This year, our home care services team saw firsthand how important the role of technology is in the lives of aging adults and seniors. As we move into 2021 and face the challenges of a new year, health and wellness are at the forefront of how we think about technology for older adults. In the new year, it’s predicted that these senior technology trends will be the ones to look…
Overcome Hurdles in Helping Seniors Adapt To New Technology
These days, seniors are flooded with a lot of high tech products directed at bettering their self-reliance and safety and contributing to life enhancement. With the touch of a button or two, they can instantly pay a visit “in person” with friends and relatives through Skype, wear a necklace that takes action with emergency services when needed, and even remain safe from getting lost with specialized sensors attached to clothing…
Reducing Hospital Readmissions in Seniors
There is presently a top priority for hospitals: reducing hospital readmissions in seniors who are at high risk. Healthcare Financial Management Association’s article “Two Ways Hospitals Can Reduce Avoidable Readmissions” explains that successful initiatives from a sampling of hospitals with minimal 30-day rehospitalizations are, to some degree, the result of participating with inpatient and outpatient care providers, such as Advanced Home Health Care, who can provide a continuum of care.
Holiday Safety for Seniors – Avoiding Emergency Room Visits
Although of course we’d love to visualize enjoying a Norman Rockwell-worthy holiday gathering, with all of our family members spending quality time together and Mom’s traditional holiday feast, the reality for numerous family gatherings instead can consist of something unanticipated: an E/R visit. In fact, research shows that E/R visits for seniors rise about 10 – 20% over the holiday season. That’s why it’s so important to take holiday safety…
Learning from and Responding to Confusion Caused by Alzheimer’s
Confusion caused by Alzheimer’s can lead to recent memories being forgotten or distorted, while memories from the more remote past frequently remain intact. This can cause more distant situations to make more sense to an older person with dementia than the present. A person’s alternate reality could be the senior’s way of making sense of the present through past memories.
Dementia Care Tip: How to Identify and Respond to Anosognosia
“How on earth could you think that I have dementia? There is not a thing wrong with me!” If an aging loved one with dementia has communicated sentiments such as this, you might have thought to yourself that the senior was actually in denial and reluctant to recognize such a challenging diagnosis. However, there could be a different reason: anosognosia, or the genuine unawareness that he/she is impaired by dementia….
COVID-19 And COPD: What You Need To Know
Seniors with COPD have needed to remain especially vigilant since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Individuals with COPD are likely at both a higher risk for experiencing symptoms of the virus along with developing more serious complications as a result. COVID-19 and COPD can prove to be a challenging combination. A current study published by the European Respiratory Journal reported that people with COPD were more likely to be admitted to…
Early COPD Symptoms: How It’s Often Confused with Asthma
Coughing that won’t seem to go away. Wheezing. Shortness of breath. It’s likely an asthma attack, right? Before you reach for that inhaler or those cough drops, however, please consider if another culprit – COPD – may be a factor. With as many as 12 million people in America currently living with COPD (and as many as 12 million more who likely have the disease but have not yet been…
Enriching Activities for Seniors that Promote Purpose and Self-Worth
Perform an online search for the term “activities for seniors” and you’ll likely find a number of games, crafts, memory-stimulating puzzles, and of course, the requisite bingo. What you won’t find, unless you really search much longer, are the purposeful, philanthropic activities that bring meaning and enrichment to our lives. And yet, if you ask aging adults what they would most want to do, the majority of them will not…
Increasing Senior Self-Confidence Through Meaningful Activities
“Here, let me help you with that.” “Take it easy and don’t overdo it!” “You just sit down and rest; I’ll take care of that.” How many times have we made statements just like these to senior loved ones, with the very best of intentions, of course? We want to do whatever possible in an effort to help our older loved ones, to keep them safe and to take care…