Stages and Facts about Alzheimer’s

It is said that Alzheimer’s disease or its beginning symptom, Dementia, affects 1 in 3 seniors in the US. Senior people would dearly hope to be healthy throughout their lives, even as the mind may differ sometimes. The Alzheimer’s symptoms are extremely common and nipping them in the bud is essential. Below are the three stages of Alzheimer’s, which are commonly found among aging seniors.

Stage 1: The Mild Dementia

The beginning stage of Alzheimer’s disease is memory loss, sometimes even personality changes. Memory loss is termed Dementia as an umbrella term in medicine. Forgetting family background, close ones, or names of affiliates that the seniors knew occurs due to a memory lapse. Even a poor performance in a math equation may point fingers toward the mild state of Alzheimer’s.

Stage 2: The Moderate Alzheimer’s

In the moderate stage, the lapse in memory gets deeply profound. This is precisely when seniors start to call for help even to do daily activities such as getting dressed up or bathing. The easiest way to spot moderate Alzheimer’s is to watch seniors from close quarters. Are they showing impatience or getting easily irritable? If so, you need to take special care for dealing with them.

Stage 3: The Final Phase

There is no stage three as such. Severe is when Alzheimer’s really gets exposed to the outside world. When diagnosed with severe Alzheimer’s disease, the seniors get extremely dreary and impatient. They may become silent in due course and even refuse to eat due to difficulty in swallowing. Getting loved ones in perfect sync would become difficult, and you will need the assistance of Alzheimers in-home care services for managing the seniors.

Care the Alzheimer’s Sufferer

Being in a familiar environment would provide better comfort to those suffering from Alzheimer’s. What is better in a prolonged condition except the love given at home? Being in an unfamiliar state of mind requires familiarity for seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Hence, in-home care would be the best option to help them stay mentally and physically strong in their golden days.

Benefits of Using Assistive Technologies in Dementia Home Care

Dementia has become one of the most widespread brain diseases that have affected many across the world. With the growing proportion of elderly people in societies, the probability of them getting affected by Dementia is increasing day by day. In fact, the alarming rate of Dementia patients today has prompted the medical community to come up with effective options in dealing with the disease that includes a skilled workforce, enhanced care, medication, and support services.

The emergence of various assistive technologies has lent a helping hand in effectively handling this growing challenge of Dementia care. Assistive technologies along with in-home care help people diagnosed with Dementia to perform their daily tasks without much hassle. They include any item or device that enables a person to do a certain task independently and are especially useful to elders to live safely. Below are some of the ways in which assistive technologies are beneficial in improving Dementia home care.

Safety

One of the major advantages of using assistive technology in Dementia care is the level of safety and security that it offers. Most of the devices and objects under assistive technologies are mainly designed to provide a good amount of safety. Motion sensors one of the main devices that are included in assistive technologies and can alert the in-home care providers when the elders are in a risk of falling from a chair or bed. This will reduce the chance of any falls and the injuries associated with it. On the other hand, safeguarding technologies offer good protection against fire hazards, burglary, flooding, as well as assists in calling for help in case of emergencies.

Daily Needs

Assistive technologies enable elders to carry out their daily needs. For this a set of gadgets like temperature sensors, automatic light sensors, automated ovens and dishwashers, floor cleaning robots, automatic taps, etc., will help in the process. Also included in assistive technologies is the point of care devices that provides remote monitoring of vital health conditions like blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels. Using this data, the in-home care health professional can monitor the condition of the patient and carry out the necessary decisions as and when required.

Communication

Simplifying the communications is one of the other major benefits of assistive technologies in Dementia care. Using video conferencing enables good communication with the doctors and health professionals that will immensely help elders in their condition. Moreover, assistive technologies provide the elderly with access to the internet for facilitating easy communication and an array of other leisurely tasks like games, learning, and browsing.

