The Elevated Danger of Dehydration in Seniors and How to Help

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Senior woman at home drinking hot drink and smiling at the camera

Seniors are among the group with the highest hospitalizations due to dehydration. Learn how to reduce the risk with these easy prevention methods.

Did you know that almost one half of all older adults are chronically under-hydrated, based on a new scientific study conducted at UCLA? Not just that, but seniors over age 65 account for the highest group of hospital admissions as a consequence of dehydration.

Dehydration can easily sneak up on seniors, who often have a reduced sensation of thirst, may experience medication side effects that cause hydration problems, or who erroneously believe that drinking less will decrease incontinence issues.

Senior dehydration can be extremely dangerous, increasing the risk for health issues which include:

  • UTIs
  • Kidney stones and/or failure
  • Blood clots
  • Seizures
  • Hypovolemic shock
  • And many more

Dehydration can be identified by the following symptoms:

First stages:

  • Reduced amount/darker-colored urine
  • Dry mouth
  • Feelings of weakness, dizziness, and/or lower energy
  • Muscle cramps
  • Irritability

Advanced stages:

  • Confusion and disorientation, including difficulty walking
  • Low blood pressure levels and weakened, faster pulse and breathing
  • Stomach bloating
  • Sunken, dry eyes
  • Skin that is wrinkled with no elasticity
  • Worsened muscle cramps and contractions, and/or convulsions

While we often pay more attention to hydration when the air temperature is elevated, it is important for seniors to consume sufficient fluids throughout the year. A quick and easy formula to find out how much, on average, an older adult should drink every day is to divide his or her body weight by three, and have him or her take in that many ounces of water. As an example, if a senior loved one weighs 180 pounds, he or she would need to have a minimum of 60 ounces of water each day.

Try these guidelines to ensure the older adults you love stay healthy and hydrated:

  • Plain water is best, but take into account other types of fluids, including soup, juice, fruits, and vegetables. Abstain from sugary and caffeinated beverages.
  • Place bottled water, or a small pitcher of ice water and a cup, near the older adult to prompt him or her to sip on it conveniently during the day.
  • Try various temperatures. Sometimes a warmed cup of water is more comforting than an icy one. You may even try heating up juice and other beverages to figure out if they are more appealing, or provide popsicles if needed.

The experienced in-home caregivers at Responsive Home Care are experienced in imaginative techniques to help older adults stay hydrated, and in monitoring fluid intake to ensure adequate fluids are consumed every day. Contact us at (954) 486-6440 to learn more about how we can help enhance the health of senior loved ones with home health care in Davie, FL and nearby areas, in the convenience and familiarity of home. We provide home care services throughout Broward County.

Beyond Weight Loss Resolutions: Meaningful Goals for Family Caregiver Support

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Senior woman backpacking and exploring

Responsive Home Care provides family caregiver support

If you are among the eight percent of Americans who actually accomplish their New Year’s resolution goals, well done! However, if you’re like the majority of us, you have given up prior to even turning the calendar page to February. Although of course it’s admirable to attempt to better ourselves by resolving to get rid of 10 pounds or eat healthier foods, busy family caregivers need support, and there are several truly meaningful, achievable goals that can improve life throughout the year.

Consider these recommendations:

  • Find joy. Taking care of somebody else is a labor of love, but may result in challenges which make it hard to focus on the daily benefits that can spark joy. Take some time each day to pause and discover a reason to smile. Bring a sense of humor to your daily caregiving tasks to share laughter with your family member. Enjoy the feeling of the sun’s rays shining through the window as you’re sorting laundry. Contact a relative who lifts your spirits for a quick chat.
  • See the bigger picture. Make an effort to take one step back from the busyness of your to-do list, and view the effect your caregiving is making. Because of you, your parent can continue living in the comfort and familiarity of home. Thanks to you, life is the absolute best it can be for a senior loved one. Your contribution is priceless and it is making a difference.
  • Compartmentalize. It is extremely important to make mental wellness a priority, and one effective way to cope with the many different responsibilities associated with providing care is to be entirely focused on the present. Visualizing different rooms for different concerns can be helpful; when you start to worry about a planned surgical procedure a senior loved one is facing while watching a film with your kids, visualize setting that concern in its appropriate room until later, and being focused on today.
  • Be kind to yourself. It is very easy to slip into a pattern of wishing you could do more for a loved one, or worrying about errors you’ve made that you wish you might change. Point out to yourself you are human, and that you are doing essential work for the senior you love. Truly appreciate the sacrifices you are making, just as you would take note and appreciate them in another family caregiver.
  • Seek – and accept – help and support. Attempting to be a superhero who deals with everything independently can easily result in burnout and depression. Partnering with others to help a senior loved one is the best way to make sure his / her needs are completely met, while helping you achieve the healthy life balance you need and deserve.

