Call Home Instead Senior Care Austin for help with your aging relative living with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Our CAREGivers are trained to help people with memory loss live a better life. Call us at (512) 347-9207.

Lightening the Load of Austin Nursing Home Residents

If you’re elder loved one is living with dementia in an Austin nursing home, consider the following ideas that could help bring joy to them. Remember that you, a family caregiver, may be the only outside contact that your elder loved one see each day.

If you are looking for things to do with your aging loved one living in an Austin care facility, consider one or all of the following to brighten their day.

1. Play a musical instrument.
2. Write letters for them.
3. Read letters to them.
4. Bring pets (if the facility allows).
5. Help with arts and crafts.
6. Make transparencies to hang in or on a window.
7. Share your vacation pictures. Bring in family photo albums.

Home Health in Austin, Texas - delivered by Home Instead Senior Care Austin - Call today (512) 347-9207.

Caregiving and Alzheimers Home Health in Austin TX. When seeking home care or non medical home care in Austin call (512)347-9207.

This week in Austin, we are very focused on Alzheimer’s, as it has been the main topic around our Home Instead Austin office due to the Memory Walk that we participated in Saturday. I will write more on that later, but for now, I thought it would be helpful to let caregivers in on some tips that can be helpful when caring for a client with Alzheimer’s.

• Try to plan activities around the part of the day when your client is at his/ her best.
• Always keep a safe environment. Remove anything that could hurt them.
• Keep activities simple and familiar.
• Keeping up an exercise routine, along with good nutrition is important!
• Label items and drawers so that the client will know where they put things.
• Try to create a sense of accomplishment for the client when they complete any activities.
• Most importantly, take care of your needs and make sure that you get plenty of rest. You are not helping the client if you are not feeling well, so be good to yourself!

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s can be challenging, hopefully with these tips, and a positive attitude, the experience will be rewarding for both you, and the client.

Michelle Kosusnik, Recruiter/ Retention Coordinator/Blog Contributor
Home Instead Senior Care Austin, Texas

CDC Recommends Flu Shot for More Americans than Ever Before 

With the flu season approaching, U.S. health officials are predicting this year’s vaccine will be a better match for the circulating influenza strains than last year’s vaccine proved to be. And, they believe supplies will be plentiful.

The U. S. Centers for Disease Control recommends that more Americans than ever be vaccinated against the flu, according to a Health Day report. For the first time, the agency recommends children ages six months to 18 years receive the vaccine.

The vaccine also is recommended for:

• Adults age 50 and older.
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions.
• People living in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.
• Pregnant women.
• People who live or care for those at high risk for complications of the flu. This includes healthcare workers and household contacts.

The vaccine contains three new flu strains research indicates are the most likely to cause illness during the upcoming flu season – two influenza A strains and one influenza B strain.

 “This is the largest group of people we have ever recommended get flu shots,” said CDC Director Dr. Julie L. Gerberding. That’s about 261 million people in the United States.

“We still face an excess burden of mortality from what is our nation’s No. 1 vaccine-preventable disease,” she said. Every year, there are 36,000 deaths, 200,000 hospitalizations and countless days of work and school lost due to flu,” she said. 

People can receive vaccinations as soon as they become available, and they can continue to get one throughout the flu season, into December, January and beyond.

More information about the flu is available on the CDC Web site.

Home Instead Senior Care Austin  - Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia home care. Our CAREGivers are trained to help people with memory loss live a better life. Call us at (512) 347-9207.

Helping Loved Ones Cope with Alzheimer’s Disease in Austin

While sometimes it may seem quicker and easier to do routine tasks for them, it is important to keep someone suffering with Alzheimer’s involved even if it means setting up a situation for them and using cues and prompting. You can place a razor in their hand and tell them to shave, demonstrating the action with visual cues.

A patient at a later stage of the disease, may still be physically capable of performing a number of tasks, but may have difficulty recalling the function or use of an object. Caregivers must also remember to exercise patience when allowing someone with Alzheimer’s to complete a task; provide them with whatever direction is required, but then step back and allow them the time they need to get it done, regardless of the time that elapses. These are a few tips that will help seniors with Alzheimer’s maintain some independence which increases their self-esteem and overall well-being, it can also be a great way to decrease the stress level in the caregiver and care recipient relationship.

Call Home Instead Senior Care Austin for help with your aging relative living with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Our CAREGivers are trained to help people with memory loss live a better life. Call us at (512) 347-9207.

ALZHEIMER’S AND DECREASED INDEPENDENCE

I work as a geriatric nurse in busy long-term care facility. I deal with a number of Alzheimer’s patients and understand the challenges they face as their disease progresses to the later stages; many suffer from frustration and low self-esteem because they are aware of their mental impairment and their decreasing ability to perform tasks they were once able to complete with ease.

Each patient seems to cope with the disease differently, some accept their fate passively, others are angry, and all exhibit signs of depression at some point. Family members need to understand the challenges their loved ones are facing and do what they can to help the individual maintain some sense of autonomy.

People with Alzheimer’s are easily overwhelmed and distracted when faced with too many options; caregivers should allow them to make their own decisions, but limit their options when doing so. For example, ask whether they’d prefer lemonade or coffee or lay out a couple of wardrobe options for the day.

Call Home Instead Senior Care Austin for help with your aging relative living with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Our CAREGivers are trained to help people with memory loss live a better life. Call us at (512) 347-9207.

Call Home Instead Senior Care Austin for help with your aging relative living with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Our CAREGivers are trained to help people with memory loss live a better life. Call us at (512) 347-9207.

