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Author: Craig Bass

4 Great Dog Breeds for Seniors

Posted on by Craig Bass

Has your elderly parent expressed a desire to adopt a dog? October is National Adopt a Dog month, sponsored by the Humane Society since 1981. It encourages people seeking out pet ownership to consider adopting a dog rather than purchasing one from a pet store or private breeder. Many dogs need to be adopted and they cover every type of breed. While sometimes finding the exact breed your parent desires may be a bit of a search at shelters, it is possible.

Different breeds of dogs can vary in temperament, maintenance, energy, and compatibility so before you take the plunge into being a dog owner, your parent should do a bit of research on what breed of dog may be best for the type of life he wants to provide the dog. While your aging parent can always get help from you and perhaps a home care provider, in the end, he will be the one mainly responsible for his new dog staying happy and healthy.

Let’s look at some top breeds for seniors and why they can be a great fit.

Shih Tzu

Topping the list is the adorable little Shih Tzu. Usually weighing around 10 pounds, these sweet little dogs are great lap dogs and are happy to snuggle with your parent on the couch or chair almost all day. They are also often very good with guests and visitors. They do require a lot of grooming so your parent will need to be prepared to groom and care for this dog’s coat. A home care provider can help with brushing when visiting but your parent will still need to pay for regular groomer visits.

Maltese

This is another small lap dog. Malteses are very good at understanding and reacting to people’s moods and are often used as therapy dogs because of their sweet demeanor. They don’t shed at all but do require regular grooming and daily walks. Having to provide a dog with daily walks is also a great incentive for your parent to get out and exercise as well. When the weather is too cold or too hot, he might want to have a younger family member take the dog for a walk on those days or even have a home care provider do it.

Poodle

Poodles are intelligent dogs that can be easily trained to follow rules. They also have a huge eagerness to please. It makes them happy to make you happy. Poodles come in three different sizes from the very small toy poodle to the much larger standard poodle, which can weigh up to 75 pounds. It can be a great option if your parent doesn’t want a smaller dog.

Bichon Frise

Back to small dogs, the bichon frise is a wonderful dog for seniors. They are not high energy and just love to curl up beside a person and keep close to their person. They make sure your parent will never feel alone because they don’t like to let their owners out of their sight!

These are just a few suggestions but in the end, it’s up to you and your parent to determine which is the best dog for him.

Source
https://www.forbes.com/health/healthy-aging/best-dogs-for-seniors/

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care in Cave Creek, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!

We Love Visiting Our Wonderful Clients!

Posted on by Craig Bass

Hello Senior and caregiver communities. I thought I would share a personal thought. For me, there is one thing that is hands down the best part of the job. I will go see any client anywhere at any time as it is my favorite part of what we do. The responsibility of taking care of clients is a very serious honor for us and can be stressful at times depending on the situation. To our clients, all seniors and all caregivers, we love you and we are here to help whenever you need us. Just like this picture included, when you contact us, we will come out to see you and it doesn’t matter where you are. Best wishes to all of you.

Managing Vertigo in Seniors

Posted on by Craig Bass

If your parent has been complaining about the room spinning or feeling unsteady on her feet, she might be suffering from vertigo. Vertigo is a symptom of various things that could be occurring in a person’s body and causes someone to feel dizzy and off-balance while having a sensation that the room is spinning around. It can be a bit frightening the first time it happens, but vertigo is generally not serious.

Vertigo tends to occur more often in women and those who are over 65. If you are caring for an elderly parent, she might find herself experiencing vertigo at some point because 40% of the population will get a spell of it occasionally. Most attacks only last a few seconds or minutes and are often compared to motion sickness, where the room seems to be rocking, spinning, or tilting.

Some common vertigo causes can be:

  • Migraine headaches.
  • Some medications.
  • Prolonged bed rest.
  • Stroke.
  • Arrhythmia.
  • Diabetes.
  • Head injuries.
  • Shingles in or near the ear.
  • Peri lymphatic fistula (when inner ear fluid leaks into the middle ear).
  • Hyperventilation.
  • Low blood pressure (orthostatic hypotension) – a condition in which blood pressure decreases when a person stands up.
  • Ataxia, or muscle weakness.
  • Syphilis.
  • Otosclerosis (a bone growth problem affecting the middle ear).
  • Brain disease.
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS).
  • Acoustic neuroma.

