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There’s no doubt everyone had hoped the Covid-19 pandemic would be gone by this time. But unfortunately, with fall and winter just around the corner, it looks as though the spread of the virus is increasing, along with hospitalizations and deaths. As a caregiver of an aging parent, you may be wondering what you should do to help keep your parent well and virus-free during these upcoming months. Most of what we’ve learned already will stay the same, but it’s always good to review the CDC best practices with your parent and everyone who comes into contact with your parent so that everyone is on the same page. Have your senior stay home as much as possible While many people love to get out and about, now is the time for your senior to stay in her own home as much as possible. This may mean having someone else run errands for her or even providing some basic healthcare at home (such as administering medication or checking blood pressure). A home care provider can be a great resource for tasks both in the home and out of the home. Practice social distancing Unfortunately, now is not the time for butterfly kisses from the grand babies. It’s often difficult to remember to stay 6 feet away, especially from people you care about. As your parent’s caregiver, you will probably have to be the one to enforce this, whether it’s from reduced visits with the little ones or gentle reminders to stay a safe distance apart. Unless administering medication or performing a health monitoring function, you yourself, as well as the home care provider in your parent’s life, will also need to keep a safe distance away. Get a flu shot Not only should your aging parent get a flu shot this year, but so should everyone who comes in contact with him. As much as possible, you want to make sure your parent stays as healthy as he can in all aspects of life. Wear a face mask It’s important that anytime your aging parent does have to go out in public, he wears a face mask. Face masks help prevent the spread of Covid-19 through the air and will provide some protection as your parent is out and about. Anyone who comes into the home and isn’t a resident there, should also wear a mask. It can be hard asking people to put on a mask, and it may make your parent uneasy. Enlist the help of your home care provider to ensure this rule is being followed and put a sign on the front door for people to see as soon as they arrive. Wash hands often Use the 20-second rule to keep germs off the hands of your parent. As a caregiver, remind your parent the importance of washing hands anytime she’s been out in public or someone has been over to the house. Disinfect high-touch areas Places like doorknobs, light switches, remote controls and countertops should be disinfected often. A home care provider can help your parent stay on top of this task easily, so germs are not spread through second-hand contact. Finally, remember as your family and your parent practices these guidelines, to keep mental health in mind. This can be an especially hard time on the mental health of the elderly as their fears and worries about the virus sometimes take over their every thought. Help your parent to stay positive while following the recommended guidelines, assuring him if any symptoms start, catching it quick for treatment is always best. A home care provider can be of great assistance to keeping your parent safe and healthy during this pandemic. Your home care provider will stay up to date with the ongoing Covid-19 situation, making changes and recommendations along the way. You can also stay up to date by visiting the CDC website.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a  Senior Care in Burbank, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388   Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/

Have you been wondering how you can help your elderly loved one to protect their brain health? If so, you are not alone. There are many caring family members who want to keep their elderly loved one healthy. The good news is that there are some ways that your elderly loved one can maintain or even improve their own brain health. You and their caregivers can help them to do these things. Reading One of the best things that your elderly loved one can do to promote better brain health is to read often. Your elderly loved one can read anything and everything. They can read books, magazines, newspapers, blog posts, articles, websites, e-books, and other things. The more things they can read, the better it will be for their brain. The reading itself can promote brain health. However, when reading – if your elderly loved one can learn new things – this can improve their brain health, too. If your elderly loved one has a difficult time reading, you or their caregivers can read to them.   Listing and Recalling Things Another activity that can promote your elderly loved one’s brain health is listing and recalling things. For instance, you could have your elderly loved one make a shopping list for groceries. After they write down 3 to 5 items, have them give you or one of their caregivers the list. From there, have your elderly loved one tell you or their caregiver what was on the list. If they want even more of a challenge, they can write down more items before recalling them.   Taking Classes Your elderly loved one can promote their own brain health by taking classes, as well. There are so many different classes that your elderly loved one might be interested in. If they can’t find a local class, there are numerous online websites that offer classes. Some of the classes are free, others are offered for a low-cost, and others cost more money. It all depends on what your elderly loved one would like to learn. There are classes for anything from art to music to financial management.   Conclusion These are some of the tips for promoting brain health. If you are trying to help your elderly loved one to promote their brain health, you and their caregivers can encourage them to do these things. Remember, if your elderly loved one doesn’t read well, you can read to them. If they can’t recall a lot of items at one time, that is alright, too. You can have them recall a couple of items at a time to keep their brain sharp.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a  Senior Care in Studio City, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388   Sources https://www.nia.nih.gov/

