Archive for October, 2018

Nutrition is know to interact with the process of aging in many ways. Nutrition problems of the older population are increased due to susceptibility to chronic disease, decreased organ function which may affect digestion and absorption, metabolism, and excretion of nutrients. Eighty percent of people over 65 suffer from at least one chronic disease and nutrition is an important factor on there prevention and recuperation from the disease.

Caloric needs change with aging due to a greater percentage of body fat and lower percentage of lean muscle. Decreased activity can cause further decreases in calories. The challenge is to meet the same nutrient needs as when younger but consuming fewer calories. The answer to this is to choose nutrient dense foods. Protein needs are not thought to change for the elderly, although protein requirements may vary due to restrictions or disease.

Reducing the overall fat content in the diet of an elderly person is reasonable , it is eating no more than 30% of daily calories from fat is desirable. Carbohydrate intake should comprise 60% of the calories. Emphasis should be placed on complex carbohydrate. Glucose tolerance decreases with age and lower refined carb intake puts less stress on your body. Dietary fiber intake is also recommended , and with adequate fluid intake you can achieve normal bowel function. Fiber is also thought to reduce inflammation of the intestines. Veggies, fruits , grain products, cereals, seeds, legumes, and nuts are all good sources of dietary fiber.

Water is the most important and serves many essential functions. Adequate water intake reduced stress on the function of kidneys, which kidney function tends to decline with aging. Consumption of 5-8 glasses of water every day can be beneficial. Aging people do not realize that they are thirsty and can easily become dehydrate and water intake should automatically occur and should not wait till you feel thirsty. It is important that diets planned for the elderly have proper fluid intake.

As the body ages food may not seem as appetizing or smell as appealing due to loss of smell and taste. If an elderly person is told to cut down on salt or sugar food may not be as good to them any more because they need extras for taste. Loss of vision may impair cooking with aging . An elderly person may not know how to read food prices, nutrition labels or may forget how to cook or have fear to cook. These losses are not usually complete but may affect ones ability to eat healthy.

The need for electrolytes, sodium, and potassium can be altered in the elderly when drugs are used to control certain diseases such as hypertension or heart disease and diet should be modified to fit those needs. The fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body and usually it is thought that the elderly are at lower risk of fat soluble vitamin deficiencies. There is a risk of vitamin A toxicity and vitamin D defiecenicy due to low intake of dairy products. Of all the minerals iron and calcium intakes have been reported to be low in many elderly. Eating a wide selection of foods, including calcium rich foods and low fat diary products is the best advice.

Nutritional assessments are often done by health care providers because it can help determine is symptoms a patient has is a nutritional deficiency. Overall for any age group, selecting foods from a wide variety which can be eaten and enjoyed is what is important.

Opting for elderly care at home entails various safety considerations on your part to ensure that you are not posing any threat to their health and safety. Due to the lack of coordination and reduced sensitivity to their environment, elderly individuals also lack the capacity to assess the features on their environment on whether it poses hazard on them. Hence, the responsibility lies mainly on the caregiver to constantly keep an eye on them.

About Safety Issues

When talking about safety issues involved in elderly care, it does not refer to the incapacity or inefficiency on the part of the elderly care provider. Instead, it focuses on the reduced capacity of aging individuals to performing daily chores or activities independent of any help. Therefore, providing assistance on whatever task an elderly individual needs to accomplish is extremely important not just to ensure that the task is accomplished but that they do it without harming themselves in the process.

Aside from the safety features within your house, you also need to consider their physical ability to do such activities. For instance, an aging person could be in danger of falling or sliding off when trying to walk towards an object or through a door. Hence, you need to guide them safely through that. These are just some of the most basic safety concerns involved with elderly care.

Safety on Medications

Most elderly individuals with in-home care take medications for certain health conditions that they are experiencing. Therefore, medication safety is another major concern when it comes to elderly home health care. Here are some tips to avoid complication involved with medications that an aging person must take during home care:

Verify with your doctor when taking vitamins or other supplements along with other medications that the doctor has issued for your elder parents. This will help avoid possible complications.

Take the medication as prescribed by your doctor to get maximum results. If possible, avoid missing doses.

If you cannot afford a particular medication, be truthful to your doctor. They can suggest generic brands that will help produce the same results with less the financial burden.

Keeping Your Home Safe

Most elderly individuals insist to obtain the same level of freedom and mobility that they are used to. Therefore, when this case happens to your parents during home care, you need to assess the level of safety within your home. Be open and flexible in your approach such that you do not cause any real threat to the elderly individual’s safety within the house.

One important thing you need to establish if you want to ensure their safety is your firmness in your decision when it comes to designing the safety features of the house. If you feel that you need to change the design of the stairs or re-arrange tables inside the house, then do it firmly. Place rugs in strategic places that will help avoid the possibility of elder persons slipping from them. Provide switch to lights in accessible spots so that elderly people can easily turn them on when entering a dim room. The shower area or toilet is another important area of the house that must be considered closely when it comes to coming up with safety designs. Accidents often happen in the shower room especially when elderly individuals go there unassisted.

Transportation Safety

Transportation is another concern regarding safety for elderly care. Most aging individuals are incapable of walking unassisted, or without using any walking or transporting devices. When your elderly parents go outside the house, you need to have proper transportation devices for them. Several types of wheelchairs or walkers are available in the market that cater to the transportation needs of elderly individuals, whether they are totally incapable of walking or can walk but needs some form of assistance.

