Seniors and Isolation
Seniors and isolation is a growing problem in America. The US Census Bureau reports tens of millions of American seniors living alone, and many of these seniors do not have anybody checking in on them or engaging with them socially. While some seniors choose this lifestyle, others have it dropped upon them through the death of a loved one or another situation beyond their control.
It is normal for social contacts to decrease with age. Many of those we knew moved away or passed on, but for seniors living alone, this can create a potentially dangerous situation. Dr. John Cacioppo, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Chicago, notes that senior isolation is directly linked to loneliness “poor cognitive performance and quicker cognitive decline.” These seniors also have a much greater risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
Despite the increased risks associated with isolation, many seniors pull back from social situations because they don’t feel good about themselves. Issues with weight, eyesight, hearing, grooming, etc. create negative feelings, low-self esteem, poor body image, and a lack of self-worth. These seniors are often overly self-conscious, easily embarrassed, and walk the line of depression. Many times, the issues that cause their social anxiety could be prevented, moderated, or even stopped if they had the proper support. Home care aides are able to provide this support.
Why Hire Home Care Aides?
Seniors who need assistance with personal care are often too embarrassed to ask for help. Yet, issues with mobility, pain, memory, vision, or even awareness can make personal care difficult if not impossible. Home care aides provide personal care support that includes bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, and incontinence care. These services allow seniors to look and feel their best, which gives them confidence to enter into social situations.
Seniors with hearing issues often feel embarrassed that they cannot follow conversations, have to ask for things to be repeated, or are troubled by background noises. Instead of getting help, they withdraw from social life. Home care aides can help your senior loved one identify their hearing loss, arrange for testing, and provide the emotional and social support they will need as they adjust to assistive devices such as hearing aids. With an increased ability to hear clearly, social situations no longer seem quite so imposing and instances of isolation can be avoided.
Comfort Keepers® Calgary Can Help with Seniors and Isolation
If you are concerned about the safety of your aging loved ones, especially in regard to fire, we can help. While it’s important to rely on the expertise of licensed professionals for certain precautions, we can provide home safety assessments and ensure your loved ones’ environment is safe.
Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.
Aging With Dignity and Senior Caregivers
Caregivers Help Seniors and Aging with Dignity
Aging With Dignity | Seventy percent of seniors over 65 require long-term care. Many of these seniors need assistance with at least two daily living activities. Aging with dignity means that these seniors will be able to maximize their quality of life despite their limitations or need for support. Aging with dignity means having choices, maintaining independence, and being free to receive services in the comfort of their own home.
Senior Caregivers Calgary, AB
Many seniors are fearful about the future. They do not believe that if they get to the point where they require senior caregivers that they will be treated with respect and dignity. As sad as it sounds, researchers found that most Americans expect to face isolation, abandonment, and a loss of dignity when they get older. Senior caregivers are not viewed as the answer.
Thankfully, Comfort Keepers senior caregivers understand these feelings, concerns and fears. Because each of Comfort Keepers services are individually tailored to a senior’s individual needs and not to a set system of services, each senior is treated with respect from the outset. Senior caregivers are trained, supervised, and selected because of their love for seniors and the profession.
With Comfort Keepers interactive caregiving model, seniors play a critical role in their own care, maximizing freedom, independence, choice, and self-esteem. By creating an atmosphere of social interaction and positive stimulation, seniors are encouraged instead of discouraged by their care.
One of the greatest fears seniors have is needing help with personal care such as bathing, grooming, getting dressed, toileting and incontinence. Comfort Keepers staff are highly trained in providing personal care to maximize privacy, discretion, and self-worth.
Aging with dignity means that regardless of the supports that are needed to get by, seniors need to be treated with respect and valued as people with feelings and emotions.
Comfort Keepers® Calgary Can Help with Senior Age with Dignity
If you are concerned about the safety of your aging loved ones, especially in regard to fire, we can help. While it’s important to rely on the expertise of licensed professionals for certain precautions, we can provide home safety assessments and ensure your loved ones’ environment is safe.
Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.
