Craig Bass, Author at Golden Heart Summerlin

Do You Know What to Do if Your Senior Falls?

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Craig Bass

24-Hour Home Care in Henderson NV

Hearing that your elderly family member has experienced a fall is terrifying. Do you know what you need to do afterward to support her? This information can help you to make the right choices following a fall, including enlisting the help of 24-hour home care during recovery and beyond.

Falls and Aging Adults

When a senior falls, she’s unfortunately highly likely to experience a serious injury because of that fall. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that over three million aging adults are treated for falls in the ER every year. The CDC also reports that older adults who fall once are twice as likely to have another fall, and that second fall may be far more serious than the first.

Determine if She’s Injured and Alert Her Doctor

If your elderly family member does experience a fall, take a few moments to thoroughly evaluate the situation. Check for obvious injuries and try to let her get up by herself. That isn’t to be cruel, either. Letting her get up by herself allows you both to see if she’s injured more seriously than you realize. You need to get her doctor involved in the situation, just to verify that she’s truly not injured.

Look for a Cause Behind the Fall

Understanding what caused your senior’s fall is crucial, because you need to do everything you can to prevent another one. Was your senior dizzy or experiencing other health issues? Did she trip? Or was the room too dark for her to see where she was going? Get to the bottom of the situation so that you can figure out what you can do for prevention.

Do a Thorough Safety Sweep

One way to get more information is to do a thorough safety sweep of your senior’s home. This means assessing what home modifications her house needs, including grab bars, and making a list of what isn’t as safe as it could be. You may need to do this a few times to make sure you don’t miss something.

Put Solutions in Place to Prevent Future Falls

After you put together a list of safety changes your senior’s home needs, it’s time to implement them. Install those grab bars, remove loose carpeting on stairways, and increase lighting throughout the house. If having more assistance is what your elderly family member needs, sooner is far better than later.

Consider 24-hour Home Care Services

Senior care professionals understand how vital it is to keep your senior as safe as possible at home. 24-hour home care can assist your elderly family member with mobility issues, overnight concerns, and ensuring that she’s eating healthy meals consistently throughout the day. All of these tasks can help your senior to avoid another fall, while also ensuring that she’s safe and that her quality of life is as high as possible.

Helping your elderly family member to avoid a fall is a huge part of her overall care plan. As your elderly family member’s situation continues to change, update her plan to ensure that you’re accounting for all of the possibilities when it comes to preventing falls.

Source
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/prevent-falls-and-fractures

If you are considering 24-hour 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.

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.

Food to Avoid When Your Senior Has Arthritis

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Craig Bass

Companion Care at Home in Henderson NV

Arthritis symptoms may be improved by adopting dietary modifications. Inflammatory meals like saturated fat and sugar should be avoided. Purine-rich foods may also have to be avoided. However, your seniors may not be as focused as they should on their diet because it may hurt to move around and cook. This leads them to go for easier meals that involve less cooking on their end. If this sounds like your senior, is it time to consider someone who can watch out for them each day and may be able to help with light cleaning, dressing, bathing, and, most importantly, light cooking.

Finding the right companion care at home will be a huge help for seniors who are trying to age in place with painful arthritis. And having someone with them who can do certain tasks easier may allow them to live a higher quality life and focus on things like what foods will worsen their pain and inflammation.

Seniors Should Focus On Fats

Certain types of fats actually make arthritis worse by causing inflammation. A senior should avoid several types that may make things much worse for them. Unfortunately, many of these come in pre-packaged foods that are easy to make.

Omega 6 fatty acids- When consumed in reasonable amounts, omega 6 fatty acids aren’t dangerous. However, the average American consumes much too much of them.
Saturated Fats- This fat may be found in meat, cheese, and butter. People should consume fewer than 10% of their daily calories from saturated fat.
Trans Fats- This fat is detrimental to human health because it lowers “good” cholesterol, elevates “bad” cholesterol, and increases inflammatory levels. In recent years, manufacturers have removed trans fats from most prepared meals, but check the nutrition information panel to be certain.

They Should Avoid Eating Too Much Sugar

According to research, people who consume sugar-sweetened soda have an elevated risk of RA. Excess sugar intake also raises the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease. Obesity, inflammation, and other chronic disorders might also result. Unfortunately, tons of easy meals have added sugar to preserve it and make things taste better. This is not good for you and certainly not good for seniors struggling with inflammation.

Nightshades

You may be wondering precisely what nightshade is? It is any of the following:

tomatoes
bell peppers
chili peppers
eggplant
potatoes

If you think this is something your senior overeats, it’s time to encourage them to keep a food diary. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they should keep track of calories, but to keep track of what they eat and how they feel later on. If a senior cuts something out of their diet and has fewer flare-ups, they may need to stay away from nightshade to stay healthy.

Food High in Purines

Uric acid is formed when the body breaks down purines, found in many meals. Gout attacks may occur when uric acid builds up in the circulation. These types of food include:

red meat or cured meats
organ meat, such as liver
beer and other alcohol
some seafood, such as mussels and scallops

Steering clear of these foods may help lower the chance of getting gout but also minimize inflammation.

