Keeping You Safe From COVID-19
Interested in a career at Golden Heart Senior Care. APPLY HERE!

Tag: Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV

How To Handle Your Senior’s Increasing Care Needs

Posted on by Craig Bass

Care needs evolve over time and as aging adults experience health changes. Home care assistance can be there when seniors first decide to age in place, helping them to establish routines and have companionship. As seniors need more help, however, elder care can also adjust to address those new situations. The key is to be as prepared as possible.

Establish Clear Communication

Open and honest communication helps everyone involved to share as much information as possible. This means also keeping seniors in the loop about care decisions and getting their interpretations of what needs to change and what doesn’t. This helps everyone stay on the same page and put the right care options into place.

Look at Current and Future Needs

While it’s not always possible to anticipate every single need, there are some situations that make it easy to see what might be coming down the road for aging adults. Working with healthcare providers to get an accurate prognosis helps a lot. It’s also a good idea to stay on top of what challenges seniors are facing, especially in terms of activities of daily living.

Gradually Increase Support

Most of these changes don’t happen overnight. Seniors might start out needing only a little bit of assistance from home care services. Companion care is often an easy first stage of support, and as seniors need more help the assistance can ramp up. It’s much better overall to gradually increase support as needs increase. This allows aging adults to get used to having help they can rely on.

Evaluate How it’s Going

Establishing regular timeframes to evaluate how home care assistance is going is another great idea. Time passes quickly, especially when everyone involved is busy. Knowing that there are set evaluation points can make it easier to keep track of whether things are changing more quickly than they did in the past.

Identify Milestones

If seniors are facing specific healthcare issues, there may be some significant milestones that indicate additional help is necessary from senior care services. Healthcare providers and other specialists can help family caregivers identify these milestones so they’re easier to spot. Changes in medications, behaviors, or overall health may necessitate that seniors have increased care options available quickly.

Add Resources as Necessary

Caregiving is a tough journey to be on and family caregivers need all the help they can get. In addition to home care assistance, social workers and other healthcare professionals can be part of the team. The more help, the better, especially when seniors are facing difficulties like coming home from the hospital or taking new medications.

Aging adults often don’t need a lot of help from home care assistance right away. In fact, working with home care services when seniors are still doing a lot of things for themselves can be really helpful when those needs change. It’s typically much easier to ramp up home care assistance to keep up with the changes, especially when aging adults have already developed routines around accepting help.

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.

Your Elderly Mom is Hoarding. What Do You Do?

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV

Caring for an elderly parent is never easy, and you may face challenges you did not expect to face. Elderly loved ones may hoard or cherish things that belong in the trash. However, you can’t just go through your seniors home and start throwing things away. Hoarding is a disorder characterized by excessive accumulation of items, often considered to be of little or no value, and difficulty in discarding these items, even if they are no longer of use or have no sentimental value. And believe it or not, this is a real disorder and needs to be handled with care.

Home care assistance may not want to help your parents when their living situations are too dangerous. It can put the caregivers in a dangerous situation and impact how well home care assistance gives professional care. So, before you have anyone else in the house, it is crucial to go through the house with your senior and eliminate anything unnecessary. However, this isn’t always so simple, so here are some tips to help you start.

Understand the Why?

There are so many reasons why a senior would hoard things, and some of them may surprise you. Understanding what your loved one holds value to them can help you go through their stuff easier than if you don’t understand the why. Some things may provide a senior a sense of comfort and security that other things do not give them. Also, hoarding can be a way to cope with the signs of aging because it provides them with some form of control.

Can Hoarding Be Medically Treated?

When you think of treatments, you automatically assume a doctor needs to diagnose your mom or dad, and then they get medication. That may not be fully true. A senior can go to a doctor, and the underlying condition may be treated to help the hoarding indirectly. However, there is no magical cure for physical things, which is something you should keep in mind. They also may need to see a therapist on top of a doctor to figure out any mental illnesses and to work on them for mental health.

How to Help a Hoarder?

The first thing you need to do is sit and talk to them. When you understand what they are and are unwilling to give up, you can create a plan. Explain that you’d first like to get rid of the trash they don’t need and let the senior help you! This is their house, and they should always get the final say. You may be surprised that a lot of the trash is still there because a senior didn’t have the means or any way to get rid of the stuff they held onto.

Always keep your seniors involved with the plan. For example, if they have a box of stuffed animals, encourage them to donate or even give to the dementia ward in a hospital! Finding ways to offload stuff in a meaningful way will help your senior feel good about getting rid of the stuff. But remember you should be listening to all of their feelings as the plan progresses.

