Bathing, Hygiene, and Grooming

Taking a shower is one area where your mom isn’t confident anymore. She fell stepping out of the tub, and that increased her fear. She’d rather have someone support her while she gets into and out of the tub. Her caregiver is there for support.

If your mom needs help washing her hair or body and drying off, that’s an option. Her caregiver can trim the nails on your mom’s fingers and toes. She can have her caregiver help apply skin cream to hard-to-reach areas.

Housekeeping and Laundry

Is your mom able to keep her home clean and organized? If not, she can have a caregiver around to vacuum the carpets, sweep hardwood floors, dust furnishings, and do the dishes. Her caregiver can wipe and sanitize surfaces and tidy up clutter.

With a caregiver’s help each week, your mom’s sheets are changed and washed. Her dirty clothing is washed and dried. Towels are changed and laundered. Everything is dried, folded, and put away before the caregiver leaves for the day.

Your mom’s caregiver can also help with oral care, toileting, shaving, and hair care. As she has a caregiver there to help her brush and dry her hair, making it easier for her to start her day.

Meals and Snacks

Your mom’s caregiver can prepare meals and snacks for her. She can talk to her caregiver about the foods she wants throughout the week. Her caregiver can take her shopping, if needed, and prepare those meals and snacks for her when it’s time.

Does your mom hate eating alone? If so, ask the home care agency about companionship during meals. Your mom can have her caregiver eat with her or sit with her while she eats to ensure she’s never alone during a meal.

Socialization

Your mom’s caregivers provide the friendship she needs. She can socialize with her caregivers while engaging in a favorite hobby, going on outings to stores and area attractions, or while playing games.

Your mom loves to garden, but she has a hard time carrying her tools and any ripe produce. With a caregiver helping out, your mom is social and engaged with others.

Transportation

Your mom no longer drives, but that doesn’t mean she’s stuck at home. Hire a caregiver to take her shopping or when running errands. Her caregiver can bring her to her medical or therapy appointments.

Hold a family meeting to narrow down where your mom does well independently and where she could use help. Once you have an idea of the services that would help her, call a home care specialist to make arrangements.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in Mullica Hill, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Attentive Care Inc. at 1-800-493-5660

The post Can Home Care Help Your Mom? appeared first on Attentive Care, Inc..

So many factors can increase your senior’s fall risk even more than she might realize. Understanding those factors can help you and your senior to put plans in place to reduce the risk of senior falls.

Losing Balance and Flexibility

Both balance and flexibility are important to avoid a fall. Balance issues keep your elderly family member from being able to tell where she is in space, causing her to stand upright when she walks. Lack of flexibility means that your senior’s joints aren’t able to respond and move in the ways they need to in order to help her to stay upright.

Losing Stamina

Your senior needs stamina in order to avoid a fall because it’s a necessary part of being able to stand and to walk. If she’s running out of endurance too soon, that can compromise her ability to have safe mobility. Issues with stamina are common after a period of being sedentary, whether that’s because of an illness, an injury, or simply inactivity.

Losing Muscle Tone

When your senior loses muscle tone, she no longer has the strength that she needs in order to walk safely and to avoid a fall. The problem with losing muscle tone is that it can happen quickly and very subtly. Your elderly family member may find that just a short time of not being as active as she used to be can cause her to experience significant muscle tone.

Losing Vision

Your senior’s vision helps her to be able to see obstacles and to be able to keep her balance. When she’s not able to see well, she may not be able to trust the input her brain is receiving from her eyes. That can cause her to second guess herself and her actions, which can lead to a fall.

Being Afraid to Walk or Fall

Fear is another huge factor when it comes to fall risk. Your senior may become scared that she will fall or afraid to walk, even around her own home. That can then become such a powerful fear that your elderly family member starts to experience loss of stamina, balance, and muscle tone, therefore increasing her risk of falling.

Having elder care providers available regularly can help your senior to deal with many of these challenges and can help her to improve her overall mobility, avoiding senior falls, as well.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in Mullica Hill, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Attentive Care Inc. at 1-800-493-5660

The post Senior Falls: Five Potential Issues that Increase Fall Risk for Your Senior appeared first on Attentive Care, Inc..