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As people get older, their eyes start to change. If you are a family caregiver for an elderly person, it is important that you know how to help them with their aging eyes, and how senior care can help. The tips that are mentioned here today can help your elderly loved one to see better and have fewer eye health issues later on.

Having Glasses Around at All Times

If your elderly loved one has an eyeglass prescription, they need to have their glasses around at all times. Even if their doctor doesn’t require them to wear their glasses throughout the entire day, the glasses should be available for when your elderly loved one needs them. For example, if your loved one decides they want to read a book while sitting on the couch, but they don’t have their glasses, reading the book without their glasses might worsen their vision. If possible, you or a senior care provider can try reminding your elderly loved one to keep their glasses near them at all times.

Wearing Sunglasses and Hats

Since your elderly loved one’s vision is already changing or getting worse, it is even more important that they protect their eyes. Your elderly loved one can do this by wearing sunglasses when they are outside or in a car. They should also wear a hat if they are going to be outside when the sun is higher up in the sky. Both of these things can help to block the sunlight from getting in your elderly loved one’s eyes as much. If your elderly loved one won’t remember to bring their sunglasses or hats places, you or a senior care provider may need to remind them to do this.

Have the Right Types of Lights

In your elderly loved one’s home, they should have brighter lights in the rooms where they are doing activities. For example, if your elderly loved one reads on the couch, they should have a brighter lamp near the couch. This will prevent strain on their eyes when looking at things.

Scheduling Annual Eye Exams

It is important for your elderly loved one to go to an annual eye exam. This way, if there are any worsening vision health issues, these can be caught and treated as early as possible. A senior care provider can provide transportation to and from eye doctor appointments, which can be essential specifically if they have their eyes dilated.

Conclusion

These are some of the tips to help your elderly loved one with their aging eyes. Now that you know what to do to help your elderly loved one keep their vision as healthy as possible, you can share this eye care guide with them.

Sources
https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/healthy-vision/keep-your-eyes-healthy

If you or an aging loved one is considering senior care in Eagan, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Your dad loves pies, but he’s on a low-fat diet. Traditional pie crust is loaded with butter, oil, lard, or shortening. He can still celebrate Great American Pie Month with these tips and healthier fillings.

Start With a Nut Crust

Make your dad’s pies with a ground almond crust instead of a traditional crust. Use a food processor to grind up nuts for the crust or purchase almond flour. To 1 ½ cups of almond meal or flour, add 2 tablespoons of almond milk, a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup, and 2 tablespoons of almond butter. Press that into a pie pan.

Use other nuts like walnuts and pecans in place of almonds. You can also use a mix of nuts if desired.

Make Low-Fat or Non-Fat Fillings

Take your dad’s favorite pies and turn them into healthier pies. Here are a few ideas.

#1 – Chocolate Pie

Does your dad love chocolate cream pie? Cut 13-ounce square of silken tofu into cubes and place in a food processor. Boil 1/3 cup of espresso and pour it over 16-ounces of unsweetened chocolate chips. Place that pan or bowl over a double boiler and stir until the chocolate is melted.

Pour the chocolate mixture over the tofu and puree until smooth Add ¼ cup to ½ cup of honey or maple syrup to sweeten the chocolate-tofu mixture. Pour into the almond crust and let it chill overnight.

#2 – Apple Pie

Peel and slice six apples and place in a saucepan. Add ¼ to ½ cup apple cider for sweetness, a teaspoon of pumpkin pie seasoning, and a teaspoon or two of vanilla bourbon. Bring that mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. If there’s too much liquid, a little cornstarch and extra apple cider can help thicken it.

Simmer the apples for half an hour until they’re soft. Pour the mixture into the almond crust and refrigerate overnight.

#3 – Banana Cream Pie

Bananas are great in that they’re already sweet. Mash four ripe bananas with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 ½ cups extra creamy oat milk. Bring that to a boil and stir until thickened.

Pour the banana filling into the almond crust and let it chill overnight. Top with a non-fat whipped cream before serving.

Does Your Dad Need Help With Meals?

