Caregivers for Senior Citizens

The family members who are doing the talk about the need for senior assistance should be prepared.  Your senior family member has probably spoken to their friends and has learned all the excuses used for saying  NO.  Many senior citizens simply feel embarrassed about needing help.  As the family member, or caregiver,  your first step is to be prepared to debunk this stereotype.

In Home Care

Make sure that you are properly prepared about the benefits of in-home care that go beyond the assistance of daily tasks, such as social stimulation and companionship. Let your loved ones read some of the materials.

You cannot get the entire conversation, and decision making about in home care in one sitting.  Give your senior time to ask questions, read the contract and do not assume that any hesitation on their part means a NO. Give them time to digest that assisted living or in home care is a lifestyle change, and talk with them over several days.

Do not make your senior family member feel like he or she is losing a battle. Let them know that you feel that this lifestyle is positive. Stay away from adversarial context.

Having multiple talks about in home care can instill a sense of comfort and trust that the senior may be seeking before they jump to sign a contract. Let your family member know that they will participate in the decision and when the senior is comfortable going forward with help will be a good decision.

Nutrition For Seniors
Below are several ways to incorporate diet and exercise into your everyday life. Don’t worry about doing them all at once, this is just a guide to help you feel great and enjoy Senior Living. Start with a few and begin to incorporate more of the tips over time.  The amount of attention you pay to Diet and Exercise will effect the way you feel.

1. Eat three healthy meals during the day, including a good breakfast. Skipping meals causes increased hunger and may lead to excessive snacking.
2. Focus on fruits and vegetables.  Top off your morning cereal with sliced strawberries or bananas. Stir berries or peaches in yogurt or cottage cheese. Liven up your sandwiches with vegetables, such as tomato, lettuce, onion, peppers and cucumber. Eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
3. Weigh yourself regularly. Monitoring your weight can tell you whether your efforts are working and can help you detect small weight gains before they become even large.
4. Don’t keep comfort foods in the house. If you tend to eat high-fat, high-calorie foods when you’re upset or depressed or bored, don’t keep them around. Availability of food is one the strongest factors in determining how much a person eat.
5. Plan a family activity. Get the family together to go for a bike ride, play disc golf or kick the ball around in the yard.
6. Eat healthy foods first. Eat foods that are healthy and low in calories first so that when it comes time to enjoy your favorites- sweets or junk food, for example- you won’t be hungry.
7. Pay attention to portions. Serve meals already dished onto plates instead of placing serving bowls on the table. Take slightly less than what you think you’ll eat. You can always have seconds, if really necessary.
8. Create opportunities to be active. Wash your car at home instead of going to the car wash. Bike or walk to the store. Participate in your kid’s activities at the playground or park.
9. Sit down together for family meals. Avoid eating in front of the television. TV viewing strongly affects how much and what people eat.
10. See what you eat. Eating directly from a container gives you no sense of how much you’re eating. Seeing food on a plate or in a bowl keeps you aware of how much you’re eating.
11. Vary your activities. Regularly change your activity routine to avoid exercise burnout. Walk a couple of days, swim another and go for a bike ride on weekend. Seek out new activities- karate, ballroom dancing, cross-country skiing, tennis or Pilates.
12. De-stress your day. Stress can cause you to eat more. Develop strategies that can help you relax when you find yourself becoming stressed. Exercise, deep breathing, muscle relaxation techniques and even a good laugh can ease stress.
13. Don’t  have seconds.
14. Use low fat or fat free dairy foods.
15. Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
16. Eat slowly.
17. Use the stairs instead of elevator.
18. Park your car farther out in the parking lot.
19. Get out a bus stop early and walk the last two blocks.
20. Walk the mall.
21. Doggy bag after a big restaurant meal for another day.
22. Treat yourself! Have a small serving of your favorite food once in a while

You may have noticed that nutrition for the elderly is not much different from nutrition for people of any age.  The idea is to be sensible and incorporate exercise with proper dietary habits to lead a healthier lifestyle.  Not overdoing it at the dinner table and enjoying aerobic activity are the key.

Elderly Driving

Awareness of age -related changes and compensation for them can keep you driving safely.

Accidents increase with age.  From 60 to 70 the accidents increase the more that elderly drivers are on the road.  This statistic gets higher after the age of 75 according to the American Geriatric Society.  The functions essential to safe driving deteriorate with age, such as visual acuity, hearing, and reaction time.  This does not mean that all senior citizen drivers should hand in the keys.

Keep in mind that medical conditions and the numbers of medications taken can both increase the risks for accidents for the senior driver.  But, you can remain safe on the road by understanding how age-related changes effect your driving abilities.  And of course,  do not use alcohol prior to driving.

The following strategies can help the senior cope with the challenges of driving as he/or she ages.

1.  Be aware of your own limitations. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

2. Get yearly visual and hearing screenings. Wearing the corrective devices will increase the seniors safety and others on the roadways.

3.  Pay Attention to other risks such as snow storms and other poor weather conditions.  These include fog, ice,  eating, drinking  or use of a cell phone. Seniors need to focus their full attention on the road.

4. Always Drive the posted speed limit.  Driving to fast or slow is dangerous.

5. Do take a refresher driver safety class.  Know the rules of the road.

Following these simple steps can go a long way in making elderly driving much safer for everyone on the road, and keeping senior citizens behind the wheel while maintaining independent living.

The medical world, families, and patients should all be concerned about the high % of readmissions to hospitals, known as rehospitalization, within the first 30 days of discharge for geriatric patients.  The cost of rehospitalization skyrockets Medicare billing. For senior citizens alone this poses an increased risk of infection, falls, and mental status changes or increased frailty. Families experience added stress and missing work to become caregivers for their elderly loved ones.

Further examining the predicament the 50% of patients being readmitted within 30 days reveals something interesting.  Most had not been seen by their outpatient physician. This raises the question of how patients are following discharge plans and whether or not their families are realizing the importance of reading them and following up on their loved one.

Being responsible for these critical issues is an ominous undertaking for anyone.  Not to mention grocery shopping, medication management, bathing, dressing, and safety in the home.  Figuring out what your parent needs is not easy.  Finding the services they need can be even more challenging. But, stopping the in and out rehospitaliztions is a primary need which will help your parent redevelop his or her resiliency.

HELP IS THE ANSWER. Prevention of these round robin readmissions will make life easier for your loved ones and all of the family members.

Ivory House Health Services is a Geriatric Care Management company which specializes in keeping persons out of the hospital and emergency rooms.  This is accomplished by establishing an accurate Geriatric Care Plan.  This plan of care includes collection of all pertinent information, coordination of all medical services, integration of home care, assessment of needs regarding activities of daily living and instrumental life skills.  The Ivory House staff is highly educated  with a total of 200 years of professional experience. For a phone consultation please call 410-823-3153 or e-mail Hazel Kuchinsky APRN-BC. You can also use this website to ask your questions.