Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-Related Macular Degeneration | A good thing about age-related macular degeneration is that it doesn’t lead to total blindness, even if not treated. The bad thing is that it can diminish the eyesight of the seniors so much that they’re no longer capable of taking care of ordinary living tasks on their own.

The best way to battle age-related macular degeneration is to do all in your power to prevent it. This goes double for the seniors who have the family history of this condition. When it comes to prevention, it’s all about a healthy lifestyle.

To prevent this condition from occurring, people are advised to embrace the following habits:

• Eat a diet that’s rich in healthy fats
• Take vitamin and mineral supplements
• Exercise regularly
• Choose walking instead of driving when not in a hurry
• Say goodbye to smoking and excessive drinking
• Keep blood pressure levels in check

On top of everything, it’s also important to have your eyes checked on a regular basis. If diagnosed in time, this condition can be slowed down or even reversed. However, if left untreated, age-related macular degeneration can have horrific consequences on the eyesight of the sufferer.

In the cases of severe age-related macular degeneration, the patient is usually incapable of living on their own any longer. This is why many seniors suffering from this condition decide to move into a nursing home. Others ask their family members to help them out.

The problem is that neither of these two solutions is good enough. The best thing you can do for your senior is hired professional home care providers like those from Comfort Keepers. This senior home care agency offers services specially designed for age-related macular degeneration sufferers. With the help of the home care providers, the senior will be able not just to learn how to live with it, but also maybe even reverse its symptoms.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

Senior Driving

Senior Driving | Comfort Keepers are home care providers from Calgary, AB who have a lot of experience in dealing with everything related to seniors and their wellbeing. That is why they’re the voice of reason which you need to hear if your senior loved one is still a keen driver.

Here are some tips these home care providers have for you in order to improve the driving safety of your senior loved one:

• Encourage them to stay physically active – Only if they can move their arms and legs properly without any pain will they be able to react in the right manner while driving. Also, regular physical activity promotes brain health, so your senior will be able to retain their driving reflexes longer.
• Encourage them to do medical checkups regularly – Your senior needs to have their eyes and ears checked on a regular basis, perhaps even more frequently than suggested by their physician.
• Show them how to take advantage of modern tech – If your senior isn’t familiar with all the perks of having GPS, you need to show them how to use it. Also, why not introduce them to apps that can provide them traffic info at any given moment.
• Adjust their car – If your aging loved one is still driving their old car, maybe it’s time to replace it. Or at least make some changes to make it easier to drive. For instance, if their car has manual gearshift, it’s time to replace it with an automatic.

There you have it – a couple of expert tips on how to improve your senior’s driving safety. For the end, Comfort Keepers have an ultimate advice for you. Instead of letting your senior drive on their own, why not hire someone to help them out with transportation?

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help with Senior Driving 

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

Home Care Services Can Help With Rehab

Home Care Services Can Help with Rehab | Recovering from a knee/hip replacement surgery can be really challenging for the patients, especially if they’re in their autumn years. The good news is that there are some ways to speed up the recovery process. Of course, a good rehabilitation program is essential, but even that might not be enough.

Experience has shown that the seniors recover much better from a knee or a hip replacement surgery if they recover in the comfort of their own home. Receiving a post-operative care from a family caregiver means that the seniors get everything necessary to satisfy their physical, mental, and emotional needs.

Unfortunately, being a family caregiver is not an easy job. Before you decide to become one, there are some things you need to know. The list of task you will have to provide is very long, but some of the key duties include the following:

• Arranging a recovery room – The room in which the senior is going to recover from a surgery needs to be large enough to accommodate a hospital bed and accompanying medical equipment.
• Help with medications – In order to recover thoroughly, the senior needs to take proper medication. Your job as a family caregiver will be to ensure they get the right dosage at the right time.
• Wound care assistance – You will also need to provide the senior with wound care assistance in order to prevent it from getting infected.
• Rehab – In order to fully recover from a hip/knee surgery, the seniors need to perform certain exercises as a part of the rehab therapy. Your job is to help them out and ensure they’re doing it properly.

Apart from the duties related to the senior’s recovery, you will also need to take care of some tasks that will ensure their hygiene. You will have to assist the senior with personal hygiene tasks like bathing and grooming, as well as to handle all the housekeeping work.