Support your dad at home by making sure he has help preparing healthy meals. If he has never mastered cooking and relies on takeout and frozen meals, elder care services are important.

With elder care services like meal preparation, your dad eats well without struggling to cook. Caregivers cook his meals for him, do the dishes, and can even join him for the meal if he hates eating alone. Call an agency to learn more.

If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Plymouth, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

How is your senior’s vision? If her eyes aren’t as healthy as they could be, that can cause big problems for her in terms of her overall quality of life.

Safety Accessories Just Make Sense

Safety goggles exist for reasons, namely people who have injured themselves in the past. When your elderly family member is doing something out in the yard, goggles or other eye protection is a great idea. But other safety accessories, like sunglasses, can also be important. Try to match up the activity with a proper safety tool whenever you can so that your senior’s eyes are as protected as possible.

Screen Time Is More Damaging than People Think

Brightness levels on screens can help make it easier to read or to see what’s on the screen, but too many hours in a row of staring at a bright screen can be damaging to your senior’s eyes. Wearing glasses that have blue light filters can help quite a bit. Taking a break from screens can also be very helpful. Help your elderly family member to find other hobbies that she can enjoy that allow her to take a break from screens.

Eye Appointments Are Key

When your elderly family member goes to eye exams on a regular basis, her eye doctor is able to spot possible issues when they’re still small. That gives your elderly family member a chance to try treatments that might actually be helpful. Waiting too long might leave her without nearly as many options to do what she can to take care of her vision.

Start Being Mindful about Smoking

Cigarette smoke is harmful in a lot of different ways, but it can also be damaging to your senior’s vision. The smoke is an irritant, of course, but the chemicals in the smoke can also cause problems. Breathing in the chemicals involved in smoking has an internal effect on your senior’s body systems, too, like her vision. If your senior doubts all of this, talking to her doctor and her eye doctor about the effects of smoking may help.

Get More Specific Tips from Her Doctor

There may be other tips that your senior’s doctor can give to her that relate to her specific health needs. Talk to her doctor about what else she needs to be aware of and about what you can do for her as her caregiver. Reviewing her medications regularly is also a good idea, especially in terms of how they can cause her to experience trouble with her vision.

Finding the right plan for protecting your senior’s vision is crucial for her well-being and for ensuring she’s able to do all that she wants to do.

If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in St. Louis Park, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Assessing your seniors needs is a vital part of being her family caregiver. There are a few key areas that you need to focus on, but they can feel overwhelming at first. If you can get help from the very beginning, thats a lot easier for both you and your elderly family member.

Nutritional Assistance and Meal Prep

Getting the nutrients that she needs is vital for your seniors overall health and well-being. If shes relying on prepackaged foods, shes likely not getting the nutrition that she should. Having someone taking care of meal preparation for her can be the perfect solution to make sure that your elderly family member is eating healthier foods more often.

Dealing with Medical Concerns

Health issues, especially conditions that are new for your senior, are difficult to manage at times. Your elderly family member may need emotional support, but more importantly she requires physical support. She may need someone to help her to do things like test blood sugar levels or blood pressure, all of which can be a key part of managing her health properly.

Managing Home Safety

Safety at home involves a lot of moving parts for your elderly family member. There are maintenance issues, like flooring that may need repair, as well as safety devices that might need to be added. Adjusting lighting to compensate for fading vision is just one solution you might need to consider.

Getting Around More Easily

Your seniors ability to get around safely involves multiple concerns, too. First theres the ability for her to walk safely, whether thats with assistive devices like a cane or walker or on her own. If your elderly family member is at higher risk for falling, those assistive devices can help her to avoid that problem. But theres more to getting around. If shes unable to drive, that requires some assistance in other ways.

Taking Care of Hygiene Issues

Can your elderly family member still handle personal care tasks on her own? These tasks involve bathing, toileting, and getting dressed. If those tasks are becoming more difficult, you may need to change how you assist her. This can be a tough adjustment both for your senior and for you.

This is all a lot for a caregiver to manage. Having help from elder care services can make all of these concerns much easier to handle. Find out more about how elder care providers can help you and your senior.