If your parent is suffering from consistent vertigo, finding the cause of this nauseating symptom will be very important. There will be several tests your parent’s doctor can do to help determine the exact cause.

While caring for an elderly loved one, one of the biggest concerns may be your loved one stumbling and falling when vertigo sets in. It may be beneficial to hire an elder care provider to be on hand to assist your parent in household chores when vertigo sets in or help your parent traverse up and down the stairs, and even across the room when the vertigo is strong.

There are also several precautionary steps your parent can take to prevent or lessen the onset of vertigo.

  1. Your parent should take her time standing up, turning her head, and making any other movements that may trigger vertigo (such as looking up quickly). An elder care provider can help her stand up slowly if vertigo sets in.
  2. When vertigo sets in, sitting down as soon as she feels dizzy will help reduce the risk of falling. She should grab the elbow of someone who is around and have them walk her to the nearest seat and see if she can wait out the vertigo attack.
  3. Sleep with her head elevated by two pillows. Some vertigo attacks are triggered when lying prone in bed and can make getting out of bed difficult. If your parent still lives alone, even if she has an elder care provider come by during the day, she’ll need to develop techniques to get out of bed safely in the morning. The two pillow trick may prevent the vertigo from even setting in.
  4. If something needs to be picked up, encourage your parent to squat to pick it up instead of bending over.

Source
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21769-vertigo

If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Phoenix, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!

5 Tips to Make Help More Appealing to Your Senior

Posted on by Craig Bass

Bringing up the idea of extra help to your senior might get you a surprisingly negative reaction from her. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t need help, of course, but it does mean that you need to approach the conversation about home care assistance carefully.

Let Your Senior Know You’re Concerned and Want to Help

A common issue for aging adults when it comes to the topic of help is often that they don’t want to burden the people that they love and they don’t want to upset anyone. So what happens is that they refuse offers of assistance and muddle through on their own, to varying degrees of success. What matters is that your senior understands that you genuinely want to help her, so share that with her in a way that only you can.

Be Clear that You’re Not Trying to Take Over

While you’re talking through all of this with your aging family member, you need to be very clear about the fact that you’re not trying to take over. Many aging adults experience assistance as a code word for losing independence and having no choices offered to them. That is not a healthy situation for your elderly family member to be in and it’s not a healthy way for you to be a family caregiver, either.

Talk about What Types of Help You’re Considering

It can be very helpful to talk with your senior about the types of help you’re considering and why. If she bristles at the idea of home care assistance, for example, she needs to understand how that type of care is going to be helpful for her and for you. Home care providers can handle a great many tasks that make your senior’s life easier and safer, which is your ultimate goal for her. Go over the ways that you’ve found this type of help can benefit her the most.

Make Options Available Instead of Ultimatums

If you tell your senior that home care assistance is coming in and she has no choice in the matter, that’s probably not going to go over well. Instead, offer options as much as you can. Make home care assistance a trial option, for example, with your senior having a say in whether she truly does find their help useful. Giving your elderly family member ultimatums may get her to agree with you, but at the cost of your relationship with her.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be a Bit Vulnerable

It can be so scary to be a family caregiver. Don’t be afraid to share that with your elderly family member. She may find it helpful to understand why you’re campaigning so hard for some extra help, for instance. And understanding that you need help and time away to handle other responsibilities can help her to see that home care assistance is truly something that makes everything better in the long run.

It isn’t easy to ask for help or even to accept it at times, and that’s definitely true for your senior. Don’t give up on the conversation if she’s still digging in her heels but try to understand where her feelings are originating so you can compromise.

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in Phoenix, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!

