Living with Alzheimer’s Disease
Jul 23rd
People with early‑onset Alzheimer’s disease often become depressed after receiving the diagnosis. But it is important to understand that Alzheimer’s is not a death sentence, life isn’t over, and although your life will change as the dementia progresses, you can still have a meaningful, productive life…Read More
Home Care for All In Need
Apr 23rd
When most of us think of home care aides, we think of a nurse who cares for the elderly. But home care is not exclusive to only seniors. Home health aides and companions also assist people who are disabled, chronically ill, or cognitively impaired.
Families with a loved one who has a kind of permanent or even temporary disability may not be able to provide the around the clock care that is necessary. The family may need to continue to work full time which can leave the patient alone and attended for long periods of time. Having a home care aide attend the patient while the family cannot is a great relief.
Other reasons may require family caregivers to request the services of a home care provider as well. Family caregivers often experience stress, fatigue, and even worsening health issues that can hinder their ability to provide the best care for their loved one. Instead of ignoring their delapitating health at the risk of not being about to care for their loved one, family caregivers can greatly benefit themselves by handing over caregiving responsibilities to professional caregivers. In other words, professional in home caregivers can provide much needed respite for family caregivers. Whether the home care aide is only providing a temporary respite or anongoing part of the caregiving team, their assistance can make a huge diffence in the health and well-being of the entire family.
If you are a family caregiver who can use the assistance of a home care aide, you are at the right place. Better Living Home Care can help you find a compatible caregiver in your area for live-in caregiving or hourly caregiving. We have caregivers who can assist you when you need them most, providing respite for you and excellent care for your loved one. Remember, you are not alone. Help is simply a phone call or email away. Contact Better Living Home Care today!
What Caregivers Can Do for Themselves
Jan 12th
If you’re a caregiver of a family member and find that the stress and strain of caregiving is taking a toll on your physical and mental health, you can take many steps to reducing health risks. Whatever step you take first toward managing long-term stress doesn’t matter. What is important is taking that first step. The next step will be easier and so on.
Carol Levine, director of the Families and Health Care Project at the United Hospital Fund in New York, offers the following steps toward healthier living with long-term caregiver stress:
- Take stock of your strengths and acknowledge your limits. Recognize what you’re doing well can help you deal with the aspects of caregiving you find most troubling.
- Analyze the sources of your stress. Is it th edeteriorating health of your family member, financial issues, isolation, comteting family or work responsibilities, dealing with bureaucracies, or lack of time for yourself?
- Take a problem-solving approach to each source of stress. What can be done to ease that particular strain?
- Enlist others in the solution. Depending on the problem, seek the support of another family member, a trusted friend, social worker, physician, nurse, therapist, home care aide, financial adviser, lawyer, or religious leader. Some solutions will be temporary or incomplete; accept that and move forward.
- Follow a diet and exercise program that is feasible and satisying.
- Learn some breathing techniques to use when you feel tired or overwhelmed. “Take a deep breath” is always good advise for any reason; it gets oxygen to your brain.
- Try to find an outlet for your won interests, creativity, and individuality. You had a life before caregiving; what were the things you liked to do? Try to find a way to do them again, even in a limited way. What were the tings you always wanted to do? Try to find a way to start. There will be a life after caregiving, and these activities will help you then as well as now.
- Develop your spiritual side, whether that is through prayer, meditation, nature, art, literature, msic or whatever takes your thoughts to a different plane.
It is hard to put such plans into action. But every small step makes a big difference.
Why Don’t Caregivers Take Better Care of Themselves?
Jan 12th
Since the stress of long-term caregiving can lead to many health risks, one might ask: Why don’t caregivers take better care of themselves? Caregivers give many reasons why they choose to focus only on their caregiving.
Some reasons caregivers offer:
- The higher priority is my [parent's, spouse's] health condition.
- It’s self-indulgent to spend time on myself when my loved one is suffering.
- I don’t have time.
- I can’t leave [parent, spouse] alone and nobody can take over for me during the day.
- Why should I go to the doctor? She’ll only tell me to do things I can’t do, and to stop doing things I have to.
Depression in caregivers may also be a contributing factor. Caregivers are more likely to be despressed than non-caregivers. The depression can make it difficult to take positive steps toward self-help, eating right, and exercise. This can lead to a vicious cycle: because they are depressed, caregivers can’t act; because they cannot act, their depression deepens.
More awareness of and response to the health impacts of caregiving need to be addressed by physicians of caregivers and the caregivers themselves. We also need a greater appreciation of the mind-body interaction in caregiving, and greater weight given to the seriousness of caregiver depression.
If you find yourself in the role of a caregiver saying something similar to one or more of the above statements, don’t wait any longer to care for your health. Think of yourself as a pitcher pouring your health, love, and energy into your loved one. What will happen when the pitcher runs dry? Your care of your loved one is only as good as your ability to care.
Look into caregiver respite offered by Better Living Home Care. We can help you juggle the needs of your loved one and the health care you deserve. So you can begin to focus on your health, contact us today for a free in-home consultation.
The Impact of Long-term Stress on Caregivers
Jan 12th
Caregiving and stress go hand-in-hand. All devoted and loving caregivers experience some level of stress. For some it is the stress of watching a family member’s physical or cognitive health deteriorate; for others the stress comes from financial worries while others experience stress by having to deal with the bureaucratic mazes of the healthcare system. These are only a few examples of stressful situations that family caregivers across the nation are facing daily.