There may be somebody in your family who requires some type of care. Is it your mother? Your father? A grandparent, spouse, sibling, neighbor, or friend? Whoever it is, home care is one of the best options for aging men and women who have health issues, are recovering following major surgery, or who have recently suffered a major medical emergency. But, it’s also important to realize not all home care is the same. There are different types of home care to consider, most notably the difference between a visiting nurse (commonly referred to as a home health care aide) and a basic home care provider.   What does a home care aide offer? In general terms, a home care aide is somebody who can assist with most basic tasks of everyday life. This generally includes helping with mobility, sometimes bathing and toileting, preparing meals, light housekeeping, doing the laundry every once in a while, and so on. A home care aide is sometimes referred to as a companion aide, somebody who is there to assist this elderly person to the basic tasks of everyday life. It’s important not to misunderstand the roles and responsibilities of a home care provider. This individual is not a housekeeper. Their primary job is not to make sure the house is clean. However, if the senior needs assistance with basic light housekeeping, then they can certainly help with some of those details. A home care aide will often help with meal preparation or will prepare meals, take the senior to the grocery store to go shopping, and assist them in getting to doctors’ appointments from time to time. A visiting nurse or home health care provider, on the other hand, will assist with direct medical tasks, like administering medications, changing an IV drip, changing wound dressings, checking vital stats and relaying the information to a doctor, and so forth.   What about independent and agency caregivers? It’s also a good idea to understand the difference between hiring an independent home care aide and hiring through an agency. When you hire independently, it is your responsibility to carefully vet their background, resume, and ensure they are fully licensed, insured, and who they claim to be. When you hire through an agency, most of these tasks will already be done. And, through an agency, home care providers generally receive training and ongoing support, which is vital to the caregiving process, especially as it moves from days to weeks to months.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a  Caregiver in Silver Lake, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388

Thirty minutes of exercise each day is the recommendation by medical professionals. It’s not a lot to ask, yet some adults aren’t active enough. Lack of activity impacts health and can affect mobility. If your dad is resistant despite his doctor’s suggestions, is there anything you can do? Bring in a Professional   He may not want to become active out of fear. Explain why it’s so important and see if you can find out what’s holding him back. If he’s afraid of falling or overexerting, it may help to have him work out with a physical trainer as he gets into shape. If he’s supervised by an expert, he may have a little more confidence. If he’s fearful of going outside his home, talk to his doctor about physical therapy within the home. He may qualify to have someone help him build muscle strength and stamina in the comfort of his home.     Find Out What Excites Him Look into what he loves to do. You’re trying to get him to take a daily walk, but he finds walking boring. You need to find something he enjoys. Would he enjoy playing miniature golf? You could create a course in his backyard or take him out. He might find disc golf to be intriguing. It gives him a chance to walk around while also trying to get the disc into each basket goal on the course. Bicycling, kayaking, yoga, and Tai Chi are other activities that older adults find enjoyable. If your dad is able and has a sense of adventure, you could take paddleboarding or snowshoeing lessons together.     Get the Family Involved He may be more willing to be active if he’s not alone. If he has grandchildren nearby, see if he’d go orienteering with them. He might be willing to point out different types of flowers, birds, or trees on a nature trail. You could all go hiking together on an easy trail. If he’s interested in old coins, metal detecting on his own or someone else’s land may appeal to him. Make sure your family has permission to metal detect on that land. Do you live close enough to keep your dad on track? If not, have you thought about senior care services for him? Caregivers can check on him and make sure he’s content and doesn’t need groceries or prescription refills. They can walk with him and make sure he’s keeping up with exercise goals. Senior care is easy to arrange. Make a call, discuss your dad’s needs, and set up services that meet his needs.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a  Caregiver in Silver Lake, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388