If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Coon Rapids, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Do you live far away from your elderly loved one and need to help care for them? Maybe they need help with their finances, personal hygiene, meal prep, in-home medical care, or other types of care. If this is the case, and you are a long-distance family caregiver, it may be time to hire home care services for your elderly loved one. There are some other things to improve your elderly loved ones care even though you are far away, as well.

Educating Yourself

bigstock-Woman-inside-home-answering-in-89915612-1-300x200 One of the ways that you can help your elderly loved one, even from far away, is by educating yourself. If your elderly loved one has a health condition, learn all that you can about the treatments and care they may need for that condition. If they need someone to help with medication management for that condition, you can get them home care services. You can learn all about the other things that your elderly loved one might need, as well. This may include regular doctors appointments, companionship, lifestyle management, and more. Once you learn what needs your elderly loved one has, you can better help them, even from a distance.

Better Communication

If you are a long-distance family caregiver, you can still help your elderly loved one by having better methods of communication with them. If you dont currently keep in touch with your elderly loved one on a regular basis, it is time to change that. Set up a schedule that allows you to reach out to your elderly loved one at least a couple times each week. Even if you have hired your elderly loved one home care assistance, it is still beneficial for you to reach out to your loved one. You can talk to them just to catch up and to see if they have any needs that arent being met.

Encourage Continued Connections

As your loved one gets older, it is even more important for them to connect with family members and friends. This is going to give them something to look forward to. It is also going to allow others to know how they are doing. If something is wrong and your elderly loved one is talking to multiple people on a regular basis, someone is more likely to catch it. Encourage your elderly loved one to connect with their family members and friends through video calls, regular phone calls, and text messages.

These are some of the ways that you can help your elderly loved one even as a long-distance family caregiver.

Sources
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/promoting-wellness-older-patients
https://www.nutrition.gov/topics/audience/older-individuals

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care in Maple Grove, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Did you know that elderly adults have a higher chance of experiencing a heart attack during the summer? The heat does play a role in heart health and your elderly loved ones body. It is important to make sure that your elderly loved one is properly taking care of themselves during the summer. The good news is that there are some things that you can help your elderly loved one with to help them prevent heart health issues during the summer.

Keeping Hydrated

One of the things that you can do to help your elderly loved one prevent heart health issues in the summer is to make sure they stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water and other fluids is very important. Your elderly loved one should be drinking water and other fluids throughout the day. If they get dehydrated their heart has to work harder to function in the hot heat of the summer. If your elderly loved one cant remember to stay hydrated, you may want to hire a senior care provider to help them do so.

Appropriately Dressing

Another way that you can help your elderly loved one to prevent heart health issues in the summer is to make sure they are wearing the appropriate clothing. They need to dress in light clothing. They should wear clothes that are made of breathable fabric and that are light colors. This will help them to stay cooler when they are in the hot heat. Wicking fabric is another idea for clothing in the summer. This helps to keep the moisture off from the skin.

Know the Signs

Heatstroke is very common in elderly adults. It is important that you, your elderly loved one, and their senior care providers know the signs of heatstroke. During the summer, if your elderly loved one is feeling exhausted, dizzy, confused, disoriented, headaches, nausea, or vomiting, they could have heatstroke. If you feel this is happening with your elderly loved one, 9-1-1 needs to be called immediately. Then, your elderly loved one should be taken to a cooler area and put some water on them to bring down their temperature.

Heart health in the summer is very important. There are far too many elderly adults who are experiencing heart attacks, heatstroke, and other heart health issues during the summer months. Follow the tips above to help your elderly loved one stay safer and healthier during the summer.

Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/heart_attack.htm
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-07-expert-discusses-ways-heart-healthy.html

If you or an aging loved one is considering senior care in Burnsville, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Hydration in any weather is vital. When you’re caring for elderly parents, pay close attention to how much water and other beverages they’re drinking. They may not be drinking anywhere near enough and that will impact their health.

