What Should You Do if Your Senior Isn’t a Safe Driver?

Posted in Home Care Services in Hartford AL, Senior Care in Hartford AL |

March 4, 2021

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When you first realize that your elderly family member might not be safe behind the wheel of her car, you might be tempted to make some rash decisions. It helps if you stop and think before taking action.

 

Home Care Services in Hartford AL: Safe Driver

Home Care Services in Hartford AL: Safe Driver

 

Make Sure You’re Viewing This from a Safety Standpoint

In some ways, it might be a lot easier for you if your senior couldn’t drive any longer. You might worry less, for instance, and you might know where she is at all times. These aren’t bad reasons, necessarily, but the most important aspect of your senior’s ability to drive is whether it’s safe for her to do so or not. You run the risk of infantilizing her if you approach this from other angles, and that’s not good for either of you.

 

Understand Why This Is Difficult for Your Senior

This conversation is going to be tough, most likely. There are a lot of reasons that it will be complicated, and it’s important that you’re aware of those reasons so that you can help your senior through this. Your elderly family member faces a lot of challenges, especially if her health is not as good as it once was. This is just another area of life in which she’s losing abilities, and that’s not easy to reconcile. Keep that in mind as you talk.

 

Set Aside Some Time for an Honest Talk

This isn’t a conversation that you can have quickly or without both of you being honest with each other. You and your elderly family member need to both have time to explore and to express how you’re feeling and what you think about what’s happening. That might mean that you even revisit the conversation more than once so that you can both get to where you need to be.

 

Ensure Your Senior Has Options

Your elderly family member absolutely needs options with all of this. Just because she’s not able to drive any longer, that doesn’t mean that she should be stuck at home. There are more options available than you and your senior might realize, including the possibility of hiring senior care providers to do the driving for your elderly family member.

Not driving might even be a temporary situation, depending on your senior’s health and other needs. Talk to her about all possible scenarios and help her to find the answers that serve her in the best possible way.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care Services in Hartford, AL, please contact the caring staff at Wiregrass HomeCare today. Call us at 334-539-5900.

Do Weighted Blankets Work on the Elderly?

Posted in Home Care Services in Hartford AL, Senior Health, Senior Mental Health, Weighted Blankets |

November 21, 2017

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Weighted blankets have been recommended by occupational therapists and others for many years now, especially for children with anxiety, autism, sensory processing disorders and more. The weighted blankets provide therapeutic relief for many of these conditions. Now, family caregivers are wondering if the same benefits can be gained by using weighted blankets with elderly people as part of their elder care plans.

 

Home Care Services in Hartford AL: Weighted Blankets For Elderly

Home Care Services in Hartford AL: Weighted Blankets For Elderly

 

What Are Weighted Blankets?

Weighted blankets are specially-made and are heavier than usual. The weight comes from pockets of filling spread throughout the blanket. Instead of being stuffed with a fluffy poly filling, the quilted sections contain poly beads, dry rice, buckwheat, dry beans or sand. A weighted blanket typically weighs from 4 to 20 pounds. The weight is distributed evenly among the quilted pockets of the blanket, making it comfortable for the user.

Weighted blankets were first used to provide comfort and sensory control for autistic children, but research shows that weighted blankets actually provide many benefits to people of all ages with all kinds of mental and physical needs.

 

How Weighted Blankets Work

The body experiences a deep and calming effect when it is underneath a weighted blanket. People positively respond to deep pressure touch, like a hug or a massage, and a weighted blanket provides that. Deep pressure touch triggers the body’s production of chemicals and hormones like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. These hormones produce feelings of relaxation and reduce stress.

Studies show that weighted blankets can also help relieve symptoms of nervous system disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleep disorders. They combat anxiety and depression and can lower blood pressure and reduce the heart rate. Weighted blankets are also comfortable and warm, stimulating sleepiness as well. Seniors can use weighted blankets during the day with elder care assistants and at night when sleeping.

 

Weighted Blankets and Elderly People

For elderly people who have disorders such as anxiety, insomnia, or dementia, a weighted blanket can provide a comfortable and safe way to get calm and relaxed. It should be used to compliment treatment via medication and therapy. Research has shown that weighted blankets can help manage certain symptoms in people of all ages, and there’s no reason why seniors wouldn’t benefit as they try to manage these conditions.

 

Tips on Weighted Blankets for Seniors

Weighted blankets are not a one-size-fits-all. In fact, the proper weight is a key component of its effectiveness with elderly people. Family caregivers should consult with a doctor before getting a weighted blanket, but usually, the right weight is anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of the person’s body weight. Elderly people with circulation problems should only use a weighted blanket with approval from their doctor.

Elderly people can definitely benefit from using weighted blankets. They are a fine home treatment to help manage a number of conditions. Family members, elder care assistants and the elderly users of the blanket should work together to gauge its effectiveness in reducing anxiety and boosting relaxation and even sleep.

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring home care services in Hartford, AL, please contact the caring staff at Wiregrass HomeCare today. Call us at 334-539-5900.

Source:
http://www.healthline.com/health/weighted-blanket-for-anxiety#benefits2