Tag: Vision Loss

Around 93 million adults in the U.S. have a higher risk for eye diseases like cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. Of those people with a higher risk, only half regularly go for eye exams.

Your dad has macular degeneration. Caught early, many of these conditions can be treated to prevent vision loss. Macular degeneration’s vision loss takes years, but if caught early, there are nutritional supplements that can keep it from reaching the late stage of the disease. The recommended supplements contain:

  • Beta-carotene
  • Copper
  • Lutein
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin E
  • Zeaxanthin
  • Zinc

As you age, your body changes, and with macular degeneration, the aging process damages the portion of the retina known as the macula by causing it to become thinner. The macula controls sharp details of the central vision. As the condition worsens, the central vision fades away, making it impossible to drive a car and see objects or people in front of you.

Your dad failed to see his eye doctor, and he has macular degeneration. Because it wasn’t caught early, your dad never took the supplements that can keep it from becoming late AMD. His vision is deteriorating, and that’s impacting his ability to care for himself.

This is one reason to sit down as a family and discuss personal care at home. Talk to your family about the benefits of having caregivers and what they can do to help your dad.

Help With Brushing and Flossing

Your dad can’t see well enough to effectively brush and floss his teeth. Because he can’t see his teeth as he flosses, he needs help. Caregivers can help him brush and floss his teeth after each meal.

Assistance While Showering

Your dad needs someone to help him as he gets in and out of the shower. He has to have someone set the water control to get the temperature of the water correct. He also needs help reading the labels on bottles to ensure he has the right item. Personal care at home can help him with that.

After his shower, his caregiver can also help him with his skin lotion, shave his face, and hand him eye drops if he needs them. If he needs someone to find specific items of clothing, his personal care attendant can help with that, too.

Book Home Care Services for Your Dad’s Personal Care Needs

August is National Eye Exam Month. Take time to book your dad’s eye exam if he doesn’t currently have one. He has macular degeneration, so don’t let him miss appointments anymore. You also want to arrange the personal care at home services he needs as his eyesight diminishes.

Hire personal care at home aides to help him shave, get showered, and put on appropriate clothing. Call a personal care specialist to learn more.

Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/resources/features/keep-eye-on-vision-health.html

 

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

Does your senior have trouble seeing well? Many seniors start to develop vision issues and there are quite a few eye diseases that your senior may be more susceptible to because of her overall health concerns. Knowing that there are ways that home care assistance can help your elderly family member when she’s dealing with vision problems can help you to rest easier.

Ensuring Your Senior Is Safe

Safety is always important when your senior is involved, and home care providers can be incredibly helpful in terms of safety. If your elderly family member is having trouble seeing properly, caregivers can pay attention to possible safety hazards, like tripping risks, and reduce those potential problems. They can also be alert to other aspects of safety, like making sure that appliances are turned off when not in use.

Reminding Her to Visit Her Eye Doctor

Depending on the vision issues your senior is having, she may have more frequent visits to her eye doctor. Making sure that she’s able to keep those appointments is really important. Caregivers can offer your elderly family member the reminders that she needs, along with help getting to those appointments.

Making Daily Tasks Easier

Daily life is a lot harder for your senior when she has trouble seeing well. Home care assistance can take over some of the tasks that are more challenging for your elderly family member. For the daily tasks that she’s still able to handle on her own, caregivers are there just in case she needs that extra little bit of help. Just a little bit of help can even help your elderly family member to age in place for as long as she wants to do so.

Helping with Vision Aids

Vision aids can be tremendously helpful, but there’s a learning curve in using some of them. Some of the simplest vision aids, like glasses, can be all too easy to misplace, too. Having another pair of eyes and hands right there with her is something that your senior can find to be a huge relief, because not being able to see well is very stressful.

Helping with Transportation

Transportation is another big issue that home care assistance can step up and handle for your senior. Being unable to drive can cause your elderly family member to withdraw a bit and possibly avoid situations and events that she used to love. Knowing that she’s got someone to help her to get safely where she wants to be is a huge help.

Offering Support and Companionship

It can be lonely to have vision issues, too. If your elderly family member has chosen to withdraw a bit, she might not even realize how much she misses talking with other people on a regular basis. Elder care providers can offer her the help and companionship that she might have been missing.

Dealing with vision problems is not always the easiest challenge. When your elderly family member has the help that she needs, however, her daily life can feel a lot more manageable than it was before.

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

Elder Care in Maple Grove MN
Elder Care in Maple Grove MN

As dementia progresses, your senior’s brain experiences changes in how it processes information. That means that even if her eyesight is functioning properly, her brain may not interpret what she’s seeing properly. That disconnect can lead to safety concerns, like falling, running into furniture or walls, and other possible safety issues. These tips can help your elderly family member to be able to process what she’s seeing more safely, and how elder care can help.

Patterns Can Be Confusing

Patterns, especially complicated or busy patterns, can be visually confusing to your senior. This is especially true if those patterns are on rugs, furniture, and curtains. It’s much easier to replace those items with plain, solid colors. Slipcovers can be really effective on furniture and they’re easy to use over just about any furniture.

Contrast Can Be Important

Contrasting colors helps your senior to differentiate edges and differences. For instance, if there are stairs in your senior’s home, use bright masking tape along the edges of each step in order to make it more obvious for her. It also helps to make sure that walls and floors are contrasting colors if possible. This can help to prevent your senior accidentally bumping into the wall. This also helps with dishes and your senior’s table. If the dishes contrast with the table, they’ll be easier to spot. An elder care provider can also help your senior get around the house safely.

Signs Need to Be Obvious

Many family caregivers use signs in their senior’s home to help identify things like where the bathroom is or what items are in specific cabinets or drawers. If you’re focusing on making these signs attractive or pretty, they might miss the mark. It’s much more effective for your senior if those signs are brightly colored and use pictures and other obvious signals.

Elder Care Providers Can Help, Too

If your elderly family member’s dementia is progressing quickly, these tips may help but not as much as having someone there with your senior helps. Having elder care providers there with your senior can ensure that she has assistance when she needs it and that there’s someone there to watch for possible issues. They can also help with other chores, like laundry and cleaning, as well as meal preparation.

Accommodating the processing changes that are happening in your senior’s brain is really important so that you can help her to be as safe and as independent as possible. This can assist her in continuing to do as much as she can for as long as she can.

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