Creating a Safe Space for Seniors with Memory Diseases

Posted on by Craig Bass

In creating a safe space for someone with a memory disease, here are a couple of things you should keep in mind. Routine is good. If we can keep the care receiver in a routine of doing very similar things on a daily basis, it may become habit and therefore somewhat easier for the care receiver to mimic. Routine is very helpful for people who have different types of memory issues.

As falls are so important for seniors to eliminate and people with memory issues can struggle with balance and walking at some point, it is important to keep walkways open and unobstructed. When you have walkways open and free, the care receiver can see where to place their feet and they can see if there is a hazard in the way. We recommend that rugs are taken up and that cords are moved to the perimeter of the room as to not cause a tripping hazard. Anything smaller than a two feet square should be removed from the floor if possible.

Additionally, oven and stove monitors are recommended. It is not uncommon for a care receiver to turn on a stove or oven and completely walk away never to return to check on it. The care receiver has a brain disease causing a memory issue. The care receiver should not have use or access to the stove or oven. It also extremely important that the care receiver does not have access to car keys. The care receiver can literally get into the car, drive 200 miles away without an accident and have no idea they have done so. They wont know where they are. Where they live and frequently they cant remember the names of the people they live with. This type of situation can be tragic if not monitored.

Lastly and most importantly the care receiver needs is patience and dignity. They will repeat themselves. They will not remember everything. And frequently, the words they remember most and easiest are the nasty words. We always advise our caregivers that they person is not being nasty. It’s the disease being nasty. The person has no control over what they say and how they say. Especially if they’re sundowning which has nothing to do with the sun.

These are just a few of the issues and opportunities to assist a person with a memory issue or brain disease. For more information, please visit us at GoldenHeartScottsdale.com.

Keeping the Senior Mind Active

Posted on by Craig Bass

Memory loss is a normal part of becoming older, but it doesn’t always mean you’re at risk for developing Alzheimer’s or another kind of dementia. There are many things you or a loved one can do to maintain or even increase memory and cognitive abilities as we age. With the aid of mental workouts and games, you may develop neuroplasticity within your brain. Neuroplasticity refers to our brain’s ability to evolve and adapt to new experiences or data. To maintain our neuroplasticity in good shape, we must regularly do mental workouts. If your senior needs help in developing a routine, it may be time to look into hiring in-home care for your loved one.

It is possible to categorize mental activities as either skill-developing or skill-retaining. Studies show that one of the best ways to keep our minds active and growing as we age is to continuously learn new things. Your senior loved one may also have difficulty remembering skills or talents they formerly had, which is essential for maintaining a high quality of life. If your senior is struggling to remember skills or how to do basic things like getting dressed, they may need in-home care to help around the house so they can age in place. Here are some other things to remember about keeping the mind active:

Pick Up An Instrument or Paintbrush

To challenge your brain, learn a new skill, particularly a more difficult one. It’s never too late for your older relative to learn anything new if they’re willing to put in the effort. Learning new skills may not only improve one’s cognitive abilities, but it can also keep a person engaged and motivated. Taking a pottery class near you might be a great way to keep your mind fit and motivated simultaneously.

Stop Using a List

Our smartphones and shopping lists make it difficult for us to practice “recall,” a key mental element. The best technique to improve your memory is to practice recall in tiny, non-threatening ways. Allow yourself to be guided by your memories and imagination by having a loved one tell you about their childhood house or pet.

Practice Using All Senses

Learning and remembering are tightly linked to our senses; therefore, using our senses may help us stay engaged and ready to learn. Fortunately, there are many methods to experience the senses in your own house. You and your loved ones may appreciate new aromas, textures, and flavors together if you encourage them to assist you in the garden or cook something new.

Keep Moving No Matter How Old You Get

In addition to exercising your mind, don’t overlook the advantages of exercising your body. Moving your body not only alleviates stress and elevates your mood but also improves the amount of oxygen sent to your brain, resulting in better neuroplasticity and a lower chance of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If you’re looking to improve your mental and physical health, non-stressful activities like going for a stroll around the block or listening to your partner’s favorite music might help.

Source
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/cognitive-health-and-older-adults

If you or an aging loved one is considering in-home care in Chandler, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!

