Six Steps to Take to Help Your Mom Accept Her Caregiver

Posted in Caregiver Tips, Senior Care |

June 30, 2022

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Your mom has to have home care services, but you’re worried that she’s going to have a hard time adjusting. Your mom is a very proud, determined person who hates asking others for help. What can you do to help her adjust to her senior home care aide?

 

Senior Care in Eufaula AL: Caregiver Tips

Senior Care in Eufaula AL: Caregiver Tips

 

Involve Her in the Plans

Let your mom take the lead in decision-making when possible. If you know she needs care, let her ask questions when you call a home care agency. Ask her what she struggles to do each day, and go over the services that would help her with those tasks.

Go Over What Care Services Her Caregiver Will Provide

Once you’ve established a care plan, go over that plan with her. Be detailed on what the service is and does, how the caregiver completes that task, and what involvement your mom has in helping the caregiver.

Walk Her Through a Daily Schedule

In the days before the caregiver is scheduled to help your mom, go over what the caregiver is there to do. Walk your mom through a day’s routine. Be present in the morning at the same time the caregiver will arrive.

Cook breakfast and help your mom get showered and dressed if that’s a task on the care list. Clean the kitchen and make sure your mom takes her medications. Move to vacuum, making beds, and other housekeeping chores.

Once you’ve made lunch and cleaned the kitchen again, take your mom for a walk outside. If it’s not possible due to the weather, find a movie to watch together or get out a game to play.

Have Favorite Rewards Available

It may help to have something for your mom to look forward to as a reward. Suppose she cooperates with her caregiver for an entire day. Buy the items needed for your mom to have a banana split with her caregiver after dinner.

If you don’t want to give her food incentives, you could purchase a new book by her favorite author. Her caregiver can read it to her or play the audiobook version if your mom has a hard time reading smaller print.

Talk About It as a Trial Run

Talk about the senior care services as a trial rather than a permanent fixture. If your mom thinks this is a temporary situation, she may be less resistant to the change. As she adjusts to her caregiver, she’ll find out she likes having another person around to help.

Be Present Without Being in the Way

For the first few days, be present but stay out of the way. Let the caregiver do the job the professional was hired to do. You could set up a temporary home office in a den and close the door. If your mom is struggling, the caregiver can come to get you or ask for tips on things your mom likes.

As your mom starts to adjust, start making trips out of the home. Go to the office for a few hours or run errands. See how that goes. If that works out, you can start spending entire days at the office.

Professional caregivers are used to the adjustment period. Don’t overlook the fact that they’ve been there before. Trust in your mom’s senior care aide to help her acclimate to home care services. Call a senior home care agency to get started.

 

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

Can Seasonal Affective Disorder Happen in Seniors?

Posted in Caregiver in Eufaula AL, Elder Care in Eufaula AL, Senior Care in Eufaula AL |

November 6, 2018

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Is your aging relative expressing more sad and worried feelings than usual during winter? Are they growing more irritable and moody the closer it gets to the holidays? It’s not out of the ordinary to guess that your elderly loved one might be struggling with a recurring depressive state known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, known by the acronym of SAD.

 

 

Senior Care in Eufaula AL: Seasonal Affective Disorder

Senior Care in Eufaula AL: Seasonal Affective Disorder

 

While cold and darkness often leave people of all ages feeling a little blue, SAD is a serious medical condition that affects a person’s mental health. Elderly adults are particularly at risk for developing SAD. If you want to help your aging relative avoid seasonal depression, learn more about the condition and what you can do to prevent it.

 

SAD Causes and Symptoms 

While experts are not clear on what causes SAD, it has been linked to numerous triggers that help you see if your elderly loved one is at risk. In most cases, SAD is linked to reduced sunlight exposure as the daylight hours shorten in the fall and winter. Exposure to sunlight has a big effect on the body, from producing vitamin D and setting our wake/sleep patterns to triggering hormone production in the body. When there are fewer daylight hours, some people are mild to severely affected. People who live at higher latitudes are more likely to develop SAD than those at lower latitudes. SAD is also more likely to occur in females than males.