Many seniors living with Alzheimer’s will believe they are still independent and may resist any kind of help, saying they can do everything on their own. One day you may discover that he/she had gone in the back yard, locked the door behind him/her and spent the afternoon sitting in the sun. if it’s hot and temperature reaches 100 degrees that day, it will be frightening to know that he/she was left alone without food or drink. 

The thought of this happening will frighten most family members. Home Instead Senior Care Austin had a family caregiver once who is a single mother who knows what it’s like to balance many responsibilities, including those she faces as a caregiver for her grandmother while managing a career and caring for her young daughter single handedly.

She once told us her story; I try to use this situation as an example for other caregivers, because it can be reassuring to know that there are others out there going through things just like them. We also try to recommend non-medical assistance programs, like that provided by Home Instead Senior Care or local support groups so they can find others to talk to.

Call Home Instead Senior Care Austin for help with your aging relative living with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Our CAREGivers are trained to help people with memory loss live a better life. Call us at (512) 347-9207.

ALZHEIMER’S CAREGIVERS ARE OUT THERE

I work in a busy medical practice as a nurse, which specializes in geriatric care. We see a large number of patients who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease who are often accompanied by their caregivers; usually relatives. One thing I always notice is that while each caregiver does have their own unique challenges, they feel so isolated that they believe they are the only ones dealing with the stresses and frustrations that caring for someone with Alzheimer’s bring.

However, in reality, 80% of Alzheimer’s caregivers are family members, often adult children or spouses. Even some public figures know what it feels like to care for a loved one who is suffering from a cognitive disease like Alzheimer’s, one renowned example is former first lady, Nancy Reagan, who cared for her late husband, former President, Ronald Reagan right until he unfortunately passed away.

A caregiver for one of our patients, who is 91 one years old and in the later stages of the disease has provided the following statement that we have used in our practice’s newsletters and other publications in order to let others know that they are not alone with the challenges and fears that they face as caregivers; “Because my grandmother is home alone during the day, I come home over my lunch hour to check on her. Grandmother has been living with me for three years, but still thinks she is visiting.

The “Financial Steps for Caregivers: What you need to know about money and retirement, ”According to the booklet, caregiving often results in financial costs for the caregiver, some of which include decisions to work part-time; decline a promotion requiring longer hours; or pass up a training opportunity requiring travel. To download the booklet http://www.aoa.gov/prof/aoaprog/caregiver/caregiver.asp.

Other more subtle consequences include lost opportunities for compounded returns on 401(k) matching contributions, a reduction in savings and investments, or an inability to finance home improvements that could increase the resale value of a residence.  One study from the National Center on Women & Aging found that caregivers lose $659,130 over a lifetime in reduced salary and retirement benefits.

There may be options that could keep your daughter from giving up her career.  If you have other family members, discuss with them how they might help.  Oftentimes the caregiving job falls to one adult child when others could shoulder some of the responsibility.

Also consider a company like Home Instead Senior Care Austin.  Our CAREGivers could provide respite care for your daughter while making sure all your needs are met.  Hours are flexible, too – from three hours a week to 24 hours a day.  If you just need a little help, that’s all that you will have to budget for your care.  Not only will you be helping your daughter, but you’ll be making new friends as well.

For more information about Home Instead Senior Care call 512-347-9207.

Fall Risk Higher in Women Who Sleep Less

The risk of falls among women age 70 and older is greater in those who sleep five hours or less per night, a new study shows. The study also found that the use of sleep medications doesn’t seem to influence the link between amount of sleep and fall risk.

Researchers from the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute of San Francisco measured sleep, sleep efficiency (percentage of time in bed spent sleeping) and frequency of falls in nearly 3,000 women 70 and older. The women averaged 6.8 hours of sleep per night, Health Day reports.

The average number of falls one year after collection of the sleep data was 0.84, but 18.4 percent of the women had two or more falls. The study found that women who slept five hours or less per night were more likely to have two or more falls than those who slept more than seven hours a night.

Researchers also found that women with a sleep efficiency of less than 70 percent were 1.36 times more likely to have a fall than women with a sleep efficiency of 70 percent or more. Women with 120 minutes or more of wake time after sleep onset were 1.33 times more likely to fall than those who were awake less than 120 minutes after sleep onset. 

This study reinforces the benefit of a full night’s sleep and may be useful information for family members.

Helping Seniors stay home - Home instead Senior Care - 512-347-9207.

It’s usually a crisis that begins family conversations. Families with seniors who have emerging needs, those not yet facing more serious age-related problems, are sometimes reluctant to seek help; communication is often the barrier.

Here are more suggestions from the Communication Expert Jake Harwood, Ph.D. at the University of Arizona:

5) Maximize independence

Always try to move toward solutions that provide the maximum amount of independence for a parent or senior loved one. Look for answers that optimize strengths and compensate for problems.

6) Stay tuned in

If, for example, your dad dies and soon afterward your mom’s house seems to be in disarray, it’s probably not because she suddenly became ill. Rather, it’s much more likely to stem from a lack of social support and the loss of a life-long relationship. Make sure that your mom has friends and a social life.

7) Ask for help

Many of the issues of aging can be solved by providing parents with the support they need to help them maintain their independence. Resources such as Home Instead Senior Care, Area Agencies on Aging and local senior centers can help provide those solutions.

The 40-70 Rule Guide features communication tips, as well as role-playing situations that can help family caregivers know what to say and when. For a free copy of the guide, just contact your local Home Instead Senior Care franchise office or download a PDF of the guide from the 40/70 Talk web site.

If your aging parent(s) needs home care help, please call Home Instead Senior Care at (512) 347-9207.