Guest Blog: 10 Signs Your Aging Loved One Needs Support at Home
It can be difficult to see your parent or relative age. At one time, he could do anything. Now, it seems as though age has gotten the best of him. If you’ve seen changes in your loved one due to age, he may need extra help at home. The following are some of the most common signs of someone who is in need of a nurse or senior caregiver.
#1: Unkempt Home
If there has been a drastic change in the way that your loved one keeps his home that may be a sign he lacks the energy or physical ability to pick up and clean. Extra support at home can ensure that your loved one lives in a healthy, safe environment.
#2: Missed Medications
Forgetfulness is common in older individuals. Missing medications can lead to withdrawal and the return of symptoms of medical problems. It can lead to more serious problems as well – stroke, heart attack, etc. Help at home can remind your loved one to take medications as prescribed.
#3: Missed or Canceled Medical Appointments
Forgetfulness and the inability to drive to appointments can lead to failing health. A senior care worker can provide transportation and encouragement to attend all medical appointments.
#4: Body Odor
Just as cleaning and picking up the home can be physically demanding, taking a shower or bath is too. With someone in the home, your loved one can get the assistance needed to get into the shower and out of it to keep him clean and feeling refreshed.
#5: Sudden Change in Weight
Medical problems can cause lost pounds, but not being able to cook healthy meals can be the reason as well. Since it can be difficult to cook when feeling tired or lacking energy, someone in the home can make sure that he has meals ready or set up a meal program that gets food delivered on a schedule.
#6: Problems with Mobility
Balance and walking can be hard as people age, and this can lead to falls causing serious injuries. Help with completing daily tasks can reduce the risk of falls.
#7: Confusion or Uncertainty
This can cause a lot of distress for your loved one. Have someone there to lend an ear or explain something that doesn’t make much sense can calm the anxiety of your loved one to improve his quality of life.
#8: Depression
Losing interests in hobbies or activities he used to enjoy could be a sign of depression that can lead to many other problems. Having a caregiver provide support and encouragement can help your loved one feel better or get the mental health he needs.
#9: Mail Piling Up or Unpaid Bills
It can be easy to forget to pay a bill from time to time, but if it becomes a habit, it might be a good idea to have someone help with going through mail and managing bills. This is one of the services that senior care workers provide in addition to helping with other daily tasks.
#10: Diagnosis of an Age-Related Medical Problem
Alzheimer’s or dementia can cause a loved one to forget or engage in risky behaviors. Having someone by your loved one’s side most of the day can help minimize the risk of him hurting himself.
Your parent or relative may have taken care of you for many years. Now, it’s your turn to care for him. Home care can help you do that. Look into the many options available if your loved one exhibits any of these symptoms.
About the Author:
Kendall Van Blarcom is a licensed marriage and family therapist providing personal consulting to seniors who need someone to talk with to improve the quality of their lives. More information can be found about personal consulting at http://www.kvanb.com.
Guest Post: “Hitting a wall” – Why it is the biggest risk of marathon caring.
Running a marathon is one of the toughest things that you can do. Doing the full 26.2 miles requires grit, determination and a bit of luck. Luck in the sense that it reaches a point along the marathon whereby your will to run is gone and all you can do is hope that your body doesn’t give in. You require a lot of energy to run a marathon but the fact that it is a competitive event makes it difficult for stop and snack up. You, therefore, have to do with the food reserves stored in your body. The problem with this, however, is that the body can only store a limited amount of food reserves. This reserve is depleted way before you complete the marathon and it is at this point that the “wall” appears.
The wall.
To provide you with the energy to run, food is broken down to supply you with this energy. The primary food item that broken down to generate energy is carbohydrates since it requires very little oxygen to do so. When you are running, you let in very little oxygen into the blood stream and that is why carbohydrates are broken down first. The body can hold about 2000 calories of carbohydrates at any given time and this reserve can only last up to the 20th mile. From this point, the body turns to the fat deposits in the body for energy generation. Breaking down fats to produce energy generates a lot of waste products and this contaminates your interior. It also requires a lot of oxygen but since you are not taking in enough air, the body resorts to burning your muscles to generate the needed oxygen. This has the effect of making you feel like you are pulling a heavy load with your feet. Since your body is concentrating on generating energy, your focus shifts from running to this activity. You, therefore, find it difficult to concentrate on running and those who are not of strong will find it easy to give up.
Marathon caring and ‘The Wall”.
Aging brings with it a lot of challenges and at some stage in life, we would be expected to take care of our loved ones. It could be our parents, grandparents or other family members. Most would think that it will only be for a short period of time but the truth is that it usually stretches several years and this is what makes it a marathon. Taking care of another person is very challenging and it will overwhelm even those claiming to be strong willed. It requires that you feed, clothe as well as clean up the person under your care. You are in charge of their medication as well and this means that you have to monitor their pills to make sure they never run out. See how overwhelming that can be?
When compared to a marathon, all these responsibilities represent the various stages of a marathon. It is easier at the beginning since you are all psyched up and full of energy. It gets difficult with time as your ‘energy reserves’ are depleted and your enthusiasm fades. At this point, it is only a matter of time before you ‘hit the wall’.
The wall of a marathon caregiver.
The wall to a marathon caregiver represents that point when you see your dependent as a burden. This is that point when you are no longer excited to see those in your care. The wall is a very difficult point since it could see you neglect those in your care.
Keeping the wall at bay.
There are a few things that you can do to keep the way at bay. The first thing is to understand the course and this entails understanding your dependents better. If they have any illnesses, get to understand them as this will make it easy for you to manage them. Learn how to take care of old people and you can do that by checking out care homes near me. This will make you a better care giver and better equipment to avoid the wall.