Properly choosing the device to use not only provides utmost convenience for the elderly person but also avoid slipping or falling off.

Click HERE for the 5 WAYS to keep your loved one safe at home.

If you want to stay sharp and in control of your life well into your golden years, there are proactive methods to achieving the mental alertness you need. More and more research is pointing to the fact that physical activity and lifestyle choices have more to do with preventing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other forms of dementia – once thought to be a normal part of aging – than pure genetics. So if you had a parent, grandparent or sibling with AD it doesn’t mean you have to follow the same path.

Statistics gathered from extensive research do point toward a higher risk of developing AD if you had a close relative with AD – as much as 50%, but that has less to do with genes and more to do with following their lifestyle patterns. If for example, your parents were smokers who rarely exercised, you may have developed some of the same destructive habits.

What can you do to break the cycle and prevent AD? Take action and take control today. Even if you are in your 60s or 70s you can reverse some of the damage done to your brain through poor diet, inactivity, or damaging lifestyle choices. Scientists have discovered very recently that the brain has the ability to repair cells and neurotransmitters and improve cognitive function and memory.

It’s Not Too Late to Make A Difference: Start the 5 Steps Today

1. Eat Right. It seems so simple, yet too many people just don’t get enough of the mind preserving antioxidants found in fresh fruits and vegetables. A well-balanced diet, free of diary products and using low fat sources of protein will protect both heart and mind.
2. Supplement where necessary. Many diets lack the nutrients proven to promote brain health. These include sources of essential fatty acids found in fish and specific herbs and minerals that can enhance cognitive function.
3. Exercise. Originally it was thought that exercise increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain cells. This is still true, but a report prepared for the National Institutes of Health states that exercise can also stimulate the production growth factors, which are molecules produced by the body to repair and maintain nerves.
4. Lower Your Cholesterol. Many people with early dementia or AD symptoms may have actually experienced small strokes that damaged the brain’s neurotransmitters. By keeping cholesterol levels in check, the arteries are free and clear of plaque that can cause stroke.
5. Do your Mental Exercises. Keeping up with current events, working puzzles each day, learning and memorizing new information all work to keeping a mind strong and alert. It is normal for people to sometimes forget a name or date, but the more practice recalling such information the greater the brain’s ability to do this throughout old age. In the case of mental challenges, the more you do the more you can push back the clock on cognitive decline.

Five easy steps, when you think about it, can do much to make aging an event to celebrate instead of dread. With age there comes experience and wisdom, and we should all do whatever is within our power to be able to pass that on to the next generation.

Opting for elderly care at home entails various safety considerations on your part to ensure that you are not posing any threat to their health and safety. Due to the lack of coordination and reduced sensitivity to their environment, elderly individuals also lack the capacity to assess the features on their environment on whether it poses hazard on them. Hence, the responsibility lies mainly on the caregiver to constantly keep an eye on them.

About Safety Issues

When talking about safety issues involved in elderly care, it does not refer to the incapacity or inefficiency on the part of the elderly care provider. Instead, it focuses on the reduced capacity of aging individuals to performing daily chores or activities independent of any help. Therefore, providing assistance on whatever task an elderly individual needs to accomplish is extremely important not just to ensure that the task is accomplished but that they do it without harming themselves in the process.

Aside from the safety features within your house, you also need to consider their physical ability to do such activities. For instance, an aging person could be in danger of falling or sliding off when trying to walk towards an object or through a door. Hence, you need to guide them safely through that. These are just some of the most basic safety concerns involved with elderly care.

Safety on Medications

Most elderly individuals with in-home care take medications for certain health conditions that they are experiencing. Therefore, medication safety is another major concern when it comes to elderly home health care. Here are some tips to avoid complication involved with medications that an aging person must take during home care:

Verify with your doctor when taking vitamins or other supplements along with other medications that the doctor has issued for your elder parents. This will help avoid possible complications.

Take the medication as prescribed by your doctor to get maximum results. If possible, avoid missing doses.

If you cannot afford a particular medication, be truthful to your doctor. They can suggest generic brands that will help produce the same results with less the financial burden.

Keeping Your Home Safe

Most elderly individuals insist to obtain the same level of freedom and mobility that they are used to. Therefore, when this case happens to your parents during home care, you need to assess the level of safety within your home. Be open and flexible in your approach such that you do not cause any real threat to the elderly individual’s safety within the house.

One important thing you need to establish if you want to ensure their safety is your firmness in your decision when it comes to designing the safety features of the house. If you feel that you need to change the design of the stairs or re-arrange tables inside the house, then do it firmly. Place rugs in strategic places that will help avoid the possibility of elder persons slipping from them. Provide switch to lights in accessible spots so that elderly people can easily turn them on when entering a dim room. The shower area or toilet is another important area of the house that must be considered closely when it comes to coming up with safety designs. Accidents often happen in the shower room especially when elderly individuals go there unassisted.

Transportation Safety

Transportation is another concern regarding safety for elderly care. Most aging individuals are incapable of walking unassisted, or without using any walking or transporting devices. When your elderly parents go outside the house, you need to have proper transportation devices for them. Several types of wheelchairs or walkers are available in the market that cater to the transportation needs of elderly individuals, whether they are totally incapable of walking or can walk but needs some form of assistance.

Properly choosing the device to use not only provides utmost convenience for the elderly person but also avoid slipping or falling off.

Click HERE to learn about our FREE 100 Point Home Safety Assessment.