Understanding When They Need Senior Care

Old age invites a careful life in all aspects. Parents stay strong throughout their lives, but when old age sinks in, they become dependent on their fellow beings. Does your aging parent depend on you to keep hygiene? Do they insist on taking medicines all the time? Well, that is clearly a sign of a lapse in memory perhaps or an indication of a decreased dependence. Below are three other signs that indicate your parents are aging beyond self-dependence and they need proper and professional senior care.

An Unattended Home is an Achilles Heel

As parents get older in due course, they tend to realize an Achilles heel in themselves in relation to the surrounding environments. House maintenance is one of the things which in-home care takes into account from time to time. Parents prone to sleep walking wouldn’t want dirty floors, stained carpets, or an unattended home in totality. Neither do they want to walk through a clutter of home staples, which might have happened due to a complete lack of care.

A Sudden Disinterest in Doing Regular Hobbies

This is considered to be a possible sign of old age depression which comes and goes naturally. This is a simple situation, which could be tackled by engaging your parent into their regular hobbies. Look for subtle symptoms of old age depression such as waning spirits or lack of energy to move around. Do what you can to lend help or seek assisted senior care.

Disengagement to Life Around

Anything such as bumps and scratches or even wrinkles on the face could be a sign of old age. Children don’t wear a poker face to all such situations; they simply report the same to their parents. Contact senior care if you happen to notice a complete disengagement of your seniors toward the life around them such as pets, or even children.

When to Seek In-Home Care

The answer is when seniors continuously fail to do their daily chores and it becomes difficult to manage them on your own. Have a candid discussion with your parent regarding what and all old age problems they face at the moment. It can be difficult to ask for some people, but at times just a simple “how are you?” might do it at the end of the day.

Why Hire In-Home Caregiver for your Aging Parents

You might probably have a lot of anxiety and worries about the well-being and ongoing welfare of your aging parents. The current health situation of your aging parents might have put you in a position of being the primary caregiver. This will certainly put a lot of pressure on your shoulders and it may even take your focus out of other important work related tasks.

It is a fact that many of us are the primary health caregivers of our aging parents, but being a health caregiver for your elderly is certainly a big responsibility. Many first-timers find it quite hard to manage and realize that they need help, although without a clue on where to start.

This is where hiring in-home senior care can help you. If you have a professional in-home caregiver who is capable of providing a flexible and adaptable range of heath care service to your aging parents, then you can ensure that your aging parents will enjoy all the optimal life qualities throughout their golden years.

A decrease in memory, vision, and reaction times are some of the reasons why your aging parents will eventually need the help of an experienced in-home caregiver. Age-related and degenerative diseases like the Parkinson’s disease can make even a minor task incredibly challenging to the seniors.

If any of your parents has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, then they will certainly have trouble in bathing and grooming as well, because of the decrease in fine motor control and the diminished mobility issues. In such a scenario, the in-home caregiver will assist them with each of these daily tasks while exhibiting empathy, professionalism, and utmost respect.

In addition to that, in-home senior caregivers will also encourage the elders to perform their own responsibilities as much as possible. Studies prove that if the elders were encouraged to use their cognitive abilities, fine motor skills, and memories, then the chances for them to retain these abilities are a lot higher.

Apparently, if you hire an in-home caregiver, then you will not have to act as a primary caregiver for your aging parents. They will work with your parents and doctors to decide the type of health care your loved ones need, and they will lay out an efficient plan to meet the health care needs of your parents.

Some Senior Care Ideas for Families

Old age care is a trending topic of discussion in many families; obviously, there would be elderly people in every family. It is quite normal that such families start to feel anxious about providing senior care for their family members. For most, the troubling thing is how to ensure proper medical care for the seniors.

Seniors would need to be properly cared when they fall sick. They need to be encouraged and consoled when they become too emotional or sad. There should be at least one person to look after the needs of a senior person round the clock. However, if you are an employed person, you can hardly be around your elder always. In this scenario, the ideal thing would be to send the senior person to a senior care facility or hire in-home senior care services.

Some Senior Care Options

There are various types of senior care options today. This includes old age homes, nursing homes, in-home care, senior day care, and assisted living homes. Although much better care is offered at all these facilities, it is recommended to understand the type of care offered at these places before opting for one, because it will help you choose the right senior care option for your elderly.

