Caregiver Tips
A collection of post to provide valuable information to caregivers and provide tips that will help in day to day care.
Could Safety Be Compromised for Your Aging Parent? Implementing This Plan Can Help
Watch for these red flags that competency is diminishing in a senior loved one.
The first signs might be so subtle that many people wouldn’t even notice that anything is amiss. Mom is extroverted, friendly, and conversational while visiting relatives and friends and while running errands. But those closest to her are beginning to detect concerns: being forgetful about the soup cooking on the stove, resulting in a scorched pan. Placing her keys in the cookie jar. Neglecting to pay bills. Continue reading
After an Alzheimer’s Diagnosis: The Two Most Common Treatment Options Available
Discover the top treatment options currently available for Alzheimer’s and how they work.
The latest Alzheimer’s data is sobering. The disease has become the 6th leading cause of death, rising above both breast cancer and prostate cancer together. And though deaths from many other chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular illnesses, are decreasing, those from Alzheimer’s have jumped in excess of 100%. The toll the condition takes on family caregivers is likewise astonishing, with more than 16 million Americans delivering over 18 billion hours of caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Continue reading
Can Your Marriage Survive the Strain of Senior Care?
Providing senior care can be stressful on a marriage; learn tips to help here.
In marriage we agree to stick with each other for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health – but what doesn’t come up during our vows to one another is how to deal with the increasing needs of senior care as our parents age. Continue reading
How to Help Seniors Around You Avoid Loneliness and Isolation
How to help seniors with the dangers of loneness and isolation through personal care assistance Alaska families deserve.
With more than 325 million people living in the US alone, it is difficult to envision that senior loneliness is so far-reaching. Regardless, more than 50% of all the elderly live by themselves, and over a million… Continue reading
Knowing When to Step In: How to Avoid Being a Helicopter Child to Aging Parents
Learn when to allow senior independence in this article from the Alaska senior care experts.
We’ve all heard of helicopter parents, particularly when a child goes off to college. Truth be told, we possibly may be guilty of hovering a little too closely ourselves. Discovering that optimal balance between caring and overstepping our boundaries isn’t… Continue reading
Alaska Home Care Tips for Seniors: How to Avoid the Holiday Blues
Check out these simple tips to help a senior avoid the blues this holiday season.
Ah, the holidays: they’re sometimes the most wonderful period of the year, or perhaps the most challenging. For some older adults who have lost family members, are struggling with chronic medical conditions, or are experiencing isolation and loneliness, the holiday… Continue reading
Stop Falls Before They Happen at Home with This Fall Prevention Checklist
Learn how planning for a fall can actually help prevent one.
Falls involving the elderly are all too frequent and may have serious consequences. Taking precautionary measures is crucial, such as assessing the home for fall dangers like throw rugs along with other trip and fall hazards, insufficient lighting, and an absence of appropriate grab… Continue reading
Is Senior Care Leave a Benefit Employees May Have Access to in the Near Future?
Are employers starting to take notice of a need for senior care leave?
Businesses have long understood the necessity for new mothers or fathers to take some time away from their career to focus on the many needs of a new baby, but what has been acknowledged much less is the equally important need for… Continue reading
Navigating Difficult Family Dynamics as a Family Caregiver
How do you overcome childhood hurt when caring for a senior parent? Learn tips in this article.
When caregiving for a family member, it can be challenging not to let difficult family dynamics get in the way. For people who have been brought up by caring parents who took care of all their needs, providing… Continue reading
3 Things NOT to Say to Someone Experiencing a Health Crisis
Learn what commonly used sentiments are better left unsaid when a loved one is facing a health crisis.
Have you ever walked in to the office or a get-together with friends or family and had a person say to you with great concern, “You really look tired today!” Even though you may have been feeling… Continue reading
Solo Agers: Do You Have a Designated Senior Planner?
Baby boomers without children, or solo agers, have to consider different options for their later years than those with children.
If you are a baby boomer without children, the new term “solo ager” applies to you. This strong and self-reliant group faces some distinct concerns in aging, chiefly who to designate as guardian and decision-maker in the event that they become unable to do so themselves. Inside her book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, author Sara Zeff Geber, Ph.D. defines several senior planner options to consider: Continue reading
Know the Risks Before Trying Alternative Supplements for Alzheimer’s Disease
Always get the doctor’s approval before trying anything new.
As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That could very well pertain to the recent influx of corporations touting alternative supplements, dietary programs, and herbal concoctions in order to cure, or at the very least minimize, the ramifications of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association would like to advise us, however, to go forward with caution when looking into treatment ideas for a loved one with dementia – and always get the doctor’s approval before trying anything new. Continue reading
Can Surgeries Lead to Cognitive Impairment in Seniors?
POCD takes place in more than 25% of seniors in the days and even weeks just after non-cardiac surgery.
Undergoing surgery for seniors always involves some inherent risks, but there is a little-known effect impacting a significant number of seniors following surgery that we all must be aware of: POCD (postoperative cognitive dysfunction). POCD takes place in more than 25% of seniors in the days and even weeks just after non-cardiac surgery, and may present with a variety of symptoms, several of which can be almost indiscernible: forgetfulness, loss in concentration and focus, along with other kinds of cognitive impairment that affect quality of life. Continue reading
Essential Caregiver Tips from Our Senior Personal Care Team, Matanuska-Susitna, AK
Learn the skills you need to provide better care for your senior loved one.
If you’re providing care for a senior loved one, it is possible that you fell into the responsibility with no formal training: you saw the need, and gallantly came forward to satisfy it. Yet, at Midnight Sun Home Care, thorough training… Continue reading
Communicating with Alzheimer’s: Is It OK to Bend the Truth?
Is it OK to bend the truth when communicating with someone who has Alzheimer’s disease?
Very early on, we learn the tale of George Washington’s mishap with the cherry tree along with his bold admittance to his parents, “I cannot tell a lie; I chopped down the cherry tree!” Truthfulness is integrated in our character,… Continue reading