As the leading provider of home health care in Fort Lauderdale, FL and surrounding areas, Responsive Home Care, is the perfect partner for any family caregiver. We deliver highly skilled, professional, and compassionate care for seniors according to each person’s specific needs. Allow us to help! Call our care team at 954-486-6440 and together we can develop a plan of care in order to make 2020 the best year yet – both for the senior in your care, and for yourself. To learn more about all of the areas that we serve in Florida, please visit our Service Area page.

If You’re a Family Caregiver, You’re at Risk for Caregiver Depression

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caregiver depression - home care broward There’s no question that it’s a great honor to care for family we love. Family caregivers experience a closeness and connection with those in their care that generally far outweigh the difficulties. Yet unfortunately there are also difficulties. A continuous to-do list to make certain the person you’re providing care for is as healthy and happy as possible. Household duties and errands to manage. Career responsibilities. The requirements of other relatives and friends. And don’t leave out self-care.

The end result is an often overwhelming degree of stress, that if left uncontrolled, can quickly transform into caregiver depression  or burnout that could manifest in any or all of the following ways:

  • Thoughts of frustration, unhappiness, hopelessness, stress
  • Trouble with falling or staying asleep during the night
  • Lack of interest in previously-enjoyed activities
  • Eating more or significantly less than normal
  • Delayed thinking
  • And if left untreated, suicidal thoughts or possibly attempts at suicide

This short online assessment makes it possible to decide if you may be experiencing depression.

The good thing is, there are a number of easy steps to take to lessen your potential for falling into depression:

  • First and foremost, schedule an appointment with your physician for help
  • Refrain from isolating yourself and ensure an abundance of opportunities for socialization apart from your caregiving relationship
  • Remain active, both physically and mentally, with activities you like: swimming, playing a sport, reading, volunteering with a cause that is important to you

While it could be challenging for family caregivers to carve out the time required for self-care, it is imperative to the wellbeing of both family caregivers themselves and the seniors in their care. And lots of times, family feel as though they need to do it all themselves – after all, they are familiar with the individual much better than anyone else, and frequently it simply seems much easier to manage things on one’s own.

An overly stressed, burned out, or depressed caregiver needs to have trustworthy, reliable support – and the great news is, it is easily available! A professional, home caregiver can provide as much or as little help as needed. Perhaps, for instance, you’d rather continue to make all of the meals for your senior loved one – but would like some help with cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. Or maybe your loved one would feel much more comfortable with an experienced caregiver providing assistance with personal care needs, for example, bathing and using the restroom.

At Responsive Home Care, leaders in home care Broward and the surrounding areas trust, we understand how overwhelming life can feel for family caregivers, and we work with families to develop a strategy of care that meets each person’s individual desires and needs. Let us assist with trustworthy, professional respite care. Reach out to us at 954-486-6440 any time for additional information about caregiver depression.

Taking Care of YOU: Family Caregiver Injury Prevention Tips

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Learn how to prevent experiencing an injury yourself as you care for a loved one at home.

While the ultimate goal is to increase health and safety for the seniors they love, family caregivers, regrettably, oftentimes wind up compromising their very own health along the way. The truth is, an astounding 94% of caregivers in a recently available study carried out by Ohio State University revealed musculoskeletal pain in more than one part of their body – and 66% noted this pain influencing their quality of life.