Too little fluids can lead to dehydration. That can damage your organs like your heart and brain. It can dry out the skin. It also increases the risk of a UTI. Why? Proper hydration has people emptying their bladder regularly, which keeps flushing out bacteria. If your parents aren’t staying hydrated, bacteria can build and lead to infection.

In an elderly adult, a UTI may not present the same way it would in a younger adult. It can cause confusion, agitation, and anger. You may not associate that with a UTI and put off seeking medical treatments. If your mom or dad has a UTI, it’s best to get it treated ASAP and prevent it from spreading to the kidneys.

How Do You Make Sure Your Parents Drink Enough?

How much water is enough? It varies from one person to the next. It used to be the recommendation was eight 8-ounce glasses per day, which came to 1.89 liters. That falls short of the recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The newer recommendations are 3.7 liters for men and 2.7 liters for women.

What’s important to remember is that 20 percent of the daily intake of water comes from foods. If you get your parents to eat foods with a higher water content, you can help them stay hydrated. Watermelon, oranges, and celery are good options.

Monitoring Water Intake

Look for water bottles that contain markings to measure how much you drink. Some of these cups have audible alarms to alert you if you haven’t had a drink in a while. Other cups have flashing lights. Fill a bottle in the morning for your parents and keep an eye on how much they drink each hour. If they’re not drinking enough, you can remind them.

Make a Glass of Water More Appealing

There are ways to make water more appealing if your parents refuse water. Add slices of lemon, orange, or lime. Place frozen berries in the cup and use them like ice cubes. You can also make herbal teas (iced or hot) and get your parents to drink those instead.

Bubbly seltzer may be a more satisfying option. Make sure you buy seltzer and not club soda. Club soda adds sodium, which increases your parents’ salt intake.

Caregivers can also help your parents stay hydrated. Arrange home care services and have caregivers available each day to monitor your parents’ drinking habits and offer encouragement to drink more.

Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256

If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in Edina, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

It’s never too early to discuss plans for elderly care. Your parents may be healthy and quite capable of doing things around the house right now. You never know when something will happen. Your mom could fall on ice and break her hip. Your dad could have a stroke or heart attack and need elderly care services during the recovery.

You don’t want to think about that, but if you don’t and it happens, planning elderly care services when you’re already scared and stress is much harder. You want to have time to discuss things and come up with the best possible plan. To do that, sit down with your mom and dad to discuss these questions.

What Wouldn’t You Want Your Children Helping You Complete?

If your parents need help, what don’t they want you to help complete? They may be okay with you helping with yard work but not with personal care. They may not want you doing the laundry but don’t mind you helping with meals.

Does Your Home Have Safety Issues?

Go through your parents’ home. Are there issues that increase the risk of a fall? Are rails on all staircases secure? Is the carpeting curled up in spots? Is the tub floor slippery or are there non-slip mats in place?

You should look at each room and make sure there are no clear hazards. The bathroom should have grab bars near the toilet, bathtub, and shower. Lighting should be bright and avoid creating shadows. Outdoor stairs and decks shouldn’t have loose or broken boards.

If Something Happens, Are Plans in Place to Have Someone Make Medical Decisions?

If your dad had a stroke, does he have a medical power of attorney who can make medical decisions following his preferences? If he is unable to communicate, can someone say if he’d want a breathing tube? If he was in a coma following a car crash, would someone know if he’d want to be resuscitated if his heart stopped?

How Do You Plan to Pay for Elderly Care?

Make sure you understand how elderly care works. People often think health insurance will cover caregivers, but that’s not the case. You might get some coverage for temporary home health care like IV-care or wound care following surgery, but insurance will not cover elderly care services like housekeeping and meal preparation.

If your parents have long-term care insurance, that can help cover the bills. Otherwise, your family will be paying out of pocket.

Talk to your parents and make sure you include them when you talk to an elderly care representative. They need to be involved as much as possible to ensure the switch to home care goes smoothly.

If you or an aging loved one is considering elderly care in Minnetonka, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Being properly hydrated may not seem like it has a positive impact on health and wellness, but it can boost the body’s ability to function well. Especially in elderly adult, proper hydration is the key to keeping them healthy and able to fight off many common age-related conditions. Dehydration, on the other hand, can be particularly detrimental to seniors. Family caregivers must work hard to ensure their aging loved one doesn’t become dehydrated.

