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!
How to Talk to Parents About Assisted Living
Apr 23rd
NPR’s Talk of the Nation airs a 30 min. segment about how to help elderly family members overcome their resistant to move into a nursing home facility even after their health deteriorates.
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.
Spouses Who Provide Care to Partners with Parkinson’s At Risk
Jan 7th
A ten-year study*, conducted by the Oregon Health Science University, has suggested that spouses that are caregivers for a partner with Parkinson Disease are at risk of developing a decline in physical and mental health.
Participants in the study were first studied in 1992 and 1994, lived across North America and cared for a loved one who was in the early stages of Parkinson’s. Extensive research was picked up again in 2002 and the following findings were discovered:
- Caregivers caring for a spouse with Parkinson’s Disease over a ten-year period were at increased risk for negative health and strain. Health and well-being significantly deteriorated, while strain from caregiving significantly increased.
- Quality of relationship and caregiver poorer health effected caregiver strain and well-being.
- Of the people with Parkinson’s residing in assisted living facilities, 55% had dementia compared with only 8% of those who remained at home.
- Depression requiring professional treatment was present in 20% o f the entire caregiver sample. Depression in caregivers of patients in assisted living facilities was over twice (55%) that of those in bereaved or ongoing care groups.
These findings suggest that caregiving for a spouse with Parkinson’s Disease for many years can lead to depression, health problems, and strain. It also emphasized the need to help families through community services such as in home care by professional caregivers, respite caregivers, and emotional support groups.
If you are caring for a spouse with Parkinson’s, know that your care is only as good as your health and well-being. Better Living Home Care can give you the support and relief you need to maintain your health and reduce strain.
Contact us today for a FREE IN HOME CONSULTATION.
(* The data from this study was conducted by Karen Lyons, Julie Carter, Barbara Stewart, and Patricia Archbold and was taken from the Official Journal of the National Parkinson Foundation Vol. XV, Issue 4, Fall 2004. This study is still being analyzed.)