The Importance of Fall Prevention for Seniors

Posted on by Craig Bass

Hello Community,

A very important thing in our lives is fall prevention. A lot of people don’t realize falls is the leading cause of death in seniors over 65. I just read an article that really discussed the importance of preventing falls. I am including a link to this article below. Please review this article. It may help you prevent a loved one or yourself from unnecessary injury. The steps to preventing in home falls is easy and worth the energy it takes to prevent them. Please enjoy this article on Fall Prevention.

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/prevent-falls-and-fractures

Hospice of the Valley Visits Golden Heart Senior Care Scottsdale

Posted on by Craig Bass

We had a speaker in our office the other day from HOV. I would like to thank SS for taking the time to come to help us understand how we can better serve their clients and represent their company as we work for them and their clients. Having said that, there is a particular topic of condition that is really making it’s way to the forefront of senior care. That topic is dementia. Having said that, we would like to share some information and resources. Please read the attached article. Please feel free to phone Golden Heart Senior Care if you have additional questions. The phone number can be found below. Please see the article on the link below.

https://www.hov.org/news/news-stories/caring-for-a-loved-one-with-dementia/

How Does Senior Home Care Keep Your Senior Safer?

Posted on by Craig Bass

One of the biggest benefits of bringing in senior home care for your family member is knowing that she is going to be safer than she would be if she were alone. But how do home care providers make life safer for your senior? Turns out that there are a lot of different ways to contribute to safety as your senior ages in place.

Assisting with Household Chores

Household chores take a lot more out of your senior as she ages than even she might realize. She may be spending a lot more time and energy doing things that someone else can help manage. This allows her to do the things that she truly needs and wants to do.

Offering Help with ADLs

Another group of tasks that may be getting more difficult for your senior could include ADLs, or activities of daily living. These are tasks that everyone does every day, like getting up from bed, grooming, getting dressed, and more. If your elderly family member is experiencing difficulties with these tasks, home care can help.

Ensuring Your Senior Is Eating and Drinking

Without proper nutrition, your elderly family member is going to experience bigger health issues than she might expect. Dehydration is another huge concern. With help from senior home care, your elderly family member is more likely to remember to drink water and other fluids while also eating healthy meals and snacks.

Offering Companionship

It’s also important for your senior to socialize with other people, even if she says that she doesn’t want to be around people. Crowds may not be the answer, of course, but having caregivers stopping by to assist with other tasks can make a big difference for her. Elder care providers help your senior to beat loneliness and avoid isolating herself or developing depression.

Watching Out for Safety Hazards

Safety hazards abound for seniors, and if your aging family member has someone there with her to watch out for problems, she’s going to be a lot safer in general. Some of the things to watch for are tripping hazards and other issues, like forgetfulness, that could cause your senior to experience dangerous situations. Senior home care can alert you to those conditions so you can resolve them for your senior.

Keeping Family Caregivers Informed

In general, the more informed you are about how your senior is doing on a daily basis, the easier it is for you to put together a care plan that works for her needs. It’s also a lot easier to adjust her routines as needed, because you’re more aware of what is truly helping. If you don’t live near your senior, you may not be able to see her in person as much as you would like. Senior home care ensures that you know what challenges your elderly family member is facing.

The safer your senior is, the easier it is for her to live the life that she wants to live. You’ll also feel more comfortable knowing that your elderly family member is in good hands.

If you or an aging loved one is considering senior home care in Mesa, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!

Caring for a Loved One with Dementia

Posted on by Craig Bass

Hello Dementia Community. As we all learn to care for a loved one with dementia, information can help us understand the why’s that we do not understand. It is important to understand that dementia is a condition of the brain. People will act differently than normal. People will say things that are surprising to loved ones. This is all a part of the condition and what is happening. Please read the attached article below. This article gives some insight into what is happening to the person who has dementia. And please remember, if the person with dementia doesn’t remember us, we still remember them. Have a great week.

https://www.hov.org/dementia/dementia-resources/understanding-behaviors/