And know that a “family caregiver” can describe anyone in the family who provides home care assistance for individuals with day to day activities. As reported by the Family Caregiver Alliance, this suggests 34 million Americans are at risk of becoming injured through the home care services they provide.

At Responsive Home Care, we know firsthand the degree of lifting, bending, and weight-bearing necessary in satisfying the care needs of a senior loved one, and that’s why each of our professional caregivers is competent in techniques that safeguard both themselves and the seniors in their care. Injuries might result from even the most basic of tasks that require more physical strength than you might realize: shopping and running errands, cleaning the home, performing laundry chores, cooking, and especially transferring a senior loved one to a chair or bed.

To help family caregivers reduce the chance of injury, we provide the following family caregiver injury prevention tips:

  • Let assistive devices do the lifting. For seniors with mobility issues, transfers, for instance from a bed to a couch, are among the most common factors behind injury to those taking care of them. Not just that, but the likelihood of the senior falling and acquiring an injury are heightened. Caregivers should look into equipment like a Hoyer lift to help with safe transfers (but realize that proper training will be required).
  • Employ safe movement practices. We’ve all heard the adage, “Lift with your legs, not with your back,” but prior to lifting a finger, caregivers should take a brief assessment of their own physical status. If pain is felt in any of the joints or back, it is a sign that the body could have been pushed beyond its capability – and an alternative way of helping your senior loved one should really be investigated.
  • Find help. The best way to try to avoid injury in caregiving is through acknowledging your limitations, and calling in professionals when warranted. The Sunrise elderly care team at Responsive Home Care is fully experienced and skilled in supplying a full range of senior care assistance, helping family caregivers and older adults alike to stay safe and well.

Contact us and our Sunrise elderly care team at 954-486-6440 to inquire about an in-home consultation. We can perform a safety assessment of the home, provide you with information that can help in your caregiving journey, and offer the highly customized, professional home care assistance services that allow families the chance to simply enjoy quality time with the seniors they love.

The Power of Positive Thinking: How to Overcome Caregiver Stress

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Responsive Home Care is the ideal solution to achieve a healthier life balance – both for family caregivers and the older adults in their care.

Our facial expressions reveal so much to people around us, and when you are experiencing an abnormal degree of stress, well-meaning friends will certainly notice it, perhaps encouraging you to essentially, “Cheer up, buttercup!” In reality, of course, it requires a lot more than a few words to turn our mood around and to help us overcome caregiver stress.

Recent research supports the idea of positive thinking as a method to decrease levels of depression and anxiety which occur when we are flooded with stress – something essential for busy family caregivers to take to heart to reduce the possibility for burnout.

Judith Moskowitz, lead psychologist in the research project who subsequently created a course to overcome the unpredictable manner of emotions so frequent in individuals providing care for a senior loved one, says, “We’re not saying don’t be sad or upset about what’s going on. But we know people can experience positive emotions alongside that negative emotion, and that positive emotion can help them cope better.”

The primary techniques in her program include the following:

• Keep a journal of things for which you’re grateful – including the small things.

• Identify at least one uplifting event every single day.

• Talk about this occurrence with your family on social networks.

• Establish one new goal every day, and keep track of your progress in achieving it.

• Identify one of your talents and contemplate how you’re making use of that skill.

• Undertake one daily simple act of kindness for another.

• Think about a negative event, and then discover a way to view it in a positive light.

• Practice focused breathing and mindfulness to bring back a sense of calm.

For those of you providing care for a loved one with dementia, the need to concentrate on positives can be much more vital to overall wellbeing. Family caregivers who participated in a recent five-week study where the effectiveness of these coping skills was evaluated documented a decrease in depression scores of 16%, and a decrease in anxiety of 14%.

In addition to the strategies above, it is necessary for family caregivers to stop isolating themselves and trying to manage their caregiving duties solo, which can very quickly bring on caregiver burnout along with other significant health problems. Partnering with an established Sunrise elderly care, like Responsive Home Care, is the ideal solution to help in achieving a healthier life balance – both for family caregivers and the older adults in their care.