 

The symptoms of SAD are similar to clinical depression.

They can include lethargy, mood swings, loss of appetite or increased appetite, insomnia, feelings of helplessness, irritability, lack of focus, sadness, and thoughts of suicide. Because you may already see some similar behaviors in your aging relative due to other health conditions or age-related behaviors, it can sometimes be difficult to identify SAD. Many seniors with SAD go undiagnosed and untreated because of this.

 

SAD Treatments

As with clinical depression, SAD can be effectively treated with a multi-phase approach. First, your aging loved one needs a strong support network of family members, home care providers, friends and doctors. They also need to live a healthy lifestyle, with proper nutrition, regular activity, no smoking, proper management of any health issues and restful sleep.

 

With relation to sunlight exposure, seniors should accompany family caregivers or home care providers on outdoor excursions as the weather permits. Even a few minutes of direct exposure of skin to sunlight can help. A doctor can recommend a light box, a device with light bulbs that mimic natural sunlight. Seniors need to sit in front of it for a set time each day to reap the benefits.

 

Finally, seniors may need to meet with a therapist and work on the mental aspect of seasonal depression. They may need to take antidepressants as well in moderate to severe cases. The good news is that using a combination of treatments, elderly adults can reduce the impact of SAD in their lives and avoid serious mental and physical health issues as a result.

 

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

 

 

 

Varicose Veins and Elderly Adults

Posted in Elder Care in Eufaula AL, Elderly Care in Eufaula AL, Homecare in Eufaula AL, Senior Health |

May 1, 2018

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One of the most common leg vein problems for seniors is varicose veins.

Health problems due to varicose veins range from mild to severe, but seniors have a higher risk of complications. Because every case of varicose veins is different, it’s hard for a non-medical person to determine whether they are serious or not. That’s why family caregivers must always be on the lookout for new symptoms in their elderly loved ones and get them to a doctor for an exam.

 

Homecare in Eufaula AL: Varicose Veins

Homecare in Eufaula AL: Varicose Veins

 

What are Varicose Veins?

A person’s legs are a web of veins that carry blood to and from the heart. Some veins are deep inside the leg, while others are on the surface. When surface veins become abnormally wide, it results in a condition known as varicose veins. The wall of the veins weakens, making it harder for the valves to push blood upward and against gravity. When this blood pools in the legs, it makes it harder for oxygen-rich new blood to circulate.

Family members and senior care assistants can recognize varicose veins as enlarged, purplish-blue veins. They are often surrounded by smaller spider veins. If left untreated, varicose veins can cause serious health problems.

When blood vessels remain dilated for long periods of time, it can lead to symptoms like swelling and discomfort, itchiness, fatigue and inflammation. Over time and without treatment, varicose veins can lead to discoloration of the skin, stiffening of leg tissue, and spontaneous bleeding. In severe cases, varicose veins can lead to venous leg ulcers and deep vein thrombosis. It’s important for family caregivers and senior care assistants who notice varicose veins in an elderly person’s leg to get it checked out.

Prevention and Treatment of Varicose Veins in the Elderly

Typical treatments for varicose veins vary depending on the severity of the condition. There are minimally invasive techniques available that can effectively deal with the varicose veins. Some of the self-help treatments include wearing compression stockings, losing weight, elevating the legs and not sitting for long periods of time.

In more serious cases, surgery may be needed to take care of the problem. Fortunately, surgical treatment for seniors with varicose veins is usually an outpatient procedure or at least a single night stay at the hospital. By incorporating laser procedures in surgery, recovery is fast with minimal invasion.

Of course, the best thing that family caregivers and elderly adults can do about varicose veins is to practice good health habits that prevent them from forming or from getting worse. Diet and exercise are the two most important ways to prevent varicose veins, as is elevating the legs when sitting. However, elderly adults that are less mobile may have a hard time sticking to an exercise plan, so the other prevention methods become even more important. Family caregivers should support their elderly loved ones by doing what they can to spot them and then get medical attention for them as soon as possible.

 

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

Source:

https://www.centerforvein.com