the schedule and make sure you understand when the caregiver will arrive to ensure you’re ready to let the aide in. Book the services your dad needs and work with the caregivers to ensure your dad’s transition to home care goes smoothly.

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.

Seniors and Knee Pain

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Craig Bass

Senior Home Care in Las Vegas NV

Joint pain is often something that seniors find themselves dealing with as they age. But just because it’s common, that doesn’t mean that your elderly family member has to ignore or just put up with that pain. Knee pain in particular can be especially painful and difficult to manage. It also can completely change your senior’s ability to be as mobile as she needs and wants to be. Here are some things you both need to know.

Factors that Contribute to Knee Pain

So many different factors can contribute to knee pain for your elderly family member. Experiencing an injury, being overweight, overusing the knee in the past, and even arthritis can all contribute to knee pain and can keep your senior from being able to walk without pain. There may be other contributing factors, too.

Getting Knee Pain Evaluated

If your elderly family member is dealing with knee pain, even if she considers it to be minor, she should talk with her doctor about it right away. This allows her doctor to rule out possible injuries or problems that need to be addressed. Once your elderly family member knows what is causing her knee pain, she is in a better position to make whatever changes are necessary in order to heal.

Making Lifestyle Changes

Depending on the cause, lifestyle changes may be able to help your senior to manage knee pain. Exercise that is within the recommendations of her doctor can help to strengthen the muscles and joints in the knee. This can be helpful if the knee is too weak or if your elderly family member is dealing with arthritis. Your senior may also lose excess weight, which can relieve strain on her knee.

Treating Knee Pain

Many people find that eventually they need knee surgery, even a knee replacement, in order to fully recover from knee pain. Your senior’s doctor may have other recommendations for treatment options before surgery. Those recommendations could include steroid shots, physical therapy, or topical medications. Using assistive devices, like a cane, when knee pain is severe can help. It also may help for your elderly family member to wear a knee brace to help stabilize the knee.

Keeping Your Senior Safe and Mobile

What’s most important for your senior as she deals with knee pain is that she is able to remain both safe and mobile. Senior home care can help with all of this. Caregivers can assess your senior’s home for possible safety hazards, including tripping hazards. They can also help your elderly family member to be more mobile, by supporting her as she walks and reminding her to use any assistive devices that she needs. Senior home care can also be there in other ways, offering companionship, helping with healthy meals, and anything else that your senior finds challenging.

Any type of pain is an indication that your senior needs to pay attention to what is happening with her body. In the case of knee pain, her activities may be limited somewhat, but there are ways to work around that issue.

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.

What You and Your Senior Need to Know about Pneumonia

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Craig Bass

In-Home Care in Henderson NV

When most people hear pneumonia, they think it’s one illness or bacteria. But the reality is that there are many different types of pneumonia your senior could catch, and they can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or even fungi. Regardless of the type of pneumonia your senior may have, it’s important for her to get it treated right away.

Pneumonia Becomes More Likely as Your Senior Ages

As your elderly family member ages, damage to her lungs from previous illnesses can make her more susceptible to pneumonia. It’s also more difficult for your elderly family member to remove mucus and other fluids from her lungs, which can contribute to a lung infection. If your senior’s immune system is not doing as well as it could be, that is another big factor in developing pneumonia.

Pneumonia Immunizations Work

It’s important to remember that there are effective pneumonia vaccines. Your senior should talk with her doctor about which pneumonia vaccines she should take and how often she should get these immunizations. Staying up to date with the pneumonia vaccine can help to reduce your senior’s likelihood of developing pneumonia.

Practice Good Hygiene to Avoid Pneumonia

Another big factor in ensuring your senior doesn’t develop pneumonia involves simple hygiene. Washing your hands and encouraging her to wash her own hands often helps to remove germs that could eventually lead to pneumonia. When soap and water aren’t available, hand sanitizer made with alcohol is an excellent second choice.

Help Your Senior to Stay Healthy Overall

The healthier your elderly family member is overall, the easier it will be for her body to avoid infection. That means exercising if her doctor agrees that is okay for her as well as looking more closely at what your senior is eating. In-home care providers can help your elderly family member to stay on target with her daily routines, which can help to ensure that she’s able to get all of the activities in each day that she wants to.

Stay Alert for Signs of Pneumonia

Some people can have pneumonia and not realize it at all. Overall, if your senior has a cough that won’t go away, a fever, chills, and chest pain, she needs to see her doctor. Shortness of breath and green or yellow mucus can be additional signs that she might be dealing with pneumonia. The sooner your elderly family member determines if what she’s experiencing is related to pneumonia or not, the sooner she can get treatment.

Get Help from In-home Care Providers if Your Senior Needs Extra Help

Pneumonia can leave your senior feeling weak and unable to do much at all. Having in-home care providers available to make sure she’s doing alright can be a huge help. They can help her to keep her home clean while she’s under the weather and make sure she’s eating and generally improving as she heals.

Pneumonia can become very serious very quickly, so it’s important that your elderly family member doesn’t ignore symptoms that could indicate that she’s experiencing a lung infection.

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

Month: August 2022