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Month: October 2022

Companion Care at Home Can Help Your Mom Run Errands

Posted on by Craig Bass
Companion Care at Home in Leesburg FL
Companion Care at Home in Leesburg FL

When your mom learns she’s no longer a safe driver, she’s going to be frustrated. She might even feel sad that she’s losing her freedom to come and go as she wants. Companion care at home can step in to help your senior parent with transportation and much more.

Transportation Services From a Home Care Agency

When your mom has a caregiver available for transportation, she has someone else to drive her around. Plus, she’s not alone while running errands or attending meetings or appointments.

Each week, your mom likes to purchase groceries and pick up household supplies while she’s out. It usually means a trip to a grocery store and a discount retailer. Once a month, she also has prescription refills to pick up at the pharmacy. If she needs clothes or shoes, there are additional stops to make.

With a companion care aide, your mom has someone else available to drive her where she needs to go. Her caregiver can carry bags for her and move them from the cart to the trunk. At home, her caregiver will bring everything inside and put items where they go.

Your mom has a series of medical appointments coming up. It’s the time of year when your mom’s mammogram, yearly check-up, and bone density screening are due. While it would be convenient to get these appointments scheduled in one office at the same time, that’s not possible.

She has three appointments, plus it’s been ten years since her last colonoscopy, so she also has to schedule that. She needs someone available to drive her to each appointment and bring her back home. Her caregiver can take her, wait until she’s done, and bring her home.

Other Benefits Available With Companion Care

What other services are available with companion care at home? Here are just a few of the many services that companion care at home offers:

Meal Preparation

Does your mom still cook meals or is it challenging for her? Caregivers can cook meals for her. If she wants to help, she can. But, she may be tired of cooking after decades of cooking meals for her family. That’s fine, she can also sit back and let someone else prepare meals.

Light Housework

Caregivers can clean her home. Your mom is happy dusting and washing windows, but she has a very hard time carrying the vacuum upstairs to bedrooms. Have caregivers vacuum for her. They can also do the laundry, change the sheets, and make beds.

Support During Exercise

Has your mom’s doctor told her to stay active? If she walks around her neighborhood or up and down the street, she may not be confident when she’s alone. All it takes is a neighborhood dog to run up and knock her over. Companion care providers  walk with her.

It’s time to make sure your mom doesn’t drive again. Companion care at home pairs her with caregivers who will help her run errands throughout the week. Call a companion care at home specialist to learn more.

If you or an aging loved one is considering companion care at home in Leesburg, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.

Helping Seniors Deal with Self-Neglect

Posted on by Craig Bass
Home Care in Center Hill FL
Home Care in Center Hill FL

There are many campaigns to educate the public about signs of elder abuse and neglect from other people. However, the often unrecognized reality is that seniors frequently neglect themselves. You will hear this being referred to as self-neglect and it can become extreme, and you may not know how to help your senior parent. First, if you live far away and you are only able to visit occasionally, it is essential that your elderly loved one has support from home care providers. Home care agencies provide multiple types of professionals who can help a senior age in place. Many seniors are choosing to age at home where they are the most comfortable. In theory, this sounds good, but self-neglect does happen and it is something that you and home care providers can look for.

Less obvious are the indicators of self-neglect, which some family caregivers may not even be able to recognize. When this occurs, individuals may feel helpless to effectively address the issue with their loved ones. The following are some of the most prevalent and obvious indications of self-neglect among the elderly. There are also suggestions for dealing with the situation.

Understanding the Signs of Self-Neglect

If you see your parents often enough the signs will be clear. They may have stopped taking care of their home and leaving it messy, they may refuse to take medications that they need, or they may not be eating like they used to.

It is crucial to remember that seniors who behave in this manner are not always in perfect control of their behavior, particularly if they are suffering cognitive decline and challenges. In fact, self-neglect is how some family members discover that anything may be amiss with the cognitive health of their loved ones.

How to Address Self-Neglect

It is difficult to inform elderly loved ones that they are not properly caring for themselves. Many elders have spent their whole lives caring for themselves. They may feel violated or assaulted if you imply that they are not doing so presently. So, what can you do?

Be Their Friend

Maybe you are their son or daughter but sometimes when you have an elderly loved one you also need to be their friend. Rather than expressing astonishment, disgust, annoyance, or wrath, it is crucial to be attentive to all conceivable reactions and to inquire about their well-being on a broader scale. It is beneficial to attempt to provide companionship that may lead to observing daily patterns and being able to “remind” the individual of crucial self-care tasks. Sometimes folks just need to know that someone is monitoring their well-being.

Communicate With Them

Even if you can’t visit physically, you should still try to talk to your mom or dad most days. Hop on a video chat with them and encourage them to be healthy even when you’re away. This is a time when you can glimpse at how they’re living too. You should never shame them or judge them for what they’re doing but instead, be kind and supportive.

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care in Center Hill, FL, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Clermont today. 1-888-423-4046.