Home Care Services in Calgary, AB

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

Care after Knee or Hip Replacement for Seniors

Senior Care after Knee or Hip Replacement | Recovering from a knee or hip replacement surgery can be very tough for the seniors. The good news is that there are some ways that can make the recovery process more bearable. Those seniors who receive support and care from family members usually have fewer problems during the recovery period than those who don’t.

So, if you’re planning to become a family caregiver of a senior who’s undertaken a hip or knee replacement surgery, here are some rules you should follow!

Arrange a Recovery Room

This is a task you need to take senior care of even before your senior is released from the hospital. If possible, the recovery room should be on the ground level on the home, with easy access to the toilet. There should be a bed in the room, with clean bedding.

Learn Everything about Medication Management

In order to recover from a surgery, seniors will need to take the right medication at the right time. And it’s your job as their family caregiver to ensure they get take the medication as prescribed by their doctor.

Wound Care

Another task you will have to learn to perform is wound care. In order for the wound to heal properly, it needs to be treated on a regular basis. Some of the things you will have to perform in order to ensure that the wound doesn’t get infected are treating it with solutions prescribed by the doctors, put bandages over it, and so on.

Take Care of Daily Living Tasks

Despite the fact that post-surgery care requires the family senior care caregiver to work really hard, it doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to neglect other tasks. Your senior needs to live in a clean environment, meaning that you will have to deal with daily household tasks, as well.

Provide Transportation

Even though your senior will recover from the surgery at home, they will probably need to go to the hospital from time to time. And it’s your duty as a family caregiver to arrange transportation.

Rehab

As the process of recovery passes, the senior will have to start with rehab exercises meant to bring them to their previous physical state. You will have to encourage them to perform these exercises, even if they may feel difficult or the senior.

As you can see, caring for a recovering senior is a serious work. If you’re afraid that you won’t be able to manage it, a good idea is to hire a professional caregiver to help you out.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help with Senior Care after Knee or Hip Replacement

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

Prevent Heat Strokes in Seniors

Prevent Heat Strokes in Seniors because it is considered one of the most dangerous forms of heat-caused health conditions. It can damage or kill brain cells, as well as cause problems to other internal organs. The heat stroke comes as a result of overheating. It typically happens when the body temperature goes over 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

The seniors are particularly under the risk of suffering heat stroke, as their bodies aren’t great at regulating the heat. Furthermore, many seniors suffer from chronically conditions which can get only worse if overheating happens.

This is why it’s of crucial importance to prevent overheating from happening. If you have a senior you’re concerned about, here’s how you can help them prevent heat strokes:

• Make sure their medications don’t interact with heat
• Advise them to stay inside during the hottest hours of the day
• Keep their living environment cool
• Suggest them to wear large-brim hats when going outside
• Encourage them to drink a lot of water
• Discourage them from doing hard physical work
• Urge them to change unhealthy diet habits and stay away from junk food and alcohol

What If a Heat Stroke Happens?

The key to preventing a heat stroke leaving serious consequences is reacting on time. The soon as you spot that a person is having a heat stroke, you need to react by providing them water and helping them move into a shaded area or a cool room.

But, how are you supposed to know that someone is having a heat stroke? You need to look for symptoms, which include the following:

• Dry and red skin
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Breathing challenges
• Confusion
• Trouble walking

As soon as you spot one or several of these heat stroke signs, it’s time to do your utmost to help the person in trouble. But, even your best might not be enough, which is why it’s of the essence to give a call to the emergency as soon as possible.

If you have any questions on how senior home care can help prevent heat stroke in the summer, please do not hesitate to call us!

In Home Care for Seniors in Calgary, AB from Comfort Keepers

7 Facts about Alzheimer’s Disease | As of June 2018, Alzheimer’s disease is still without a cure. It can’t even be slowed down, although scientists all over the world are working on it. To give them moral support, you can wear purple; to give them material support, you can donate money to the Alzheimer’s Association. Another way to play your part in the fight against Alzheimer’s is to help spread the word about the factors that increase/decrease the risk of this disease.