The seniors have to relocate to elder care homes and senior housing facilities. They are charged on monthly or year basis, which includes food and accommodation, plus other services such as housekeeping and personal assistance as and when needed.

In-home care, on the other hand, is different from senior housing services. Here, a caretaker from the senior care service would attend to the elderly at your home every day. In cases where the patients are too sick or unable to perform their personal tasks, the caretaker would live with the senior and take care of them round the clock.

Daycare for seniors is another option, where the families drop off their seniors at the facility when they go to work and pick them up on their return. This way, the seniors do not have to spend their daytime alone at home. Moreover, they can be with the family members every day.

These are some of the common senior care options available today. It is good to seek the opinion of your senior family member before finalizing the type of care you should provide them with. Remember, proper care for your seniors is essential for their well-being. So make your choice wisely.

How to know if Independent Living is Right for you

Senior living can be a complicated matter when you look at all the things there is to consider. Yet sometimes, all it takes is watching the essential concerns, to nudge you towards the right senior living choice. You are one person who more or less knows his/her own needs, and while generalizations can be helpful, your particular situation is what applies when choosing an option for senior care.

How well do you Manage your Current Home?

If you live independently at present, then good for you. Or is it? You might not admit it openly, but it might be getting hard to move around inside your home, at least sometimes. Is it on a steep hill, or are there too many stairs to climb to get to the bedroom? Has it been getting harder to go out because you dread the physical exertion? Or maybe there is increased crime in the area. For whatever reason, if you stay cooped up for too long, feelings of isolation and loneliness won’t be far off.

If you feel senior care homes to be stifling, hiring a personal aide for home health instead can fix some of your problems. You could also try getting family members to visit more often; maybe have them help in shaping up the place. Nevertheless, if you wish to avoid maintenance and upkeep responsibilities, you should think about moving to an independent senior living facility.

Are you Removed from Friends and Family?

One problem with isolation is that this invites depression and other mental health problems. It might become hard to get out of the house. This may be for other reasons as well, such as mobility issues. Human contact can be put off by other factors, such the people you know being busy with other commitments, or if the neighborhood becomes hard to get around.

In an independent senior living facility, you can have your own social network of peers, and keep close through shared activities that suit almost everyone. If you don’t prefer that, hire an in-home caregiver instead. That would make sure you have someone to, at least, communicate with.

How well do you get Around the Place?

If the area you live in requires driving to make social calls, these will almost certainly grow fewer with time. Even recreation and shopping will take a hit, once you begin to tire of driving. Keeping doctors’ appointments can become a chore, as will many other things.

Moving to a senior care facility can bring everything within easy reach, or facilitate transportation services, which work to the same effect. Hiring a home health care provider would also be of great help here, and it is usually opted by those who prefer to stay in their comfort zone, which is at their own home.

Why Seniors Prefer Hiring Elder Care Services

Recent surveys indicate a surge in the number of elders going to senior care living homes. Interestingly, it is the seniors who take the initiative to move to such facilities. In most families, the seniors are made to live alone because their close ones might be located in different places for their work or education. To live alone in a big house and maintain it from time to time can be a huge task for the seniors.

The seniors do not have to worry about any of these when living in a senior care facility. If you are a senior planning to shift to a senior living home or want to ensure better care for your elder parents, here are a few points to check to support your decision.

Maintaining the House

While living in a senior care facility, you do not have to worry about tasks such as maintaining the rooms or the premises. The maintenance services are handled by the elder care staffs at these facilities. Hence, the seniors can live peacefully without worrying about anything.

Studies indicate that old people are very stressful when it comes to executing big tasks. The best way we can help them have peace of mind is to let them be free.

Built-in Facilities

Senior living services have built-in facilities like swimming pool, reading room, recreation halls, etc. The seniors living in these places are free to use these spaces at any time they wish, which means that they would be enjoying their stay at the senior care facility even more.

