Adult children typically want to make sure a parent is happy and healthy as they grow older. While that’s a common goal, it can be difficult to know what a senior loved one actually needs. If you aren’t very familiar with senior care solutions, trying to decide on the best alternative might feel a bit overwhelming.

Some seniors might be safe and happy with an in-home caregiver. That assures they have support with daily household tasks and personal care. Other older adults might require more assistance, or care at intermittent times, making an assisted living community a better option.

One factor to keep in mind is that an aging parent might be too proud to ask for help or even admit they need it if you broach the subject. It’s generally a good idea to discuss future goals with a parent before they actually need care. In many families, however, it’s a discussion that doesn’t occur until a crisis happens. That’s a tough time to make such life-changing decisions.

If you are wondering if it’s time to talk about care needs with an aging parent, here are some red flags to look for on your visits.

Does a Parent Need Senior Care Assistance?

Sometimes there are major red flags that a parent needs help, such as frequent falls or poor nutrition that leads to significant weight loss. But there are almost always subtle signs, too, that an aging parent is struggling to maintain their independence or their health is beginning to decline.

A parent who is having a tough time with personal care or is fearful of falling might look a little less tidy than you are used to seeing. Look for warning signs in their appearance, such as:

Hair that is dirty, messy, or in need of a cut

Another red flag is the senior not taking their medication appropriately. Compare the number of pills left in bottles with the date and dosage on the label.

The senior’s home can also tell a story. Take a walk around their house and yard to look for:

Odors caused by trash that needs emptying or general lack of cleanliness

Neglected maintenance tasks, such as burned-out light bulbs or a leaky faucet

Expired foods in the refrigerator and pantry

Overgrown grass or weeds during warm months and sidewalks piled with snow during the winter

Unopened mail on the counter or in the mailbox

Past-due notices around the house or calls from creditors

If you find more than one or two of the concerns listed above when you visit your parent, it’s probably time to talk with them about getting some help. While it’s usually not a conversation adult children are excited to have, doing so is important for protecting a parent’s health and well-being.

It’s vital to have a system in place that allows your parent to call for help in the event of an emergency. One that works on wireless technology is usually best. This mobile monitoring unit is a device to consider. It will allow a user to summon help with just a simple press of a button. Call 1-844-203-5617 to learn more today!

Wondering if it’s time for a parent to enlist the support of a home care agency or move to assisted living? Here are a few signs the answer is yes.

Red Flags to Look for on a Holiday Visit With a Senior Loved One

As we grow older, many of us seek out ways to live a healthier life. From diet and exercise to staying on track with essential medical screenings, the basics of a positive lifestyle are talked about often. What isn’t as widely known is the importance of staying social and connected to your community.

Researchers say having an active circle of friends and loved ones helps you avoid isolation, which is linked to medical conditions ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure and depression. But those connections can be difficult to maintain as you age. For a variety of reasons, friends move away after retiring, and some, unfortunately, pass away.

So, what can you do to create a life that allows you to stay social and engaged? We have some suggestions we hope you will find useful.

Realize that where you live during retirement matters greatly

While you may be reluctant to move after you retire, it’s important to realize how much where you live matters. If you are alone in a house with no close neighbors or friends, especially if you’ve limited or given up driving, it will be tough to prevent isolation and loneliness. By contrast, adults who make a move to a senior living community benefit from being surrounded by people who often have similar life experiences. Consider how much time you spend alone and whether there are steps you can take to change that.

Volunteer your time and talent for a nonprofit

Retirees are often a very sought-after part of a nonprofit organization’s volunteer base. Once they decide to join, they are known to be a reliable and committed part of an agency’s team. But it’s not a one-sided relationship. Seniors reap many benefits from their volunteer work. In fact, there is research that shows volunteers often stay healthier and enjoy longer lives—perhaps because volunteering helps seniors find purpose and meaning during retirement.

Make fitness activities part of daily life

Experts say getting 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week is linked to a healthier, longer life. Ideally, that time should include aerobic activity, stretching, and strength training. While you might want to spend some of that time working out alone, such as by taking a brisk walk or by riding a recumbent bike at home, engaging in fitness activities in a social setting offers an added benefit. When you join a local gym or YMCA, or take advantage of the Silver Sneakers program, which might be covered by your health insurance, you’ll have a chance to interact with people on a regular basis.