7 Facts about Alzheimer’s Disease:

1. Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disorder, which means that its symptoms get more severe over time.
2. Almost two-thirds of Alzheimer’s sufferers are women.
3. In some cases, Alzheimer’s is genetically passed down, but genes aren’t always the decisive factor.
4. Our lifestyles have more impact on Alzheimer’s disease risks than our genes. People who smoke, drink, and eat unhealthy diets are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s then those who lead healthy lifestyles.
5. Regular exercise is proven to have a great impact on the brain health and can even prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
6. Watching TV is the only leisure activity that is proven to have a negative impact on your brain. Because it doesn’t make the brain work hard, this activity increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
7. By wearing purple, people are showing their support for the battle against this brain disease.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

In Home Care for Seniors

The Benefits Of In Home Care For Seniors | Is it time for your loved one to have some extra help around the house? Many seniors don’t want to admit that they need help with tasks like cleaning or personal care. But getting high quality in home care for seniors can make it easier and safer for them to remain in their own homes instead of moving into an assisted living facility.

Deciding when to talk to your senior loved ones about getting some extra help can be a sticky subject, often one that many family members of aging adults try to avoid. It is important to understand what the benefits of in home care for seniors really are before introducing the idea to your senior loved one.

First and foremost, there are key differences between home senior care and an assisted living facility or nursing home. This alone may change your loved one’s attitude about whether or not they will accept help. Care in the home differs primarily from assisted living and nursing homes in that the care your loved one receives is in his or her very own home. There is no need to relocate. A caregiver will come into their home (or your home, as the case may be) and will work with your family and senior loved one to make improvements that will allow the senior client to remain at home as safely and independently as possible.

In Home Care for Seniors Can Take Many Forms;

At Comfort Keepers our in home care for seniors is on an as-needed basis: weekly, daily or even 24/7 as the case requires. We are able to provide support to make life for seniors at home easier, such as moving furniture to clear pathways, adding lighting to help aid better sight and avoid falls, and installing handrails and grips to make bathing and movement easier. We are also able to help with daily chores that can bog down a senior and cause messes and dirt to accumulate.

Our expert care providers can assist seniors with laundry and folding, light housekeeping such as vacuuming and dusting, mobility assistance to get up and down stairs, errand running, meal preparation and nutritional planning, transportation to and from doctor’s appointments and much more. Whatever your loved one needs to make living at home a little less stressful, Comfort Keepers Calgary can do it.

Seniors who are struggling with chronic or terminal illness can benefit from residential care services specifically tailored to those needs. Specific care plans, such as post-hospitalization transitional care, Alzheimer’s and dementia care and end of life care, can take a large amount of stress off family members attempting to do it all themselves.

With certain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s or other chronic/terminal illnesses it simply isn’t always possible. Our care services afford families the opportunity to spend quality time together while our care providers take care of the day-to-day details.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help with In Home Care for Seniors

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

Tips for How to Protect Senior Skin

How to Protect Senior Skin | The summer is near and it’s a great opportunity for seniors from Calgary, AB to get out and enjoy the nice weather. Spending time outdoors is definitely good for their health, both physical and mental. However, there’s one bad thing about the hot weather – dangerous UV rays.

In order to ensure nothing bad happens to the seniors, the home care assistance providers need to help them out keep their skin protected from the harsh sun. To do that, they need to provide the seniors with assistance with some of the following things!

Skin Cleansing

The people from the home care assistance team need to provide seniors with the cosmetics necessary for keeping their skin healthy. One of the key things they need is the skin cleanser. We suggest using a mild cleanser as it will cleanse their skin without making it dry.

Skin Moisturizing

Spending time in the sun can result in making the skin red and dry. Not only does this make the skin look unhealthy, it can also make it very itchy. A solution is simple – using a good moisturizer.

Sunscreen

Obviously, the most important part of the senior’s cosmetics’ kit is the sunscreen. It will keep their skin protected from the dangerous UV rays, but only if it comes with a decent SPF (Sun Protection Factor). Although the summers in Alberta aren’t too hot, we still advise using sunscreens with an SPF of at least 20.

Hydrate Often

Home care assistance providers need to watch out for many other health issues that hot weather can cause, apart from the problems related to skin. They need to help out the senior with getting properly hydrated. Otherwise, they can end up suffering from all kinds of serious problems.

By following these guidelines, the seniors will ensure the health of their skin. But, not only that, taking proper care of their skin during hot summer days can help prevent many other serious issues.

Do you have a senior in the family who needs assistance in the home? Contact our office serving Calgary, AB to learn about our services.