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What Is the Best Way to Help Seniors Cope with Trouble Driving?

For most seniors, driving is about way more than just getting from Point A to Point B whenever they want. It’s also about having freedom and independence, even when there are parts of their lives that are changing. When it starts to become obvious that seniors are having more trouble driving, it’s vital for family caregivers to start making plans. Solutions can be as easy as hiring home care assistance to help out with transportation.

Take Action Before Trouble Gets Big

The really important thing for family caregivers to remember is that they need to take action before the problem gets too big. Addressing driving issues proactively helps to prevent injury and damage. It also allows everyone involved to take the time to really explore alternative solutions in a way that is honest, open, and not rushed.

Watch for Changes in Behaviors

Behavioral changes can offer important indications of all sorts of possible issues, including increased driving difficulties. Signs like increased anxiety about driving, more hesitation about driving, trouble navigating familiar routes, and reluctance to drive at all are ones to pay close attention to. Damage to vehicles could indicate trouble with spatial awareness and hiding damage is another big clue.

Visit Healthcare Providers to Get More Information

Visiting healthcare providers early on in this process can help seniors and family caregivers to make the best decisions about how to proceed. Scheduling an appointment with medical providers allows everyone involved to talk about health conditions that could impact driving, like vision changes, cognitive decline, or side effects from medications. Healthcare providers can help families to put together a timeline for phasing out driving.

Make a Plan for Dealing with Driving Issues

After gathering as much information as possible, it’s time to make a plan. Some seniors may still be able to keep driving, especially under very specific circumstances. Family caregivers need to sit down with their aging family members and talk about what is feasible and safe to do going forward. Now is a great time to talk about solutions like having home care providers available to do the driving.

Foster Independence and Safety by Getting Help

Home care assistance can seem to some seniors at first as a way for them to lose even more independence. But in reality, caregivers offer support only as needed, which allows seniors to remain independent while also getting valuable help that they need. This makes life easier for seniors, but it also makes life safer overall. When seniors don’t have to worry about how they’re going to get places when they need to, that’s going to reduce a lot of stress.
Helping seniors to get past the problem of losing their ability to drive is a complicated process that needs to be handled delicately. Making these plans sooner rather than later is always the better idea and home care assistance can do a lot to ensure that seniors understand that they’re able to keep living their lives, just with a little help when necessary.

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

How to Strengthen Your Immune System as You Age

Home Care Assistance in Las Vegas NV
Home Care Assistance in Las Vegas NV

Seniors with robust immune systems are better able to fend off illness and disease. By promptly identifying and reacting to outside intruders like bacteria, viruses, and other microbes, it aids in the prevention of diseases. Home care assistance can play a role in improving a senior’s immune system. Reminding your senior to take their prescriptions, providing nutritious meals and helping to maintain a clean home are just some of the ways home care assistance can help. Here are 5 other natural ways for seniors to strengthen their immune systems.

Get Enough Sleep

It’s critical for elders to get enough restorative, high-quality sleep to strengthen their immune systems. Sleep helps the body repair and replace its cells, giving the immune system the energy it needs to combat bacteria and viruses. A weakened immune system that is more vulnerable to colds, the flu, and other infections is associated with poor sleep. Seniors should therefore make an effort to acquire 7-9 hours of good sleep each night. The idea that older people require less sleep is a fallacy that circulates online. That is untrue and will significantly impair their immune system going forward.

Reduce Tension

Through enhancing sleep, lowering inflammation, and lowering the risk of cortisol-related disorders, minimizing stress helps strengthen the immune system in seniors. As it aids in the removal of toxins, the repair of cells, and the promotion of healing, sleep is crucial for maintaining a strong immune system. Seniors can sleep better by reducing stress and anxiety, which will help their bodies recover from the day. By shifting attention away from the cause of stress and toward relaxed breathing and meditation postures, stress-reduction exercises like yoga or mindfulness can lower inflammation in the body.

Decrease Inflammation

A protective reaction to damage, infection, or discomfort is inflammation. White blood cells emit chemicals that set off a variety of intricate bodily reactions, which is what causes it. Symptoms include pain, heat, redness, and swelling. An elderly person’s immune system can be severely impacted by persistent inflammation. A senior’s immune system may be impacted by inflammatory processes because it will be less capable of responding to both fresh antigen exposures and pathogenic bacteria that are already present. As a result, there is a higher chance of infection, a longer healing time, and other issues.

Workout

Seniors’ immune systems can benefit from regular exercise by increasing the flow of white blood cells that fight infections, promoting the generation of antibodies, and enhancing general physical fitness. This can lower their risk of contracting significant health conditions by enabling them to fend off ordinary colds and minor infections. Home care assistance can help your senior stick to a regular exercise schedule as directed by their doctor.

