10/4/2021 0 Comments Top home care assistance in Brookline and Boston, MA: Take care of seniors during the wintertimeProviding home care assistance to a loved one during the winter Home care assistance in the Brookline and Boston MA area is especially helpful during the winter months. Seniors will often need extra attention during colder months due to being more physically susceptible to the cooler temperatures, becoming isolated and homebound, and falling on snow or ice. Before the snow and frigid temperatures show up, you can keep your loved one safe by implementing some winter preparation strategies as soon as possible if you are not there when the weather worsens. Winter health concerns for seniors As you can imagine, the risk of falling is increased over the winter due to snowy driveways and slippery sidewalks. There is also the risk of hypothermia due to the body’s decreased ability to regulate internal temperature as we age. Other diseases and disorders such as hypothyroidism, severe arthritis, and Parkinson’s disease can also harm the body’s temperature regulation. How to prepare seniors for the winter You can help your loved one get ready for the winter with the following tips:
Home safety 101 Much like spring cleaning, you should take the time to winterize your loved one’s home by focusing on these areas: Handrails: You should consider installing handrails if there are none in place already when your loved one needs to navigate an entryway that may be slippery. Windows and doors: Be on the lookout for any cracked or worn seals. You can use a kit to insulate any drafty windows. Carbon monoxide and smoke detectors: Test the alarms to check if all the batteries are working. Trip hazards: You should remove any rugs from the entryways of the house to lessen the chance of falls. Canes and walkers: Replace any tips that are worn that can reduce traction. Home care assistance in Brookline and Boston, MA: always have an emergency plan The best home care assistance will keep you and your loved one safe. The best way to do this during the winter is to have a plan for any emergencies. If for any reason, you can not check in with your loved one due to an emergency or illness, you can arrange to have a trustworthy and reliable family member or agency to help. Be sure to create a list of all emergency contacts and give them to your loved ones so they know who they should call if they need any help. TeamCarer provides team and technology-based care for in-home seniors who need daily living assistance such as bathing, grooming, dressing, personal hygiene, medication reminders, and other care needs. We are a local home health aid services company, with service areas in Boston, Brookline, Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Dedham, Westwood, Norwood, Medfield, Walpole, Canton, and Sharon. Contact us today to get started.
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9/23/2021 0 Comments Elderly care providers in Brookline MA: tips on how to care for loved ones with dementiaElderly care providers are here to help care loved ones with dementia Elderly care providers in the Brookline and Boston MA area know that it can be a stressful, long, and intensely emotional journey when caring for a loved one with any form of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease. But you are not alone in this journey. There are more than 16 million people who are taking care of a loved one with dementia around the country, and millions more in other places around the world. Since there is no cure for dementia, it can make the biggest difference to the quality of life for your loved one by being cared for and supported by a family member. It can be a complicated task to take care of an aging parent, especially when dementia care is involved. Your loved one may resist your care and behavioral and cognitive changes from dementia can be unpredictable. The most important thing that you first need to understand as the caregiver of a senior with dementia is the disease itself. Alzheimer’s disease is the one form of dementia that has the most pronounced stages. It is a progressive condition, this means that, as time goes on, the severity of symptoms will increase. Here are some important details to consider when taking the role as a caregiver for a loved one with dementia: Establish a positive mood for interacting with your loved one You can communicate your thoughts and feelings more strongly than your words will through your body language and attitude. You can establish a positive mood by talking to your loved ones respectfully and pleasantly. You can use your tone of voice, facial expressions, and physical touch to help to convey your message to them and show your feelings of love and affection. Reduce challenges and frustrations