Life is indeed stressful, but we are ready to help! Contact Responsive Home Care, the leader in home health care in Pembroke Pines, and let us help you overcome caregiver stress so that you can concentrate on self-care and good quality time with those you love.

Top Tips to Use Your Time Wisely at the Doctor

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doctor visits for seniors - senior care company ft lauderdale

At Responsive Home Care, we’re always available to help seniors through medical appointments and procedures in a variety of ways.

On any particular day, a physician usually has close to 20 patients to see – in addition to calls, paperwork, and other administrative duties. It leaves precious little time spent with each person, which is why it is essential to take advantage of that time and ensure you clearly understand the outcome of doctor visits for seniors.

At Responsive Home Care, our caregivers provide accompaniment for seniors to medical appointments, and suggest the following strategy:

• Don’t be reluctant to ask questions. With such a time crunch, your physician may tend to communicate information to you quickly, that’s why it’s up to you to hit the pause button to make sure you fully comprehend everything that is being said and to speak up with any questions you may have, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant it may seem they are.

• And, strategize in advance for those questions. It can be tricky to absorb everything being shared with you in the couple of minutes spent together with the doctor. Preparing a list of problems ahead of time will help ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Several questions to consider include:

  •  Exactly what are the long and short term effects of my condition?
  •  What could be the reason for this disorder?
  •  Is there a remedy?
  •  Where may I obtain additional resources?
  •  Will I need any medical tests?
  •  Are there any kind of possible negative effects from those tests?
  •  When can I receive the test results?
  •  What medications exist to help with my health problem?
  •  What are the potential adverse side effects of these drug treatments?
  •  Are there any kind of lifestyle changes I ought to think about making?

• Take excellent notes. Bring along paper and a pen, or utilize the notes section of your smartphone or tablet, and jot down responses to your questions along with additional information the doctor provides. It may be helpful to have a dependable family member or professional caregiver from Responsive Home Care with you during the appointment to make sure all things are understood.

• Include other medical experts. Bear in mind that although the information provided by the physician is important, other individuals within the senior’s medical team could possibly offer valuable insight as well: nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, dieticians, physical therapists, etc. Check in with these professionals for additional assistance with carrying out the doctor’s guidelines if warranted.

At Responsive Home Care, a top senior care company Ft. Lauderdale and the surrounding areas trust, we’re always available to assist seniors through medical appointments and procedures in a variety of ways, as well as to help carry out doctors’ recommendations after returning home. We’re able to provide accompaniment to appointments, medication reminders, preparation of meals that are in adherence with any prescribed dietary plan, and many other tasks to ensure optimum health for seniors. Contact us online or call our care team at 954-486-6440 for more information about how to make the most of doctor visits for seniors!

Broward County Family Caregiver Common Stress Point: Making a Mistake

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Partnering with an agency like Responsive Home Care can reduce the trepidation and anxiety in managing care at home successfully.

“Of course Grandma can move in with me!”

Increasingly more family caretakers are making this commendable choice every day, signifying the beginning of lifestyle changes they can only truly have an understanding of once immersed in them. And even though the positive aspects of providing care for an older parent are immeasurable, they’re not without a variety of dilemmas as well.

It might seem second-nature to take care of daily activities for a senior loved one; yet it’s not quite as intuitive as it seems initially. As an example, helping a senior in the shower or bath the wrong way may lead to a fall. Poor incontinence care could cause skin damage and infection. Noncompliance with a prescribed dietary plan can lead to a variety of health problems.

It is not a surprise that in a newly released report shared by AARP, “Home Alone Revisited,” a lot of family caregivers mentioned anxiety over the possibility of making a mistake in the care they provide. The study features responses from a survey sent to over 2,000 family caregivers, who revealed that although they believed their care was making it possible for their family members to stay at home instead of moving to an assisted living or nursing home setting, they expressed anxiety over their experience to do the tasks needed.

Respondents in the study divulged that the most emotionally frustrating element of caregiving is incontinence care. And, nearly ¾ of family caregivers surveyed are regularly performing medical duties in relation to pain management – tasks for which they wished they had obtained better training and recommendations from the senior’s medical care team.

