Caregivers in St. Louis Park MN Archives - CareBuilders At Home Minneapolis, Minnesota

A stroke can do many things to a person’s body. If your elderly loved one had a stroke, one of the things they might be experiencing is a lack of appetite. This happens to many people who have a stroke. Some of the reasons for this are exhaustion, difficulty chewing, and trouble swallowing. If this is the case for your elderly loved one, you can help them to eat enough. Keep reading here to find out how you can do this.

Focus on Foods that Are Favorites

If your elderly loved one doesn’t have much of an appetite after a stroke, you should focus on the foods that are their favorites. Even though they might not want to eat much, having their favorites in the house might entice them to eat at least a bit throughout the day. However, it is important to note that you or the caregivers might have to cut the food up for your elderly loved one. This way, your elderly loved one can chew and swallow the food.

Create Routines

If your elderly loved one doesn’t seem to want to eat, it might be best to create meal routines for them. This means that you or the caregivers can set up specific times that your elderly loved one will eat throughout the day. This way, your elderly loved one knows what times they are being served their food. For instance, if they know they aren’t going to eat dinner until 6:30 p.m. and it is lunchtime at 1:30 p.m., they may be more likely to eat because they know they will be hungry later on, especially if they miss lunch.

Eat with Your Loved One

When someone doesn’t have much of an appetite for any reason, they are more likely to eat if other people are around. If your elderly loved one had a stroke, but doesn’t seem to have an appetite, you or the caregivers should eat meals with them. If you or someone else is sitting down at the table with your elderly loved one, they will be more likely to eat the food you are giving them.

Conclusion

There are so many different things that can happen when someone has a stroke. While having a loss of appetite might seem like a minor thing to many people, if your elderly loved one isn’t eating well or eating enough, they can get very sick. In addition, their body can’t recover well if they aren’t getting the proper nutrients and vitamins. If you use these tips, you might be able to get your elderly loved one to eat better after their stroke. If you try these things and your elderly loved one still isn’t eating well, be sure to talk to their doctor about this.

Sources
https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/zu1321

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.

Taking care of a family member with dementia or other chronic illness can be one of the most rewarding undertakings of a lifetime. However, it can also be very demanding, and family caregivers are at high risk for exhausting themselves – both physically and emotionally. This complete exhaustion is sometimes called burnout, and it can be extremely dangerous.

Family caregivers who are exhausted or burned out are at high risk for physical illness, depression and gaining less satisfaction from caregiving, or from life in general. Spending regular time away from your caregiver responsibilities can help ensure that you are:

More refreshed
Physically healthier, with fewer colds and illnesses
Mentally healthier
Less stressed
More flexible, patient and responsive to your loved one’s needs

A recent study from the AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) found that 38% of family caregivers who were surveyed believed that respite care would help their family, however only 14% took advantage of them. Reasons people don’t take advantage of respite care include feelings of guilt, worry or loss of control. Some simply don’t know where to begin.

Consider your needs and your loved ones

Experts recommend setting up respite services to help get through the marathon of caregiving for a chronically ill loved one. Start by considering your needs, those of your loved ones, and planning ahead to ensure that caregiving remains rewarding through the long haul. Respite care can easily be set up through a home care agency on any schedule that works for your unique needs, from a few hours here and there, to days or weeks of 24-hour-per-day care at a time. A few popular respite plans are listed below.

Transition Care

It’s a good idea to set up some respite ahead of time when bringing a loved one home from the hospital or care facility. This can help act as a safety net as you both get used to new needs and routines.

An Afternoon Off

Many families find it helpful to set up one afternoon a week with a regular home care aide. They can take care of errands, set up appointments during this time, spend time with friends, doing an outside activity, or just relaxing. Some prefer a morning off, or even an evening to go out to a movie or restaurant with a friend.

Daily Activity Engagement

Not only is time away helpful for recharging the family caregiver’s battery, it’s also helpful for the senior needing help. It’s therapeutic to interact with other people on occasion. Some individuals, especially those with dementia, really benefit from a daily session of activity engagement. The home care aide can help the senior with dementia engage in activities they find meaningful. Often this includes housework, laundry, gardening or cooking. This gives the senior with dementia healthy physical activity and the emotional satisfaction of being productive. It also gives the family caregiver a break, and takes care of some of chores around the house at the same time!

Weekend Away

Some family caregivers benefit from a couple days away out of town, at a friend’s house or hotel once a month, or just every so often. Home care aides can come in for days or weeks at a time, covering up to 24 hours per day, if needed.

Some family caregivers find that even just setting up a trial helps clear that initial hurdle and is an important step towards a successful long term caregiving situation.

Sources
https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/life-balance/info-2017/respite-care-plan.html

The importance of respite care for caregivers

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.

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.

One of the more stressful tasks family caregivers face is a trip to the doctor. When a parent has Alzheimer’s disease, a simple trip often becomes a challenge.

Among the challenges you face are getting your parent out of the home on time. Getting your parent out of the car and into the medical office is the next challenge. After that, you must get your parent to cooperate with the doctor, allow the doctor to perform tests. You also have to relay messages as a doctor may not use simple enough terms for your mom or dad to understand.

It’s going to make you feel stressed. That’s okay. These tips can help you avoid some of the stress and better manage the stress you do experience.

Get Ready to Stretch the Truth

If your parent is one to delay your departure. Start lying about it being time to go about half an hour early. It gets you out of the door on time.

If your parent is pushing it and you’re going to be late, lie about where you’re going. Instead of saying you have to go to the doctor’s office, ask your mom or dad if they want to go out to eat. Pick a restaurant or food you know they love.

Prepare Yourself for the Challenges During the Appointment

If you go into a doctor’s visit prepared, it can help ease the stress. Before the appointment, ask to have the doctor or his/her nurse call you. Go over the tests or vaccinations that are due. If you’re aware of them in advance, you’ll be able to prepare your mom or dad.

For example, if you know your mom is due her tetanus booster, you’ll be able to prepare her as best you can. Have her wear a t-shirt with a cardigan she can quickly take off. Don’t worry about telling her in advance. She won’t likely remember what you’ve said. Do have a distraction in hand for when it’s happening.

Alert the Medical Staff

Your mom or dad’s doctor knows that Alzheimer’s is present, but that doesn’t mean the nurses and registration desk know it. Be prepared to tell them over and over. If your parent gets testy when you say it out loud, keep business cards that you can pass out.

On that business card, have it printed that you are your parent’s carer and that he/she has dementia. It can also include simple instructions about keeping sentences short, needing to speak clearly, and being ready to repeat things often.

How often do you take a break? Make sure you get time away to care for yourself. Professional caregivers are one of the easiest ways to ensure you have time alone. Call a home care agency and ask about the cost of having part-time caregivers for respite care.