Make the home safer You may need to make some changes to your loved one’s home in order to reduce fall risk when they are transitioning from the mild to the moderate stage of dementia. You can provide them with a comfortable home, with an added layer of safety, by using a lot of patience and a little resourcefulness. You can start by assessing their home and seeing any possible hazards, prevent any catastrophes around the home, such as in the kitchen, and keeping emergency numbers close by. Don’t forget to take care of yourself You must take time to take care of yourself when taking care of a loved one with dementia. You will not be able to help your loved one if you become too frustrated and tired. If you find yourself needing a break you can try asking for help from friends, family, and community organizations. You can also consider looking for caregiver support groups to give you some good ideas about how to make things easier for yourself. Elderly care providers in Brookline MA: rewards of in-home care Top elderly care providers know that caring for your loved one in their home can take a lot of effort, however, it can also bring some valuable benefits. This form of care will mean that your loved ones can stay in the community and home that they have built for themselves. This will also create a sense of stability and comfort. Staying in their home will give your loved one a greater sense of being independent. But the proper measure must be put into place to reap these benefits and make sure that they stay safe and, more importantly, supported through this tough time. TeamCarer provides team and technology-based care for in-home seniors who need daily living assistance such as bathing, grooming, dressing, personal hygiene, medication reminders, and other care needs. We are a local company, with service areas in Boston Metro, Metro West, Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, and Needham. Contact us today to get started. 9/16/2021 0 Comments Elderly care services in Brookline and Boston MA: How a doctor can prevent fallsElderly care services: how can a doctor prevent your loved one from falls? Elderly care services in Boston and Brookline MA can help your loved ones live comfortably in their own home. Part of this service involves the prevention of falls. In our previous post, we talk about five simple things you can do to prevent falls at home and how exercise can help too. Another place that your loved one can get help is at their doctor’s office. Throughout the year, one out of three seniors will fall, but less than half of people that have experienced the fall will speak with their doctors about this situation. Falls are the number one cause of injuries such as cuts, hip fractures, as well as serious brain and head injuries that can be fatal. A fall can also be so frightening to your loved ones that they may choose to avoid certain activities out of fear that they will fall again. Even when not injured, you and your loved one should speak with a doctor during the next checkup because this can be a sign of a problem with their medications or eyesight or a new medical problem. But what else can a doctor do to help prevent a fall? Review medication The purpose of reviewing the medications that your loved one is taking is to identify any medications that are possibly increasing the risk of a fall. When the medications have been identified, the doctor will work with you and your loved one to try to reduce or eliminate the use of the medication. This process is known as “deprescribing”. During this medication review, your loved one and their doctor will need to reconsider the medications and be sure that the benefits of continued use will outweigh the possible risks. Monitor blood pressure When standing from a rested position and experiencing a sudden feeling of weakness and buckling in the knees is the result of low blood pressure known as fainting. When your loved one’s blood pressure isn’t high enough to move blood to the brain efficiently, the brain will sense this warning and take the necessary action. Your loved one’s doctor can recommend a blood pressure cuff to keep an eye on their blood pressure and ensure that they aren’t doing anything that is too strenuous while their blood pressure is at a low level. Fall risk assessment There are three questions that a doctor should ask your loved one about falling, including: Do you feel unsteady when standing or walking? Have you fallen in the past year? And are you afraid of falling? Answering yes to any of these questions will make your loved one a good candidate for a fall risk assessment. Afterward, the doctor should evaluate the chances of falls through a brief screening. Elderly care services in Brookline and Boston MA: get a personalized plan Elderly care services can work in conjunction with a plan that has been put into place by the doctor after identifying any risk factors and determining ways to address them. Extra care should also be taken when your loved one has been prescribed any new medications or when returning home from the hospital due to any possible feelings of weakness, exhaustion, or disorientation. TeamCarer provides team and technology-based care for in-home seniors who need daily living assistance such as bathing, grooming, dressing, personal hygiene, medication reminders, and other care needs. We are a local company, with service areas in Boston Metro, Metro West, Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, and Needham. Contact us today to get started. 