Take a class to learn a new hobby or skill

When you make learning new things a part of your life, you keep your brain challenged and stimulated. Some experts say that may help ward off or delay the development of Alzheimer’s disease. One way to do that is to take a class. It might be a weekly workshop to learn how to speak a different language or to try an artistic endeavor, such as pottery or drawing. The idea is to tackle something you don’t already know. You’ll also find it’s an easy way to meet new people.

Stay Active With a Mobile Monitoring Unit

One way to remain active while also staying safe is to invest in a mobile monitoring unit. These discreet emergency call systems allow the user to call for help with a simple press of a button from wherever they are. Call 1-844-203-5617 to learn more about these devices today!

Staying social during retirement offers a variety of benefits, including for your health. Use these tips to find ways to meet people and stay engaged.

How to Make Friends and Stay Social During Retirement

Most of us associate summer with sunshine and spending time outdoors. Whether you like to go to a grandchild’s soccer games or read a book outside by the pool, soaking up the sun can make the spirit feel more positive. It’s also good for boosting your vitamin D levels, which are often lower when you are stuck inside during the winter.

But it’s important to remember that the sun’s rays can also be tough on the skin. They can put you at increased risk for skin cancer, sun poisoning, and other challenging health conditions. Even riding in a car while the sun shines through the windshield and windows can lead to sunburn.

That’s why it’s essential to wear sunscreen. These tips can help you learn how much to use and how often to apply it.

Here’s what people should know about sunscreen use all year round, including in the summer:

People are often surprised to learn that sun damage can happen quickly. Ultraviolet (UV) rays can actually start to damage your skin in as little as 15 minutes. And that is true even on cloudy days, when it doesn’t look like the sun would be a threat. This is why applying sunscreen every day is a must, even if you are only taking a short stroll around the park to admire the snow on the trees or going for a short drive in the car.

SPF, which stands for sun protection factor, is what determines how well a sunscreen will absorb and deflect the sun. In general, dermatologists say you need a product with an SPF of at least 30. That means you will be protected from an estimated 97% of the sun’s damaging rays.

Another tip for selecting sunscreen is to choose a product that offers what is called broad-spectrum protection. That essentially means it will protect your skin from both types of ultraviolet radiation: UVA and UVB rays. UVA, which accounts for 95% of the sun’s rays, penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin. While UVB makes up a smaller percentage of UV rays, it actually causes the most damage to your skin.

A popular misconception is that opting for a product with a higher SPF will allow you to stay outside all day without reapplying sunscreen. Unfortunately, that’s just not how it works.

For sunscreen to be effective, follow the directions on the bottle—most likely you’ll need to reapply every two to six hours. And a thin layer of sunscreen isn’t enough to fully protect you. An easy-to-remember rule of thumb is to fill a shot glass with sunscreen and layer it generously all over your skin.

If you haven’t explored sunscreen lately, you may be surprised to discover it comes in a variety of formats. Sunscreen is commonly sold as sticks, creams, and sprays. Each offers the same level of protection but is designed for use on different body parts.

Sunscreen sticks, for example, may be easier to apply on small areas of the body, like your nose and ears. They are also convenient to take with you when you leave home. Sprays and creams, by contrast, can quickly be applied to larger areas of the body, such as your arms, chest, legs, and stomach.

For more tips on staying safe during the hottest months of the year, visit Summer Fun and Safety for Seniors: Embrace the Season With Joy and Caution.

Invest in an Emergency Alert System This Summer

If your lifestyle keeps you on the go during the summer, investing in a mobile monitoring unit can bring peace of mind. Whether you’re at the beach or the park, you’ll be able to summon help quickly with a simple press of a button. Call 1-844-203-5617 to learn more today!

Sunscreen use is important at every age and in every season. Learn more here about choosing a product, how often to apply it, and more.

Sunscreen 101: How to Protect Skin From Sun Damage

Mother’s Day gives us a chance to recognize and thank the mothers and grandmothers in our lives. The holiday occurs every year on the second Sunday in May.

