Senior Care Blog

The holiday season is full of celebrations, parties, gatherings, and activities. But for an older family member, holiday outings require a little advance planning. Follow these tips from Hillendale Home Care of California to savor fun and relaxed outings with loved ones of all ages this season.

New Year’s resolutions: we love to make them, and can’t help but break them. Perhaps you’ve been motivated to eat better, lose those stubborn ten pounds, quit a bad habit, or exercise more regularly; but life has a way of disrupting our best intentions, and this is especially true for those acting as family caregivers for an elderly loved one.

What feels better than sinking into a warm, relaxing bath at the conclusion of a lengthy, frantic day? While a lot of us relish the wonderful comfort that a bath brings, for seniors, especially those struggling with the challenges of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, this time in the bathroom can be filled with anxiety.

How could something that’s so comforting and relaxing, like a nice, warm bath, be one of the greatest dangers to seniors? The truth is, combining slick surfaces, slippery shampoo and very warm water creates the perfect storm for a fall danger – one of the most severe risks to older people.

The advantages of exercise don’t diminish as we age, and it’s extremely important for elderly adults to keep up as active a lifestyle as possible. Even people who are bedridden or wheelchair-bound have a full range of elderly exercise routines available to strengthen, improve resistance and flexibility.

Stepping into a routine exercise program is challenging at any age. Exercising is tiring. We don’t want to spend the time. We’re feeling sore from yesterday’s workout. We’ve all made excuses like these for putting off working out; but frailty and advanced age make it even harder to stick to an exercise program.

Although there is no cure for multiple sclerosis (MS), hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. are living with it – roughly 400,000 people to be exact, and of that, 86 percent list fatigue as the number one symptom of their disease. The cause of MS is not known; it is not contagious or known to be directly inherited, but the multiple sclerosis facts we know so far show us that the following factors come into play...

In the words of Jane Austen, “There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” And for someone living with multiple sclerosis, comfort is imperative, as is safety. If your loved one has been diagnosed with MS, the first step in caregiving should be to make the necessary modifications so the home is a safe, comfortable sanctuary, and not a dangerous place.

Despite what many believe, diabetes is not a one-size-fits-all condition. Because the risk factors, symptoms and treatments can vary widely between type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes, the senior care professionals at Hillendale Home Care provide the following explanation to help make it easier to understand the different types of diabetes.