Heather Young, dean emerita at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California, Davis (and co-author of this report) explains that, “Too often (family caregivers) are unprepared and do not get the support they need to assume these important roles.”

Asking for help and training in unfamiliar tasks is critical for family caregivers. Those who partner with an established in-home care provider, such as Responsive Home Care, can reduce the trepidation and anxiety in managing care at home successfully. Our team in home health care in Coral Springs, FL are professionally trained in the countless intricacies of aging care, and can provide family members with valuable guidance and education. We also offer trusted, reliable respite care services that make it possible for family caregivers to step away from their care responsibilities while knowing their senior loved one will be safe and well cared for.

Call our team in home health care in Coral Springs, FL at 954-486-6440 or contact us online for a free in-home consultation to find out more.

Workers Are Leaving Jobs Due to Imbalance in Employment and Family Caregiving Responsibilities

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Shot of a thoughtful businesswoman looking out of an office window

Holding down a job and being responsible for family caregiving can create stress on employees. Find out more here.

Not long ago, actor Rob Lowe brought family caregiving into the foreground by discussing his journey of caring for his mother and the impact it had on his own life. He said, “When you’re caring for a loved one, there’s nothing you won’t do to give them as much comfort and peace of mind as you can possibly provide. Often that means you’ll skip your social obligations, wreck your diet, suffer sleep deprivation, and even risk your career.” Read more

Top Tips for Supporting Someone With Dementia

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Senior women at home.

If you’re supporting someone with dementia and feel like you’re in uncharted territory, use these guidelines from our Sunrise elderly care experts.

At times, the greatest lessons in life come from going through them firsthand; yet the information we can discover from those who’ve traveled a similar course before us is priceless. If you are providing care for a loved one with dementia and beginning to feel a bit bogged down in this uncharted territory, the guidelines below might help: Read more

It’s Time to Put Aging in a Positive Light

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Senior couple having fun riding motor scooter.

Put a positive spin on aging with these tips from the experts in senior care, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

A quick Google search for the term “aging” returns topics such as “coping with aging,” “what you can do about aging,” and even “the cure to aging.” The negative connotations to aging are, regrettably, so embedded within our culture that it is forecasted that by 2021, we’ll be spending over $300 billion in anti-aging products.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the issues that could be realized in getting older – health concerns, the passing of friends and family, and cognitive issues – what’s getting lost in the shuffle are the incredible gains of growing older. Consider, for instance:

  • A recent report by Stony Brook University revealed that senior loved ones are more content overall, with reportedly declining feelings of anger and anxiety in old age.
  • Socialization and conflict resolution skills are superior in later years, reported by research performed by the University of Michigan.
  • In a game aimed to induce and examine regret, seniors outshined their younger counterparts with their ability to manage emotions.
  • And according to Cornell sociologist Karl Pillemer who surveyed 1,200 elderly people, the consensus was that the past 5 or 10 years were indeed the happiest of their lives. “Many people said something along these lines: ‘I wish I’d learned to enjoy life on a daily basis and enjoy the moment when I was in my 30s instead of my 60s,’” Pillemer shares.

Not only that, but retired adults are able to explore and realize hobbies and talents without having the time demands of younger, employed adults, which can lead to a renewed zest for life, new social ties, and enhanced bonds with existing friends and family.

Responsive Home Care helps highlight the advantages of the aging process in many ways. Instead of simply coming in and executing tasks that a senior loved one can no longer complete, we identify the person’s particular skills, empowering her or him to follow new pursuits with the encouragement of a friendly caregiver.

Whether it’s learning a new skill or language, taking a vacation to a long-desired destination, committing to get physically healthier, or whatever a senior’s goal, we are available to give motivation, transportation and accompaniment, and a number of other services to help your loved one thrive and live life to the fullest.

Help your senior loved one identify and accomplish brand new dreams! Contact the home care experts at Responsive Home Care by calling 954-486-6440 and requesting an in-home assessment to find out more.