When the days become short and the air grows colder, an estimated ten million Americans suffer from what is known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. The reduced sunlight in winter can disrupt our internal clocks and circadian rhythm, leading to fatigue, sadness, and difficulty concentrating. For many seniors, especially ones living on their own, the winter months can bring about a lesser form of SAD, known colloquially as the winter blues.
Many relatives, especially senior loved ones, can be a big blessing. They can be a source of joy as they strive to reach out to their family members through phone calls. However, these calls can be time-consuming, especially with a tight schedule to attend to other duties. In most cases, seniors have many things to discuss, and a single phone call may consume a lot of time. While it is important to avoid long phone calls, people should consider how others may feel if they end the calls unexpectedly. This is why setting aside extra time for long phone calls is important during the holidays.
Many older Americans grew up in a time and culture when smoking was not only commonplace, it was heavily advertised to them and even encouraged, being portrayed as a habit that was glamorous and sophisticated. Pick up a stack of magazines from the 50’s or the 60’s and not only will you see many, many glossy, full page advertisements trying to entice readers into buying cigarettes with beautiful models and exotic locales, you’ll probably be quite surprised to see that many of those advertisements even feature doctors, nurses, and other health professionals lighting up cigarettes while speaking glowingly about the health benefits of whatever particular cigarette brand the ad is trying to sell to you.
We all tend to see the holidays as a fun time of year when we gather with friends, family, and other loved ones to come together and celebrate time honored traditions. We share meals, raise glasses, and enjoy each other’s company and bask in the shared warmth of good cheer and feelings. For many of us, these traditions include favorite and seasonal foods, perhaps with recipes passed down through the family over generations. After all, who doesn’t look forward to things like brined turkey, sweet potato pie, green bean casserole, and other dishes unique to our families and regions?
The aging process changes every part of our bodies, which necessarily includes our finger and toenails. Over time as we age, our nails will get thicker and harder, take longer to grow, and become dull in appearance and brittle in texture. The appearance of our nails can also change as well, where in youth they may have had a clear or shiny appearance, they may become more yellow colored and opaque.
As a caregiver, you will find yourself responsible for many tasks and situations that you may not have encountered in your life before, requiring skills that you may not possess already. When you find yourself in these moments, you may be wondering what is the best way to accomplish certain tasks. If your loved one requires a wheelchair as a mobility aid, assisting them with the use of it and caring for the wheelchair may be one such task.
While we’re all familiar with the basic form of a wheelchair, that is to say, a chair with wheels mounted to the sides to aid in mobility for people who have difficulty or are unable to walk under their own power, most people do not know that there are actually numerous types and designs of wheelchairs, each with their own unique features to serve any number of unique mobility situations.
A poll from the University of Michigan in 2022 found that over half of adults aged 50 or older have helped with at least one care task for another adult over the age of 65. Whether these tasks were health related, personal, or anything else, they all represent a significant investment of time, energy, and emotion for the person giving the care, even if they love their charge very much and have given their help freely.
One of the saddest realities facing us in today’s world is that many senior citizens are unfortunately vulnerable to financial scams. According to a Bloomberg report, the elderly demographic in the United States collectively loses $37 billion annually as a result of scams.
Of all the myriad ways available to keep your brain healthy and supple as you age, one surprising method that few of us might ever think of is video games. While video games have been maligned over the years as a source of concern for parents worrying about their children becoming lazy or mindless junkies, the truth is that a study by the University of Montreal found that subjects who played video games had more gray matter in their hippocampus after playing. The hippocampus is an important part of the brain, as it is primarily in charge of the various memory functions, such as short-term, long-term, and spatial.
For care providers as well as the family members and loved ones of the elderly, it is important to recognize the warning signs of dementia and how to distinguish them from normal changes brought on by the aging process. Dementia is a collection of symptoms that occur due to a variety of diseases. The symptoms include impairment in thought, communication, and memory. There is, unfortunately at the time of this writing, no cure for the disease. The best way we know to combat it is adopting a healthy lifestyle to hopefully prevent it or slow the progression of symptoms.
Home caregivers pay attention to their client’s needs and any changes in their health status, noticing when they are displaying symptoms of high or low blood pressure, and being in a position to provide for them and get them immediate medical help.
While we often ask and also hear the question “How are you doing?”, it’s most of the time just another way to greet someone. Detailed answers to the question, ones that really go into detail about how someone is actually doing, especially in regard to their health, work, or personal life, are rarely expected or given.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, most always shortened to COPD, affects millions of Americans, and is more common in older adults. Research has shown that approximately ten percent of Americans aged 75 or older are currently living with COPD, but the actual percentage may be much higher as many cases of COPD go undiagnosed. COPD is a progressive disease, meaning it worsens over time, and it is one for which there is currently no cure. Fortunately, there are treatments available to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
The sophisticated imaging technologies and data analysis techniques are helping scientists every day to refine what is known about the human brain, and expand their knowledge and understanding to better identify, treat, and prevent diseases and health conditions.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, a time when advocates around the country join forces and come together to highlight and educate people about the various potential causes, symptoms, and treatment options for this insidious disease.
The last thing that any hospital patient and their family wants, no matter the age, is a sudden and unexpected return trip to the hospital or the emergency room. In-home medical care can help seniors released home from the hospital with things like medical treatment, therapy, and help with the essential daily activities of life.
For those of us who are dealing with trouble sleeping, some small comfort can be found in the fact that you’re not going through it alone.
The month of October is Fire Safety Month according to the National Fire Prevention Association. Fires are particularly dangerous to senior citizens, as people older than 65 are twice as likely to die or be seriously injured by a home fire.
Among women, strokes are the third leading cause of death, accounting for killing 85,000 women every year in the United States. While men are statistically more likely to have a stroke, more deaths from strokes occur in women than in men. In fact, 60% of women who experience a stroke will die from it, which is a worrying statistic.
Depression affects people of all ages, and while many of those who suffer from it are those in their advanced years, the fact is that depression is not a natural part of aging.
Most of us have some awareness of the fact that lifestyle choices affect the length of our lifespans, as well as our levels of overall health and independence throughout our later years. Studies have shown that optimism can reduce the harmful effects that stress can have on our physical and emotional well-being.
At Senior Helpers, we have cared for thousands of seniors over the past 20 years. Our caregivers are the key to delievering exceptional care. By choosing Senior Helpers for a loved one, you’re not just getting exceptional care for any of their needs, but you’re gaining a genuine, in-home connection designed to give them the absolute best quality of life.
Fall is known around the world as the harvest season, with countless delicious and celebrated seasonal favorites reaching their peak as the days shorten and temperatures drop. Apples, pumpkins, pears, cranberries, acorn squash, leeks, brussels sprouts, and more are just a few of the crops that will appear in greater numbers in grocery stores and farmers markets everywhere
Humans are social animals, and communication is a fundamental aspect of all human relationships and connections. Unfortunately, as loved ones age and the process of aging takes its toll, all too often communication breaks down and becomes difficult due to the many conditions and disabilities that can afflict the elderly. One such disorder that can sever the lines of communication is Alzheimer’s or other causes of cognitive decline such as strokes or other dementias.