Does your elderly loved one have skin cancer? This can be very scary for your elderly loved one, yourself, and other family members. However, it is important to know that there are ways that elderly care providers can help your elderly loved one. Not only can they help with early recognition of skin cancer, but they can help in the later stages, as well. Encouraging Proper Sun Safety One of the many ways that elderly care providers can help your loved one is by encouraging proper sun safety. When trying to prevent cancer, it is important that your elderly loved one is wearing protective clothing. They should wear a hat and sunglasses that filter out UV rays when they are outdoors, especially on the days when the sun is beating down. In addition, your elderly loved one should be wearing the right sunscreen when they are outdoors. The elderly care providers can remind your loved one to be safe in the sun.   Regular Check-Ups An elderly care provider can take your loved one to regular check-ups at their doctor’s office. The doctor can check your loved one’s skin to look for any abnormalities. If there are any changing or new moles, skin changes, or other skin issues, the doctor will be able to spot these. If there is an issue, the doctor can follow the necessary steps to biopsy the area and get your elderly loved one checked for cancer. The earlier skin cancer is spotted and treated, the better chance your elderly loved one has for surviving it.   Spotting Skin Cancer The elderly care providers that your loved one has can be trained to spot signs of skin cancer, as well. They should be able to keep an eye out for suspicious moles, skin changes, and complaints by your elderly loved one. If they notice any of these things, they should get your elderly loved one a doctor’s appointment.   Helping with Cancer If your elderly loved one already has skin cancer, the treatments can be rough. Elderly care providers can be there to help care for your loved one during this process. They can do what is necessary to help make your elderly loved one more comfortable. These are some of the ways that home care services can help your elderly loved one with skin cancer. From preventing skin cancer to helping if your loved one is getting treatments, elderly care providers can be there.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in Culver City, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388 Sources https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Your mom needs to lose weight per her last medical visit. It could be she’s pre-diabetic, has diabetes, or has high blood pressure. No matter what the reason, it’s important that she has the support she needs to lose weight and keep it off. Find Exercises She Loves If your mom doesn’t like the activity she’s doing for exercise, she’s going to struggle to keep up with her new goals. Find exercises and activities she does enjoy. If she likes dancing, try video games like Just Dance or sign her up for a Zumba class. She might love to swim. If she doesn’t have a pool, see where the nearest pool is and what the rules are. It may be better to invest in a small lap pool in her yard. If she likes riding a bike, a stationary bike near a TV where it looks like she’s biking somewhere exotic will work for her.   Come Up With Healthier Options for Cravings Cravings can be the hardest part of switching your diet. If your mom loves chocolate, switch that slice of chocolate cake for melted low-sugar chocolate chips and fresh fruit. Instead of ice cream, make fruit puree in a blender and freeze it for sorbet that doesn’t have added sugar. Instead of crunchy potato chips, give your mom roasted almonds to snack on. Other good snacks for dieting are vegetable sticks with hummus or mini quiches made with egg whites and her favorite vegetables.   Make Changes With Her When you’re at your mom’s house, do as she has to do. It’s not fair to bring a chocolate cake and share slices in front of her if she can’t have them. At her house, eat the foods she has to eat in support. When you get home you can do what you want. If you visit when she usually takes a walk, join her. Go for a walk with her and support her along the way. You could take her to new locations like a park, lakeside walking path, or wildlife area for a change of pace. Remember that you might find yourself in her shoes decades from now. Making changes now may prevent future impact on your health. Elder care services offer the support she needs as she increases exercise and changes her diet. She can have help with meal preparation and portion control. She has someone to keep her company while she exercises. If she has prescription medications, an elder care aide can remind her when it’s time to take them. With medication reminders, you never have to worry about her missing a dose.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in Silver Lake, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388

The National Institute of Health estimates that 6.1 million older adults have some level of vision loss. Of them, 350,000 are blind. If your mom is blind or has limited vision, she needs help at home, stores, medical offices, and in outdoor areas. For your mom to age safely at home, she must have support. Home care services are important if someone isn’t with her every day. These are the best home care services to schedule. Transportation With worsening vision or blindness, your mom cannot drive a car. She needs someone to bring her to the store, take her to medical and dental appointments, and bring her to social or educational activities. If you’re not available every day, hire a caregiver to drive her around. Meal Preparation When she can’t see, your mom should not be making meals. The chances of burning herself or accidentally cutting fingers with a knife are high. She may gain some skills over time, but someone should at least supervise her. Caregivers can be available to cook meals or help her cook them. They can serve meals to her and clean up the kitchen after. They can also help her eat if she has a hard time with cutlery. Bathing/Grooming/Hygiene How well is your mom doing brushing and flossing her teeth? She probably needs help. Home care aides can also help her wash her hair and body, rinse off, and get in and out of the tub or shower without falling. They can brush and style her hair, trim her nails, and shave her armpits or legs if needed. Housekeeping She can’t see to know if there are crumbs on the floor, excessive pet hair, or stains. With home care services helping with light housework, your mom’s house stays neat and tidy. She can also have a caregiver assisting with laundry. Medication Reminders You don’t want your mom grabbing the wrong prescription and taking too many pills. With home care aides available, your mom has someone to help her remember to take her medications, open the right bottle, and take it at the right time of day. How do you arrange home care services ? Call an agency and discuss your mom’s strengths and weaknesses. This is the first step to coming up with a care plan that meets her changing needs. Home care services are easily adapted as her needs change. Call to learn more.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in Century City, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388 Sources: https://www.afb.org/