You may be struggling, like many children and grandchildren, to find just the right gift for a senior loved one this Mother’s Day. If you want to express your love and appreciation with something more meaningful than the usual flowers and chocolate, consider what are known as experience gifts. These are presents that encourage families to spend time making memories together.

Experience Gifts to Honor a Senior on Mother’s Day

Schedule a regular gathering: A great present from the grandkids, or even the great-grandchildren, is to designate a time each month to gather together. When life is busy, time can slip away before you realize it. Unless you commit to a plan, weeks could go by without families getting together. This Mother’s Day, make a plan to spend one afternoon or evening a month with your senior loved one. You can make a craft, take in a movie, or even have the kids teach the senior how to play a video game.

Create a family cookbook together: Another meaningful activity your loved one might enjoy is creating a family cookbook. Fill it with everyone’s favorites. It can be as simple or as detailed as your tech skills will allow. The end result can be a great keepsake for everyone in the family. If you want to take it a step further, make some of the recipes together throughout the years, and document the time together.

Read stories by video chat: iPads and other tablets make it easier to connect with loved ones, no matter where they live. If your children or grandchildren are younger, they might enjoy showing off their reading skills. Choose an easy-to-use platform, such as Skype or Zoom, and have the kids read to their grandparent, or have the grandparent read to the children. To cut costs, you can borrow books from the local library.

Organize project parties: Another experience gift to consider for Mother’s Day is to organize monthly craft nights. They could be at your home or the senior’s. Arts-and-crafts projects are a great way to bond and build memories. And you don’t have to be particularly artsy to enjoy this activity. Family members can each bring their own projects or craft kits to the gatherings. Another option is to pick a different project every month from a site like Domestika that you can do together.

Enjoy a spa day: What woman doesn’t enjoy a little pampering? Maybe this could be the start of a new Mother’s Day tradition for several generations of your family. You could host a spa day at your home or book time at a local salon. If you opt for a day at home, foot spas are inexpensive purchases and make home pedicures a little easier. You could ask everyone to bring a bottle or two of nail polish and their favorite lotions and scrubs. Should you decide an afternoon at a salon is better, narrow down the choices so people can pick from one or two services. For example, they could have a manicure and facial or a pedicure and massage.

One more gift option to consider for a senior loved one this Mother’s Day is a mobile monitoring unit. This emergency response system allows the user to call for help with the simple press of a button. Call 1-844-203-5617 to learn how to get started!

Experience gifts might be a good option for a senior loved one this Mother’s Day. Learn more about them and get some ideas here.

Outpatient therapy is a great way to rehabilitate after an injury, a planned surgery, or an illness. People often utilize these services after a fall or sports-related injury, or just to recover strength and stamina following a serious bout with a virus. It’s a great solution for helping you get back to an active lifestyle, whatever that means for you, with minimal disruption to your schedule.

What Is Available at an Outpatient Rehabilitation Center?

Outpatient rehabilitation centers typically focus on physical, occupational, and speech therapy services. Under the guidance of these professionals, patients receive care identical or similar to what they would receive in a hospital or skilled nursing and rehab center.

A few of the many examples of what therapists in an outpatient setting might do, depending on the severity of a patient’s injury or illness, include:

Create a care plan that focuses on targeted exercises, such as those designed to regain fine motor skills, or stretching to improve flexibility

Help find ways to safely enter a vehicle, slide behind the wheel to drive, and then exit the car again

Work with patients to learn or relearn how to perform activities of daily living, such as getting dressed, using the bathroom, and taking a shower

Teach patients how to use assistive devices, such as a cane, walker, shower chair, or raised toilet seat

What Are the Benefits of Outpatient Therapy?

If you are wondering why a patient would opt for outpatient therapy versus a short-term stay at a skilled nursing and rehab center, here are a few of the reasons:

Reduce pain and improve flexibility: When you are finding your way back from a serious illness or recovering from a surgery or an injury, you might be struggling with pain. A physical therapist can help you explore ways to manage that pain while also improving flexibility.

Lower risk of repeat injury: One of the primary goals of continuing rehabilitation after being discharged from the hospital is to avoid experiencing another injury. For example, if a patient had a serious fall, they might be fearful of falling again. And that’s a legitimate concern. Once a senior takes a tumble, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says their risk of doing so again doubles.