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

5 Ways Home Care Assistance Can Benefit Your Senior in Summer

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Craig Bass

Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV

Hot weather is a huge problem for everyone during long summer days, but it is especially dangerous for the elderly. Bringing in home care assistance for your elderly family member can help her to stay cool and safe, even as the temperatures climb this summer. There are a lot of different ways that caregivers can make your senior’s life more comfortable, and the ideas in this list are just a few of them.

Keeping Track of Your Senior’s Hydration

Drinking plenty of water during the hotter months of the year can make a tremendous difference in how your senior is feeling. Remembering to do so on a regular basis can be a problem, though. Home care assistance can help your elderly family member to remember to keep sipping on cool water or other hydrating beverages throughout the day. Dehydration can be life-threatening for your senior, so taking steps to avoid it is crucial.

Helping Her to Rest When it’s Hot Out

Overexerting herself when it is already hot out can be disastrous for your senior. That’s even more true if she is battling health issues that make it difficult for her to be active at all. Elder care providers are able to handle tasks that are becoming too much for your senior, helping her to conserve her energy and rest so that she can stay cool during the day.

Ensuring She’s Eating Healthy Foods that Suit the Weather

It’s pretty universal that most people don’t enjoy eating heavy, hot foods during the summer. But keeping up with meal preparation at all, especially healthier foods, can be a little more difficult than your senior might expect it to be. Not eating isn’t an option, so it’s important to have caregivers available who can remind your senior to eat meals and snacks that are comfortable in the hot weather but also full of nutrition.

Helping Your Senior to Dress for the Weather

Lots of seniors find that they have a different sense of temperature as they age. Or memory issues can cause difficulties for your elderly family member, causing her to forget that it’s summer instead of winter. Home care assistance can help your senior to wear clothing that is appropriate for the weather, helping her to stay cool instead of possibly contributing to overheating.

Keeping Your Senior Company

Your elderly family member might not feel like doing a lot when it’s hot out, and that’s not unusual at all. Home care assistance will spend time with your elderly family member, reading, watching her favorite movies, or simply talking. While they’re with your aging family member, they’re focused on ensuring that she’s comfortable and that she’s also safe. That’s a huge relief for you when you’re not able to check in on her personally as much as you might want to be able to.

Staying safe in hot weather is essential for aging adults. The more help that you can offer your elderly family member during the hottest months of the year, the better and safer for her.

Source
https://www.webmd.com/women/features/surviving-summer

If you are considering home care assistance in Henderson, 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 – July 2022

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Craig Bass

Golden Heart Senior Care is proud to announce that Thanalaxmi J. is our employee of the month for July 2022.

Thanalaxmi is from Malaysia. She is married and has two wonderful boys. She enjoys being a caregiver because she loves hearing stories from her clients past and where people grew up and different adventures people have been on. Thanalaxmi always has a smile on her face and joy in her heart.

Golden Heart is very luck to have Thanalaxmi on our team!

What Is 24-hour Home Care?

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Craig Bass

24-Hour Home Care in Las Vegas NV

There are a lot of different types of care available for aging adults and the right one for your senior depends a great deal on what exactly she needs. 24-hour home care is a particular type of care that ensures your senior always has a care provider there with her. This is an important type of care in all sorts of different situations. Here’s what you and your senior need to know.

Someone Is Always There with Her

With this type of care, home care providers are right there with your senior, all day and all night. There’s never a time that she’s left on her own, and that can be a vital part of her care. No matter what your senior needs help managing, there is someone right there who can give her that assistance.

They Get to Know Her Needs

Usually, multiple caregivers are rotating shifts to help your senior. That means that a few people get to know her needs really well, which is great news. They’re able to get to know your elderly family member’s preferences also, ensuring that she’s surrounded by caregivers who are there to ensure she’s safe and happy.

Caregivers Are Prepared for Nighttime Issues

Issues overnight are common for aging adults, especially if they have some specific health concerns, like dementia. Wandering, sundowning, and other overnight conditions are much easier to manage with 24-hour home care. There’s an alert caregiver right there with your senior to address any needs she might have in those dark hours at night. Your senior is both safe and comforted.

Around the Clock Care Promotes Aging in Place

Having 24-hour home care right there with your senior ensures that she doesn’t have to go anywhere. And if her biggest goal was to remain in her own home for as long as possible, she’s able to do exactly that with this level of assistance. For some seniors, moving from their home is a tragedy that can bring with it a host of emotional responses and grief that could be avoided simply by having some help staying in place.

You’ve Got Peace of Mind about Your Senior’s Care

It’s also essential that you feel safe and secure in the care that your senior is receiving. When you can’t be there with her, it’s a peaceful feeling to know that there is someone there with her. Your elderly family member has hands-on help and you’ve got access to someone who can tell you exactly how your elderly family member is doing. You can hear all about her routines and how well she’s able to maintain them. That can help you and her doctors to also keep track of what is working for her and what isn’t.

Having help both day and night ensures that your elderly family member’s needs are met and that she’s able to spend her time and energy doing the things that she wants to do. She’s also got companionship and friendly faces, which keeps her socializing as much as she wants.

If you are considering 24-hour 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.