How stress impacts the caregiver’s health can result in serious illnesses that can drastically hinder the ability to care for a loved one.
Stress is more than an emotion; it is the body’s response to danger. Muscles tense, adrenaline flows, and heart rate increases so that the body is ready for flight or fight mode. It is basic survival mode. Yet long periods in this heightened physical response creates relentless pressure and strain on the body. Caregiving for a family member with a deteriorating condition like Alzheimer’s Disease or Parkinson’s Disease is prime example of long-term stress.
Caregivers enduring long-term stress face several health consequences. Studies have shown that stress weakens the immune system which makes caregivers vulnerable to illnesses like the flu. The impact of stress on the immune system can also cause vaccines to work less effectively and slow the healing process of wounds. Furthermore, stress can exacerbate chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis.
Add to stress the muscle and joint strain of certain physical tasks that go into caregiving, poor diet, and lack of sleep and exercise, caregivers are faced with a mountain of health risks. In severe cases, caregivers are at risk of heart attacks, stroke, or even death.
In a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Dec. 15, 1999), Richard Schulz and Scott Beach found that elderly caregivers who reported strain were 63% more likely to die than their non-caregiving peers. Some caregivers die while their ill family member lives on.
If you’re a caregiver who is elderly or in poor health, you deserve respite. Better Living Home Care can step in and care for your loved one when you need to rest, strengthen your physical and mental, or simply perform the aspects of caregiving that are unmanageable.
Don’t risk your and your loved one’s health. Get the help you both require. Contact Better Living Home Care to schedule a free in-home consultation.
Dementia in Parkinson’s Disease
Oct 13th
Cognitive changes such as dementia are common in Parkinson’s disease. For most of us “dementia” is a very scary word, so I’d like to make clear that although such a cognitive impairment is common, not all those with Parkinson’s necessarily experience dementia. Parkinson’s disease dementia is less likely in early onset disease, tremor onset patients, and where significant depression is absent. However, because patients with Parkinson’s disease are about six times more likely to suffer from dementia than those without Parkinson’s, it is a good idea to pay close attention and watch for signs of dementia, as some medical treatment may be needed. Therefore, a clear understanding of what “dementia” is will follow.
What Dementia Is:
Dementia is a disturbance in intellectual function that interferes greatly with essential aspects of life and progressively worsens over time. The typical profile of Parkinson’s disease dementia consists of:
declining ability to reason,
slowed mental processing,
dramatic lapses in memory,
worsening visual-spatial construction
and trouble maintaining attention.
The various types of dementias that can occur in patients with Parkinson’s may overlap and co-occur, making them hard to distinguish. Neurological exams and neuropsychological assessments may help pinpoint and ascertain the different dementias. Conventional segmentation has divided dementia into two types: cortical and subcortical. Cortical dementia is typically found with Alzheimer’s disease and characterized by profound memory problems early on. Subcortical dementia is a slowing of cognitive processing, forgetfulness, apathy, and retrieval difficulties early on.
When watching for signs of Parkinson’s disease dementia, it is appropriate to worry, but try not to become alarmed. Cognitive changes do not automatically suggest the onset of dementia. If you are suspicious of certain behaviors, consult your neurologist for a neuropsychological consultation. It is painless, detailed, and can uncover factors that may be the cause of cognitive changes.
Choose the Right Home Health Care Agency
Oct 13th
Home health care agencies are a valuable resource of respite care, assistance, and knowledge. Home care is designed to meet various needs. Since home health care is a service that ranges from professional medical assistance to personal aide, not all home care agencies offer the same services. Once you have a good understanding of your needs, it’s time to start searching for a home care agency that meets all the services you require. Below is a list of questions you can ask home health care agencies as you determine which one is right for you.
Questions to Ask Home Care Agencies
- How long has the home care agency serviced your community?
- Are caregiver references available?
- Does the home care agency perform background checks on their caregivers?
- Does the home care agency provide an assessment or consultation to determine if home health care is appropriate for the care recipient?
- Do you have the flexibility to change caregivers if there is a lack of compatibility or if the care recipient’s health care needs change?
- How does the home care agency choose their caregivers?
- Does the home care agency meet all of your caregiving needs?
- Can you receive literature explaining the home care agency’s services, fees, and conditions?
- Will the home care agency include the care recipient and family when developing a care plan?
- Can the home care agency offer help to coordinate and assist the family by filling in around job schedules, travel plans, or other responsibilities?
- Can the home care agency ensure recipient confidentiality?
- Does the home care agency offer payment plan options?
- What resources does the agency provide to help you get financial assistance, if needed?
- How does the home care agency staff respond to your first (and second) call?
- What is the home care agency’s procedure for resolving complaints?
- How soon can you receive home health care services?
- What are the responsibilities and procedures of the emergency home care agency and caregiver in case of an emergency?
When you have found a home health care agency that is reliable and suits your needs, be sure to monitor the care provided. Do not hesitate to ask your doctor any questions you have regarding the care you are receiving.
If you have any questions regarding home health care, contact A Better Living Home Care. We have a caring staff and qualified caregivers who are ready to assist you with your needs.