Vision Loss & Calgary Home Care
Home Care for Seniors with Vision Loss
Vision Loss and Home Care | As we age, many things change, and not all of them change for the better. Age-related eye diseases are some of these less than positive changes. Among the most common of these ailments are macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, presbyopia, and dry eye.
While dry eye and presbyopia are not diseases, per se, they do cause numerous problems in seniors, and dry eye syndrome is linked to many age-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma, and lupus. Dry eye can also impact a person’s ability to see clearly. Presbyopia is the age-related loss of clarity and focus due to the hardening of the eye’s lens.
Cataracts are considered an age-related disease, but according to All About Vision, they are so common in seniors they might as well be considered normal age-related vision changes. Mayo Clinic estimates that between 50 and 75 percent of seniors over the age of 65 have at least some degree of cataracts.
Glaucoma is caused by pressure in the inside of the eye that damages the optic nerve. Glaucoma causes permanent vision loss, and, if not treated, it will quickly lead to total blindness. The risk of glaucoma goes up one percent each year after 40. It is estimated that nearly 4 million seniors will have glaucoma by 2020.
Diabetic retinopathy impacts seniors with diabetes. A large percent of seniors with diabetes have some level of diabetic retinopathy, a condition that damages the small blood vessels in the retina causing blindness.
Calgary Home Care
Regardless of the reason behind the vision loss, seniors with impaired vision may need help with daily living tasks if they are aging in place. Calgary home care providers can help meet your loved one’s needs as they adjust to life with impaired vision. Even with glasses, magnifiers, and assistive devices, there are tasks that become quite difficult with a loss of vision. For one, reading those tiny labels on prescription bottles can be worrisome. Most seniors over the age of 65 take eight to 15 medications each day, which is why Calgary home care medication management support is so important.
Comfort Keepers® Calgary Can Help with Vision Loss and Home Care
If you are concerned about the safety of your aging loved ones, especially in regard to fire, we can help. While it’s important to rely on the expertise of licensed professionals for certain precautions, we can provide home safety assessments and ensure your loved ones’ environment is safe.
Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home
Parkinson’s Disease and Home Care in Calgary
Parkinson’s Disease and Senior Home Care
Parkinson’s Disease and Home Care | Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that slowly erodes an individual’s ability to care for themselves. Parkinson’s does not have a standard set of symptoms and each person’s experience with Parkinson’s is unique. What is common is that the disease affects the body’s ability to control muscle movements. This may result in tremors, muscle rigidity, difficulty walking, and an inability to perform any task requiring fine motor skills. There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease, and its progressive nature ensures that it is highly debilitating.
The good news is that progress has been made in the treatment of many of Parkinson’s symptoms, which can greatly increase a senior’s quality of life. For seniors who choose to remain at home and age in place, home care in Calgary can provide the extra support needed, especially in the later stages of the disease.
A primary goal for home care in Calgary is effective medication management, as many of the treatments involve numerous medications. Since they target specific parts of the body’s neurology, the medications need to be taken at exact times in exact amounts. Parkinson’s tremors and muscle rigidity makes it very hard to open bottles, draw up medication, etc, thus most seniors will require help with their Parkinson’s treatments. Because of the potency of the medication and the number of possible drug interactions, it is also very important to keep careful records. Home care in Calgary provides this support.
In addition to medication, alternative therapies are also available. Many seniors find relief through acupuncture, and many others find meditation to be of great benefit. Since mobility and muscle movement is such a serious concern with Parkinson’s, exercise is an invaluable part in the treatment process. A growing body of research suggests that exercise may be more powerful than medication in slowing Parkinson’s progression. Some of the most effective exercises include Tai Chi, yoga, and Pilates since they focus on strength, flexibility and balance. Water sports such as swimming and water aerobics are also helpful since the water’s buoyancy aids in balance.
Comfort Keepers® Calgary Can Help with Parkinson’s Disease and Home Care
Parkinson’s is a degenerative, neurological disorder without a cure. To maximize your loved one’s quality of life, home care in Calgary can provide support with daily living tasks, medication management, and companion care. If you are concerned about the safety of your aging loved ones, especially in regard to fire, we can help. While it’s important to rely on the expertise of licensed professionals for certain precautions, we can provide home safety assessments and ensure your loved ones’ environment is safe.