1776 Senior Care

It is often difficult watching our loved ones age. Their bodies slow down, and the energetic, vibrant person that we once knew becomes weak, tired, and lethargic. They may forget people’s names. They may not remember vacations and experiences that were important during another time in their lives.It is even more challenging to watch a loved one age if their personalities age as well. Maybe they will begin repeating stories or asking the same questions repeatedly. Perhaps they will obsess over a particular scenario or memory.While these behaviors often occur with many forms of dementia, what if your loved one undergoes [...]

Those of you who have had children may remember the first time you left your child with a babysitter. You probably asked friends and neighbors for recommendations of caregivers they trusted. You may have interviewed the caregiver and asked for references. Perhaps you even performed a background check on the prospective employee.Finding a caregiver for a senior citizen in your life may feel similar to the time when you were hiring a babysitter. This may be especially true if your loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. How can you find a person you trust to help care [...]

Whether you are planning for the future or need to find a senior care agency for your loved one as soon as possible, the process of finding someone to come into your parent’s home can be stressful and intimidating.Yes, you know your parent needs additional help now, but how do you find someone you trust enough to become provide daily care for your family member? How can you ensure that your aging family member will be treated with love and respect while receiving the help that he or she needs? Do you try to hire a person on your own, or [...]

We have all seen the headlines concerning the growing number of Americans who have developed diabetes over the last decades. Right now, the Center for Disease Control says that over 100 million Americans are living with either diabetes or pre-diabetes.  Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2015. Those numbers are increasing instead of decreasing.Does your elderly loved one have diabetes? Are you sure that your loved one is monitoring and treating the disease on his own? How do you know? Your elderly loved one may say he or she is “eating fine” and that [...]

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. Even though the numbers are hard to determine, it is estimated that between three to fourteen percent of the elderly experience anxiety disorders. Researchers first thought that the rate of anxiety increased with age, but new studies are showing that those who have anxiety as a senior citizen probably had anxiety as a younger adult as well.Sometimes older adults have anxiety based on stressful situations. Perhaps your loved one has lost a friend or relative. Maybe he or she feels anxiety over decreasing health or increasing isolation. Maybe your [...]

If you or your loved one is facing a hip replacement surgery, you are in good company. More than 2.5 million Americans live with an artificial hip. While your surgeon will educate you on what to expect before, during, and immediately after the hip surgery, he or she may not have talked to you about what your life will be like for months after the surgery. During this time, you will need special care to ensure that you or your loved one will recover completely. Prepare the Home Ahead of Time If you have the luxury of scheduling your hip replacement [...]

Elderly UTI is a major issue facing aging Americans. More than half of American women are intimately aware of the symptoms of a urinary tract infection. A woman suffering from a UTI feels a burning when she urinates. Even if she feels an intense need to urinate, there may be very little urine that comes out when she tries. The urine that is produced may be dark colored and have a peculiar smell. Once a woman has a UTI once or twice, she can usually diagnose the infection quickly upon having the symptoms and immediately head to the doctor’s office to [...]

Are you concerned that your elderly loved one may have pneumonia or some other lung-related illness? You are right to be concerned. According to the American Thoracic Society, over 50,000 Americans die from pneumonia each year. It is important to know the early warning signs of pneumonia to help your loved ones. For senior citizens, contracting pneumonia is especially dangerous. Pneumonia leads to death more often than any other hospitalized illness. Become informed of the early warning signs of pneumonia so you can keep the senior citizen in your life as healthy as possible. Early Warning Signs of Pneumonia for Seniors The [...]

If your elderly loved one suffers from Parkinson's disease, you need to know about what you can expect when hiring a home care agency to provide Parkinson's care. In this article, we go over what you need to know about Parkinson's care, the disease itself and the challenges that Parkinson's caregivers from a reputable home care agency must overcome. What is Parkinson’s Disease? Parkinson’s is a degenerative, neurological disease. It affects neurons in the body that produce dopamine. While the most common symptom of Parkinson’s is that the patient suffers from tremors, it also causes the patient’s limbs to become rigid [...]

How do you know when it’s time to hire in-home care for your family member with Alzheimer’s? Will you know? Most caregivers have a story about the moment they realized that their parent couldn’t be left on his own anymore. Maybe it was the time when your dad went outside on a cold day and couldn’t figure out how to get back in the unlocked house. Perhaps it was the day your mother didn’t recognize you and became scared when you entered the home. Maybe you had a scare when your mom took too much of her daily meds. Maybe your [...]