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.

5 Ways Home Care Assistance Can Benefit Your Senior in Summer

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV
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.

What Mindfulness Exercises Can Help Your Elderly Loved One?

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV

Is your elderly loved one feeling stressed? Maybe, they struggle with an anxiety disorder or they just need to take a break from the ups and downs in life. No matter what the situation might be for them, there are many mindfulness exercises that can help your elderly loved one tremendously.

Deep Breathing

One of the mindfulness exercises that you and home care assistance providers can encourage your elderly loved one to do is deep breathing. There are many videos online, programs, and apps that can teach your elderly loved one some very basic deep breathing techniques. You or a home care provider can sit down with your elderly loved one and help them to set up a schedule for doing this technique. It can help to reduce their anxiety, lower stress levels, and help to take the weight off their shoulders, too.

Gratitude

Many holistic treatment programs offer gratitude sessions. The main reason for this is because when a person recognizes the things they are grateful for, it gives them more of a reason to feel happy and uplifted. If your elderly loved one is having a tough time in life right now, maybe you or one of their home care assistance providers can sit with them to make a gratitude list. You could even get them a journal, so they can list things they are grateful for every day. Hopefully, this can help your elderly loved one to see all the good in their life.

Break Time

Everyone needs a break from time to time. In fact, it is crucial that everyone tries to take a break to themselves every day. Even if it is just for 10 or 15 minutes a day, taking breaks can allow people to get out of their own head. It can give them alone time and allow them to just let go of the stressors in life. If your elderly loved one isn’t great at giving themselves breaks, it may be helpful for you or a senior care provider to remind them to do this every day. Your elderly loved one can do anything they want during these breaks. However, remind them that it should be something for themselves – a nap, reading a book, sitting in silence, etc.

Conclusion

These are some of the best mindfulness exercises that your elderly loved one should try out soon. The more they do these types of exercises, the better it can be in reducing their anxiety and stress.

Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868399/

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.

How to Improve Your Diabetic Senior’s Eating Habits

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV
Home Care Assistance in Henderson NV

One in every four seniors above the age of 65 and older have diabetes, as well as one in every 10 people 65 and under. As you can see, the numbers are extremely alarming according to the American Diabetes Association. Also, half of all older adults have pre-diabetes conditions, where the glucose level is higher than the normal range. This pre-diabetes can lead to diabetes type 2, if lifestyle and diet changes are not implemented. Often, it is reported that people are unaware and reluctant unless more serious complications occur. Home care assistance can help your loved ones to maintain a good routine and healthy lifestyle!

Complications related to diabetes:

There are other serious complications related to diabetes if not unchecked-

  • Risk of kidney damage
  • Risk for Alzheimer’s disease
  • Risk for heart attack or stroke
  • Risk of vision loss
  • Risk of nerve damage
  • Risk of severe infections
  • Risk of limb amputation

Diet Management:

  • Controlling carbohydrates: It is the most important aspect of the diet in case of diabetes, as carbohydrates are turned into glucose by the body which increases the blood glucose level. Eating a diet lower in carbohydrates by having lean protein like beans, chicken, fish, and whole grain foods slows the release of glucose into the bloodstream.
  • Consuming fat: A total fat free diet can lead to a low blood sugar and also can keep one hungry always. There are some necessary fats that are to be consumed on a daily basis. But trans fat and saturated fat are to be avoided.
  • Necessary Consumption: Lean protein like fish and chicken, good carbohydrates like lentils, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, good fats like avocado, butter, canola oil and green vegetables, leafy vegetables, rainbow fruits and vegetables like tomato, orange, grapes, apples etc. are advised regular dietary items.
  • Restrictions: Any type of added sugary foods and drinks like juice, lemonade, carbonated drinks, any sort of processed food or excessive milk products are dangerous in the case of diabetes.

Conclusion: Can Diabetes Change your Seniors’ Eating Habits?

One must understand that food, first and foremost, is nothing but fuel for our body to function. Having said that, it is also true that for humans, food is also a source of pleasure. There must be a balance between pleasure and fuel intake. Within limits, one can have flexibility in a daily food habit and make various choices that allow indulgence from time to time.

Home care assistance does this for your loved one. They provide dietary options for seniors to choose and keep to a healthy diet. More generally, the main aim of home care assistance is to provide a customized plan for each patient according to their needs and to ensure that how smoothly the plans can be implemented without hampering their existing routine. If you are interested in how home care assistance can help your senior and your family, give us a call today and review your options!

Source:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5509969/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223797950_Nutritional_challenges_in_the_elderly_with_diabetes

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.