Advanced Healthcare

Seniors need frequent medical observation because they are vulnerable to climatic changes or similar factors. When they fall sick, immediate medical care has to be given in order to help them recuperate fast. Living in their own homes without any senior care provider can be risky for them. Yet by hiring an elder caregiver or living in a senior care home, they can have immediate medical care.

Many of the elder care facilities are equipped with in-house medical care options. They have professionally qualified caretakers and nurses to cater to the medical needs of their residents. In addition to that, senior living homes allow their residents to have fun, to engage in social activities, to develop their skills, and to interact with people of their age group. This way, seniors are always engaged, which is quite necessary to help them get rid of boredom and stress.

The Benefits of Home Care for Seniors

Sorting out the best living solutions for seniors is one of the many struggles that most families come across. Amongst the numerous options available, the home care option remains the ideal way to care for your aging parent or relative.

Home care has evolved into a highly preferred option for millions of families across the world. The therapeutic benefits of home care are immense, as it will aid in keeping up the well-being of the entire family as well as extending the life of your elder ones.

A home care offers continuity than a nursing center, which is yet another of its greatest advantages. This will help keep off the struggle in constantly adapting to a new environment for your loved ones. Apart from these, there are many other benefits offered by home care, as described in brief below.

Personalized Care

Home care aides serve the purpose of giving quality care and attention to your aging loved ones. For most of the home care services, providing elderly care is more than their job and involves something personal in them. This personalized care has numerous benefits for the aging seniors in achieving maximum comfort.

Specialized care is one of the key aspects of a home care service and will enable in catering to the various needs and preferences of different individuals. In addition, personalized care will make the whole process of caregiving more efficient.

Life Extension and Improvement

The home care service aids in eliminating the general notion of institutionalized care commonly given to many elders. The specialized care and independence given to the elders will enable them to have control over their lives.

Besides that, recent research studies have proven that home care significantly eliminates stress factors in aging. Home care also offers much higher levels of satisfaction and dignity in the services received.

Home Comforts

The comfort of being at the own home is another major significant benefit of hiring an in-house care service provider. It also enables the seniors to have access to all the things they value in their home.

Moreover, the many comforts of the home available to your aging loved ones provide them with a sense of calmness and composure. This will aid tremendously in the care and comes with many therapeutic benefits as well.

Autonomy

Home care offers better autonomy to the seniors than assisted living facilities and nursing homes. This is highly beneficial in making up a comfortable living space for the aged seniors.

In-Home Health Care Options

In-home care includes many services that are provided in the home, rather than in a care facility or a hospital. In-home health care will allow seniors with Alzheimer’s or Dementia to stay at home while receiving the adequate care they need. However, you should understand that not all in-home care services are the same.

Some of the in-home caregivers offer only non-medical help, like help with daily routines and living, whereas some providers include medical care in their services as well. The medical care is offered by a licensed healthcare professional, like a therapist or a nurse, so that all the needs of the senior are met appropriately. Below is a brief look at the different types of in-home care services.

Personal Care Services – These services offer help with bathing, toileting, dressing, exercising, eating, and other personal care.

Companion Care Services – Companion care services offer assistance in recreational activities, supervision, and visiting.

Skilled Care Services – They offer services with wound care, physical therapy, injections, and other medical needs by a licensed healthcare professional. Usually, a home healthcare agency will coordinate this type of skilled care services.

Homemaker Services – Homemaker services offer help with housekeeping, meal preparation, and shopping.

Finding In-Home Care Services

If you are searching for in-home caregivers, the following resources can help you find the best in-home caregiver in your area.

Talk to the Physician

Consulting with the physician who offers care for your aging parents is a great place to start. You may ask the doctor for recommendations of in-home health care providers who have good experience in caring for people with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Call Local Alzheimer’s Association

The chapter of Alzheimer’s Association in your locality will be able to offer you help in finding the best in-home caregiver in your area. They can also provide you referrals on caregivers.

Ask Neighbors, Friends, and Family

You may also ask your neighbors, friends, and family to know more about the services offered by the home health care agency that you are planning to hire. This will help you have a firsthand opinion, as they might have used the in-home care services offered by the agency.