NHTSA’s 2015 data finds that about 240,000 older adults were injured in crashes that year. That accounted for about 10 percent of all traffic crashes with injuries. It was an increase that could be prevented by making sure your parents aren’t driving if they are no longer driving safely. Do you know what to look for? How do you decide when your parents aren’t safe drivers? Some families don’t realize it until their parent is in a crash. There are signs you should look for.   Difficulty Checking Blind Spots Some cars are equipped with blind-spot detection systems. Your parents cannot rely on these to always be correct. They still need to check their blind spots before pulling into another lane or backing out of a driveway or parking spot. If your parents have a hard time with back or neck pain, they may not be checking over both shoulders properly. If they cannot twist their necks or backs to fully look over their shoulders, they need to stop driving and contact their doctors. With physical therapy, they could regain some movement and be safe to drive in the future.   They Mistake Pedals or Can’t Move the Foot Fast Enough Hip pain keeps your mom from quickly moving her foot from the gas pedal to the break. That’s not good. She can’t drive if she can’t move her foot fast enough. If you’ve caught her pulling at her pant leg to move her lower leg, take away her keys. She may be able to drive again with adaptive equipment like hand controls, but until she can afford that, she needs to have someone else drive. Your dad accidentally drove into a curb when he thought he was pressing the brake. If he’s mistaking pedals, even accidentally, he cannot be behind the wheel.   There Are Unexplained Dents and Scratches Look over the car from time to time. If you’re seeing scratches and dents, ask your parents how they happened. If your parents are driving into things like the garage door frame or fences, their perception of depth and distance may be diminishing. It’s best to stop driving. Don’t make them feel trapped at home. With senior care services , they can have caregivers drive them around. Eventually, they may be fine to drive again. In the meantime, it’s safer to keep them in the passenger seat with senior care aides helping out.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Elder Care in Culver City, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388 Sources: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Getting dressed, showering, and other personal tasks like these may become difficult enough for your senior that she needs your help. When that does happen, you may need to have some ideas tucked away in your caregiver toolkit that help you both to get through this together. Keeping Your Senior Independent Is Important Independence is probably part of what keeps your elderly family member running. She needs to know that you value her independence, too. Let her do what she can when she can. Be there to help her and try not to take over too much, too fast. Talk to your elderly family member about what she feels comfortable doing and what you can do to help her.   Do What You Can to Let Her Call the Shots Part of helping her to be as independent as possible is for you to let your senior call the shots as much as you possibly can. This may not be easy for her to do. As her caregiver, you may feel like you know what she needs and when she should do certain things. But if you can step back and let your senior take the lead, that’s going to help her to turn things over to you when she truly has to.   Comfort Is One of the Biggest Concerns Your big task is to keep your senior as comfortable as possible during bathing and other embarrassing personal care tasks. That means making sure the bathroom is warm before she gets undressed and that she feels safe in the room. Double-check any safety issues, such as installing or making sure that grab bars are secure. Take out any rugs that are likely to become slippery and assess any other possible safety concerns.   Is This Job for Someone Else? You may come to a point when you and your senior are butting heads more than you expect. That might mean that it’s time for someone else, like home care providers , to step in and take over. Your senior may be concerned about this idea at first, but they can preserve her dignity while keeping her safe and comfortable. It’s worth considering the idea. This isn’t easy for your senior, either. It really is tough to know that someone you love has to help you with the most personal of necessary tasks. Try to remember that and cut both of you some slack. If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in Century City, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388

Keeping track of your own stress level is crucial. It helps you to pay attention to your own needs, first and foremost, but it also helps you to understand when it’s time to bring in help. By keeping up with how you’re feeling, that’s going to give you better tools to have the assistance your senior needs when you both need it most. It’s Like Boiling Water Stress is a little bit like being in a pot of gradually boiling water. You don’t notice at first that things are heating up until suddenly you’re surrounded by bubbles and things are way too hot. The key is to realize where you are and what you’re experiencing so that you don’t get to that point. Stress Has a Cumulative Impact Dealing with stress has a cumulative effect on you and your life, which also means that you being under stress has an impact on your senior. She’s counting on you to be able to care for her and to help her to meet her needs, so dealing with your stress levels properly is key in that endeavor. You Can Keep Tabs on Your Stress The good news is that you really can keep better tabs on your stress levels. When you make it a point to do just that, you’re going to be a healthier caregiver and you can make better decisions to support your senior and her needs. Learning your stress triggers is one of the first steps. That’s going to allow you to pay better attention to how you’re feeling and to how stress affects you. Check-in and Do Something Once you’re paying better attention to your own stress levels, you can start to take actions that support your senior and yourself. For instance, knowing that you need to take time away from caregiving means that you need someone else to take over for a bit. That means hiring elderly care providers to stay with your senior for an hour or longer a week. It may also mean handing over certain tasks to elderly care services so that you can put your focus elsewhere for a little while. Taking action is going to give you results. Stress is something you absolutely can do something about, but you have to stay aware of what’s going on. If you’re feeling too stressed to make adequate decisions now, you definitely need some extra help to take some of the load off your shoulders.   If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in San Marino, CA , please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388