Check your Vitamin Intake

A senior’s immune system may suffer significantly if they are too deficient in several vitamins. Blood tests performed in a doctor’s office are the only technique to accurately assess a vitamin level. A senior who is low in something may be able to make up for it through food or supplements, according to their doctor.

Seniors who consume a balanced diet, get enough sleep, exercise frequently, and wash their hands frequently can enhance their immune systems.

Reference
https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ss/slideshow-immune-system

If you are considering home care assistance 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 Does Home Care Assistance For Seniors Include?

Home Care Assistance in Las Vegas NV
Home Care Assistance in Las Vegas NV

If you have a senior parent that wants to continue living at home, you may have already starting talking with them about options for home care assistance. Even if your senior loved one is managing fine on their own now, in the future they may need help in order to live comfortably in their home. Starting the process of finding out more about home care now will help you and your senior parent make a smart choice for their health and safety. The most frequently asked question about home care assistance is what does home care include? The answer to that really depends on what kinds of care services your senior loved one needs. Home care can include services like:

Housecleaning

Many seniors need a little extra help cleaning up as they get older. Keeping the home free from clutter will lessen the risk that your senior parent will fall. And chores like dusting and vacuuming are essential to maintain a healthy indoor air quality. Home care assistance often includes light housekeeping so that seniors will have a safe and healthy environment to live in. Care providers can do things like vacuum, dust, mop, do the laundry, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, and make sure that the house is orderly,

Meal Preparation And Cleanup

It’s also common for seniors to need a little help preparing meals. Opening food packages can be tough if your senior loved one has poor grip strength. So is lifting dishes or heavy pots and pans. People with tremors may not be able to safely use the stove or carry glasses. Home care assistance can help seniors prepare meals by opening packaging, measuring things, chopping and dicing, and stirring things for them. They can also help with cooking and clean up the dishes and pots and pans after the meal. Seniors enjoy the company of a care provider who will eat meals with them as much as they enjoy not having to clean up after the meal.

Medication Management

Often seniors benefit from having a trained care provider oversee their medications and make sure that those medications are organized. A care provider can make sure that your senior loved one is getting the medications they should be taking every day. It’s also helpful that they can go to the pharmacy so that your senior loved one doesn’t run out of the meds they need.

Help With Shopping And Errands

Doing the shopping and running errands can be difficult as seniors get older. They may find that they don’t have the energy to walk around a bunch of stores like they used to. Or they may be easily confused by shopping lists or by handling money. With a caregiver accompanying them on shopping trips, your senior will be able to confidently handle all of their errands.

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

Essential Things to Know About Nocturia

Home Care Assistance in Las Vegas NV
Home Care Assistance in Las Vegas NV

Nocturia is a common condition involving bladder control at night. It’s all about waking up and needing to go to the bathroom. It’s estimated that it impacts almost half of men and women over the age of 60.

Do your parents have nocturia? It’s not surprising if they do. Home care assistance may be an important part of the care plan when nocturia is present. Here are the things you should know about nocturia.

What Key Factors Increase the Likelihood?

Many cases of nocturia are linked to nocturnal polyuria. It’s a common condition where the kidneys produce too much urine when the body rests. The medications your mom or dad takes and overactive bladder are other reasons.

Women are more likely to experience nocturia if they have a weaker pelvic floor. It’s common in women who had children and are going through menopause. If uterine prolapse is a concern and causes pushing on the bladder, some procedures can resolve it.

If your parents drink too much before going to bed, it will lead to nocturia. Drinking alcohol or caffeinated beverages also increases the chances of waking in the middle of the night and needing to go to the bathroom.

Some health conditions increase the risk. Diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure are among them. It impacts how the body works. If your mom or dad has insomnia issues, they may also find themselves waking up and needing to go to the bathroom.

What Can You Do to Help?

Your mom or dad needs to talk to the doctor. If there is an underlying health issue, addressing it is essential. Medications and diet could stop nocturia from happening.

Invest in two waterproof mattress covers to help protect the mattress from urine stains. Instead of replacing an entire mattress, you just have to strip off the soiled mattress cover, put it into the wash, and replace it with a second cover.

Don’t let your parents drink a lot of water before bed. They should limit how much they drink after dinner. Before going to sleep, a bathroom trip should be the last thing your mom or dad does.

Do your parents take time each day to put their feet up? They should. It helps with circulation and allows water to get absorbed into the bloodstream, where it eventually excess fluids go to the bladder.

Make sure your parent has someone to help them get showered and changed. Caregivers can also help them remember when to take a break from activities and head to the bathroom. Call a home care assistance specialist to learn more.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5209574/

 

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