What Causes Dehydration in Seniors?

If the body loses too many fluids without anything restoring them, it falls into a state of dehydration. Because fluids are critical to things like blood flow, the lack of them can lead to partial or total system shutdowns. Dehydration can happen to people at any age, especially if they are hot or exercising too much. Seniors, on the other hand, develop dehydration at a rapid rate. Symptoms of dehydration in seniors includes dry mouth, infrequent urination, dark urine, poor skin elasticity, dizziness and in extreme cases, seizures and unconsciousness.

The reason seniors are so susceptible to dehydration is because they frequently don’t feel thirst. Due to their changing body, its common for elderly adults to go for hours without a drink. Also, their kidneys and body tissues don’t hold onto fluids as well as they once did, contribution to an excessive loss of body fluids. Sometimes, the side effects of medication can also trigger dehydration without even knowing it. Without fluids being replenished, seniors can suffer severe health issues.

Tips for Keeping Elderly Adults Hydrated

When caring for an elderly adult, its a good idea for family caregivers and elder care providers to focus on proper hydration. Seniors should drink with every meal to start the hydration process. Throughout the day, many elder care providers encourage the aging adult to carry around a water bottle to sip on. If the senior hasn’t had some water for a while, the elder care provider can remind them at regular intervals.

Elderly adults don’t always need to drink water to remain well-hydrated. There are water-rich foods that help deliver fluids to the body. Examples include fruits like strawberries, oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe and peaches. Vegetables with a high water content include tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers. Drinking tea, coffee and sports drinks are other ways for seniors to ingest fluids. Soda and alcohol do more harm than good when it comes to hydrating, so elderly adults should avoid these.

Proper hydration is so important to overall health and wellness. Because seniors are already battling a number of age-related conditions, they should not put strain on the body by becoming dehydrated. When hydration is a priority for family caregivers and elder care providers, the aging adult will be healthier because their body has adequate fluids to function properly.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elder care in Plymouth, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.

Seasonal allergies are actually something that can strike at different times of the year depending on what your elderly family member is allergic to. Learning how to manage these allergies for her can keep her from suffering every time they flare up.

Be Careful of Over-the-counter Medications

Over-the-counter medications can be effective tools for managing seasonal allergies, but they can also interfere with other medications your senior currently takes. Some antihistamines can also make people dizzy or drowsy, which can leave your senior more susceptible to a fall. Until you have word from your senior’s doctor, it’s better to wait before trying out over-the-counter remedies for seasonal allergies.

Talk to Her Doctor as Soon as Possible

As soon as you notice that your elderly family member is having trouble, it’s a good idea to make an appointment with her doctor. Her doctor can determine what types of allergies she has and how those are likely to affect existing health conditions your senior has. Additional testing might be needed to fully get to the root of the problem. In the event that your elderly family member is actually dealing with something besides seasonal allergies, it’s important to know that sooner rather than later.

Don’t Ignore Allergy Symptoms or Changes in Symptoms

Seasonal allergies can be a problem for many people because they can turn into a sinus infection or other health issue. In your elderly family member’s case, other health issues can make seasonal allergies even more of a problem. If your senior is susceptible to pneumonia, for example, allergy symptoms can quickly change as her lungs become infected. From there, your aging adult would need different treatments because the situation is now markedly different.

Track Allergy Symptoms and Formulate a Plan for Managing Them

It’s a really good idea for you to keep track of all of your senior’s allergy symptoms. Make sure that everyone who helps your elderly family member, such as other family members and elder care providers, know how to track her symptoms for you as well. Work with your senior’s doctor to ensure that you’re doing everything that you can for her. As her allergies change, her plan for managing them may also need to change.

Your senior’s existing allergies can change over time. Even if she never had significant trouble with allergies in the past, she can develop problems. Stay alert for signs of allergies and keep track of what is happening.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elder care in Eagan, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.