Minimize stress by recovering at home: If you’ve spent time in a hospital or outpatient rehab center, it will come as no surprise that it’s difficult to rest there. By opting for outpatient therapy, a patient can continue to recover in the comfort and privacy of their own home. That’s where most people say they prefer to be, anyway.

Lessen daily disruption: Outpatient therapy often makes it easier to continue to lead your normal life. Patients can schedule appointments at times that are convenient for them, such as on weekends or evenings to navigate around their work schedule.

Limit costs: Depending on the type of insurance a patient has, outpatient therapy may be more cost effective. There may be fewer and lower deductibles and co-pays than for an inpatient stay.

During the course of outpatient therapy, safety will be a frequent topic. Both physical and occupational therapists will focus on ways to stay safe and avoid another injury. They may also suggest investing in an emergency call alert device for added peace of mind.

This is where a mobile monitoring unit can be a solution. This discreet device gives the user an easy way to summon help in the event of an emergency. With a simple press of a button, the person can be connected with someone who can help. Call 1-844-203-5617 to learn more!

Outpatient therapy has many benefits, ranging from allowing a patient to recover at home to making it easy to maintain a more normal schedule. Learn more here.

Tending a garden, whether it’s vegetables or flowers, can bring about many mental and physical health benefits. The hobby is known to boost the spirit, reduce stress, improve core strength, and more. But for seniors with mobility struggles, it’s a pastime that can present challenges. For example, getting up and down to weed flower beds and dragging hoses around the yard become more difficult with age.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to make this beneficial hobby safer for many older adults. Here are a few suggestions you may find useful.

Ways to Make Gardening Safer and More Accessible for Seniors

The first tip we have is to carefully plan the design of your garden. Think through how you can incorporate the flowers and vegetables you like, but in a way that minimizes the work needed to care for them. For example, group similar plants together. Locate plants that require frequent watering closest to a water spigot. That will mean less pulling hoses around the yard.

Other examples are to cluster together plants that need deadheading so you don’t have to get up and down from the ground multiple times. And locate herbs, veggies, and flowers you want to cut for indoor arrangements nearer to the door.

Growing your gardens in raised beds and containers eliminates the need to get up and down from the ground, which lowers the risk of a fall. Seniors with mobility problems or back pain will especially appreciate this. When herbs, flowers, and vegetables are planted at waist level, watering, weeding, and harvesting are all easier.

Another advantage is that raised beds and containers can be placed anywhere in the garden, from the patio to the front porch. That makes it even easier for people with disabilities or aging-related health issues to continue to garden.

Another way to minimize the work associated with gardening is to primarily choose plants that are native to your area. They usually require less frequent watering and fertilizing. If you aren’t sure what those are, talk with local growers at nearby greenhouses and nurseries. Another option is to search online databases like Native Plant Finder. Also, look for pest-resistant plants. That will help cut down on maintenance.

Before you dismiss this suggestion because it sounds too expensive, know that these systems come at a variety of price points. Talk with garden experts at your local home improvement store to explore your options. They may even have contractors who can help with the installation.

While many gardeners think a wheelbarrow is an ideal way to move heavy supplies around, a four-wheeled garden cart is usually a better choice. It can be pushed or pulled with less physical effort than a wheelbarrow, which often requires some lifting. Some carts are even designed with a dumping feature that makes unloading easier.

One more tip is to use a slow-release fertilizer. Fertilizer pellets that are inserted into the soil are often a good option. They allow you to simply “set and forget.” That’s not only more convenient but also much safer than fertilizers that attach to the end of a hose.

If you are looking for more ways to reduce the risk for experiencing a health problem during the warmer days ahead, Tips to Have a Safe Summer has good information.

Our final suggestion is to invest in a mobile monitoring device. In the event you experience an emergency while working in the garden, a simple press of a button on the unit can connect you with help. Call 1-844-203-5617 today to learn more!

Wondering how to make your garden safer and more senior friendly? These tips will be of interest.

Tips for Planning an Accessible Garden for Seniors

Red Flags to Look for on a Holiday Visit With a Senior Loved One

Does a Parent Need Senior Care Assistance?

Invest in an Emergency Call Alert

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