9/9/2021 0 Comments Elderly home care in Brookline and Boston: can a reverse mortgage be used to pay for homecare?Elderly home care: how can your loved one take advantage of a reverse mortgage to pay for care at home? Elderly home care options can be expensive. As your loved one ages, one of your, or theirs, biggest concerns might be determining how the in-home care that is needed will be paid for. The chances are good that at some point during their lifetime, no matter how independent they are, your loved one might need to hire someone to take care of them. A reverse mortgage is an option that your loved one can consider as an option to cover the expenses of in-home care. What is a reverse mortgage? A reverse mortgage is a mortgage loan, usually secured by a residential property, that enables the borrower to access the unencumbered value of the property. The loans are typically promoted to older homeowners and typically do not require monthly mortgage payments. However, it’s important to remember that since a reverse mortgage does not require you to make regular payments, the equity of the home is reduced in proportion to the amount of cash that is received. When borrowing funds through a reverse mortgage you can choose between fixed or adjustable-rate reverse mortgages and the funds are generally tax-free. Here is a link to a reverse mortgage calculator. What can the money be used for? The funds from a reverse mortgage are first used to pay any loans that have been taken out against the home. Afterward, the funds can then be used however you choose. For example, the funds from a reverse mortgage can be used towards the payment for long-term home care expenses, including:
Typically, to cover these costs, Medicare and Medicare supplements are often expected to cover these expenses, however, they will often not cover the full amount, or they will only cover the price for basic care and not any special services. This is what makes a reverse mortgage so attractive. Elderly home care in Boston MA: is this option right for you? Elderly home care can help your loved ones live a better life and while a reverse mortgage won’t be a good fit for everyone, the income generated can help your loved one stay in their own home for longer and afford the proper care that they need. TeamCarer provides team and technology-based care for in-home seniors who need daily living assistance such as bathing, grooming, dressing, personal hygiene, medication reminders, and other care needs. We are a local company, with service areas in Boston Metro, Metro West, Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, and Needham. Contact us today to get started. 8/27/2021 0 Comments Good home-based senior services in Brookline and Boston MA can be difficult to findHome-based senior services: how to communicate with a loved one who is hard of hearing Home-based senior services in Brookline and the Boston MA area can be difficult and sometimes even frustrating when trying to communicate effectively with someone suffering from hearing loss. Seniors can experience a terrible toll on their quality of life due to feeling isolated and withdrawn from social situations when experience hearing impairment from aging. Many seniors who are experiencing hearing loss benefit from the use of assistive devices such as hearing aids, however, not every type of hearing loss will have the same results from this type of treatment. Fortunately, there are ways to help improve the performance of listening and hearing through the use of proper techniques for communication. Communication isn’t always easier when hearing loss is less severe It isn’t necessarily easier to communicate with someone who is experiencing a mild hearing loss. As a matter of fact, this can be harder if the family members have higher expectations that are along the lines of, “Well, they can still hear well enough. So, I don’t have to do anything differently.” Also, it can be easy to assume that having a cochlear implant or wearing a hearing aid is a cure, but they are not. This can be especially true when in a group having a conversation in a place where there is a lot of background noise. The best way to determine how to communicate with an older loved one is to understand that each situation and person is unique and a teamwork approach will work. Ask your loved one what is their preferred way to communicate. What will be the most effective, easiest way? If their hearing loss is recent, it may be frightening for them and they may not know which form of communication works best for them, just do your best to let them know that’s ok and be patient. Tips that you can try together There is a lot that can be done when you have a loved one to help them communicate, such as:
Home-based senior services in Brookline and Boston MA Home-based senior services for senior family members are possible, however, at the same time, it can appear overwhelming. If you have a loved one that you believe has a worsening or new hearing problem, suggest that they visit their doctor to test their hearing, offer solutions, and suggest techniques to communicate better in order to help them navigate their social situations and keep their normal quality of life. TeamCarer provides team and technology-based care for in-home seniors who need daily living assistance such as bathing, grooming, dressing, personal hygiene, medication reminders, and other care needs. We are a local company, with service areas in Boston Metro, Metro West, Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, and Needham. Contact us today to get started. |
AuthorTeamcarer offers technology-enabled team-based care for in-home seniors who need daily living assistance such as bathing, grooming, dressing, personal hygiene, medication reminders, and other care needs. Archives
November 2021
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