Recovering from an operation takes time, especially for older adults. Not only do older bodies take longer to mend, but there are extra elements that need to be considered: decreased mobility and numerous directions to follow for medications, physical activities, follow-up appointments, and dietary restrictions, just to name a few.
How to Get Rid of the Guilt and Find Joy in Your Role as a Family Caregiver
Learn How to Create a Fall Plan of Care
Falls in older adults are all too common, and may have dire consequences. If you care for an aging adult, taking the time to put preventative measures in place to protect against falls is vitally important, such as reviewing the home environment for any hazards such as throw rugs, poor lighting, a lack of grab bars and railings, etc. But there’s one additional strategy we recommend as well: creating a…
What to Avoid Saying to Someone with a Chronic Health Condition
Has anyone ever said to you, “Wow, you look really tired! Are you having trouble sleeping?” While you may have been feeling pretty lively up until then, suddenly you actually DO feel a bit worn out. What we say when we speak to other people and the way it’s interpreted can be powerful. This is good to keep in mind if you’re caring for a senior loved one, or talking…
Wheelchair-Friendly Home Modifications for Seniors
Home is where we can truly relax and be ourselves, and that’s just part of why so many older individuals make the choice to remain at home throughout aging. But in many cases wheelchairs will become a part of life when seniors or those with certain disabilities experience decreased mobility. This can be especially challenging when it comes to ensuring the home is safe. Thankfully, a few home modifications for…
De-Prescribing Medications: What Seniors Should Know
With over 1/3 of all 60-year-olds taking five or more prescription medications, it’s no wonder that problems are occurring from overmedication. Polypharmacy, defined as “…when an adverse drug effect is misinterpreted as a new medical problem – leading to the prescribing of more medication to treat the initial drug-induced symptom,” can lead to a variety of additional health risks or worsening of existing health conditions. It’s advised that seniors and…
Safely Dispose of Medications with These Five Tips
With many aging parents taking many different prescriptions, and with health care professionals changing and adding dosages and medications to discover just the right solutions, it’s important to know what to do with prescription drugs that are no longer needed or that have expired. There are a number of options to safely dispose of medications:
Making Multiple Sclerosis Patients Comfortable at Home
As Jane Austen once said, “There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” And for someone with a chronic disease, like multiple sclerosis (MS), remaining as comfortable as possible, and, as safe as possible, is essential. Luckily, making multiple sclerosis patients comfortable at home is possible with a few tips and some outside help. If someone you love has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the preliminary step should…
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…
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…