The Benefits of Socializing, VA Atlanta East

Elderly man sitting down and reading a newspaper.
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People around the world have been practicing social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Social isolation can be difficult for a lot of people; however, the elderly are especially vulnerable to isolation. Visiting Angels Atlanta East discusses how seniors have been impacted by the lack of social interactions. 

It is important to understand how much socialization means to seniors. Visiting Angels explains how seniors gain emotional, cognitive and physical benefits from social activities. The elderly can experience emotional benefits because they maintain their self-esteem and sustain long lasting friendships when they socialize. When it comes to the cognitive stimulation caused by socializing, memory lose can be slowed. Lastly, physical rewards include improving sleep and boosting the immune system. 

As a result of social isolation, all the benefits mentioned earlier can be taken away from seniors. To help seniors socialize through COVID-19, Visiting Angels caretakers have been helping the elderly socialize in different ways. Through the use of technology, caretakers have been helping seniors communicate through video chat, texting, email, Facebook and more. Although social distancing is keeping people away physically, there are other ways to be there for one another. 

For more information, visit Top Benefits of Visiting Angels’ Social Care Program in the Age of COVID-19. 

Budget Friendly Eating, VA Crystal Lake

Elderly woman washing vegetables.
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COVID-19 has made grocery shopping complicated. People are encouraged to stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and many are stocking up on food to avoid grocery shopping as often. Visiting Angels Crystal Lake discusses some tips for eating healthy on a budget while the pandemic continues to impact grocery shopping. 

For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you should consider buying food that has a long shelf life. Though food with the longest shelf life is often canned, that does not mean that you have to limit your daily meals to canned food. Visiting Angels Crystal Lake gives some great examples of budget friendly food you can buy.  

For breakfast you can consider buying oatmeal, eggs, and cereal. However, cereal usually runs out quickly so you should keep that in mind when buying. For lunch tuna and brown rice are two extremely healthy food options that also have a long shelf life. You can wrap your tuna in lettuce or make a tuna sandwich if you have bread. Lastly, for dinner you can make meat stretch a long way if you get creative. Let us say that you buy chicken breast. With chicken, you can make a chicken salad, stir fry, and chicken soup. So, getting creative with your food is also a great way to stay within your budget. 

For more information, you may visit Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget. 

Maintaining Social Distancing While Caring for Seniors, VA Conway

Elderly man sitting on a chair and looking at the camera.
Photo by VÍctor Daniel Giraldo on Unsplash

COVID-19 has resulted in several changes, including social distancing. However social distancing has not been easy for a lot of people, especially seniors. To help the elderly feel less lonely while the world is social distancing, Visiting Angels Conway offers some fun ideas on how you can care for your loved ones from a distance. 

One fun way to cheer up your elderly loved one is by throwing a drive by party.  A drive by party is just like it sounds. People drive around in their decorated cars while playing music and waving. To organize a drive by party, you will need to contact some family and friends. Decide on a date, time, and location. Then ask people to decorate their cars with some balloons or frills. Some noise makers would also be appreciated so that your drive by party can be heard by everyone. 

Another idea that Visiting Angels Conway brings up is video chatting. There are various senior friendly devices on the market that you can look into if you are looking for something that your loved one can use easily. You can also teach your loved one how to use video chat technology. Video chatting is a great way for you and your elderly loved one to communicate because visually it is like you are in the same room but physically you are practicing social distancing. 

For more fun ideas, you may visit Socially Distant Care for Our Seniors During COVID-19. 

Useful Fall Prevention Tips, VA Canton

An elderly man's hands holding a walking stick.
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

There is always a danger associated with falling; however, the older you get, the more dangerous a fall can be. Many seniors are sent to the hospital because of a fall. Visiting Angles Canton knows that some falls can be avoided, so they bring up some helpful tips to prevent falls. 

Before you can prevent your elderly loved one from falling, you have to develop an understanding of what can make them fall. Visiting Angels discusses how your loved one can have physical conditions that makes it easier for them to fall. For instance, your loved one could suffer from muscle weakness, medication side effects, a decreased sense of balance, and more. You could ask your elderly loved one’s doctor if something can be done to minimize the physical problems that you have noticed. 

After figuring out the physical causes of falling, you could begin to focus on the environmental causes of falling. Check on their home environment. Do they have bars to hold onto when getting into their bathtub or when sitting on the toilet? Do they have cables all over their floors? Visiting Angels brings up some solutions to problems you might find in your loved one’s home. You can organize their home to keep their floors clean and open. You can also add some bars in the bathroom so they have extra support. 

To read all of the suggestions, visit Tips for Fall Prevention.  

The Pros of Eating a Good Breakfast, VA Barrington

Photo of a healthy bowl of fruits, oats, and yogurt.
Photo by Jannis Brandt on Unsplash 

Enjoying a healthy breakfast is a great way to start the day. There are a variety of reasons why people are told to eat a healthy breakfast. Visiting Angles Barrington brings up why a healthy breakfast would be a great thing for seniors to incorporate into their day to day routine. 

Visiting Angels starts off by bringing up how COVID-19 has impacted everyone’s life. Because of the changes brought on by the pandemic, many more people have been feeling stressed and sad. If the negative emotions escalate enough, a person might lose their appetite. Seniors who go through social isolation or feel a lack of independence also feel the need to eat less. 

The reason why a healthy breakfast is important during these times is because the meal acts like an anchor to a routine. Though it should be noted that a breakfast is not automatically healthy just because someone starts off their day with it. Visiting Angels explains how a healthy breakfast is defined by the contents of the meal. A healthy breakfast contains proteins, whole grains, and or fruits. Some examples of whole grains include oatmeal and rice cakes. Furthermore, protein can be found in eggs and yogurt. Visiting Angels Barrington discusses the topic in more depth. 

To read the blog, you may visit What’s So Important About Breakfast? 

Dependable Nursing Care

An elderly person holding onto a stress ball.
Photo by Matthias Zomer from Pexels

Deciding to place your elderly loved one in someone else’s care can be a difficult decision to make. Most of the time, people research the nursing homes they are looking into before admitting their loved one into a home. Elmhurst Extended Care Center offers a variety of great services for their residents, including skilled nursing care. 

What are you looking for in a nursing home? Not all nursing homes offer the same services to their residents. EECC offers physical rehabilitation, memory care, and skilled nursing care for its residents. When it comes to their nursing care, EECC relies on their dependable full-time therapist, dietitian, and social worker. The group of nurses provide personalized plans for their residents. The plans include diabetic monitoring, respite care, hospice, restorative care, and more. The dementia and memory care units are also certified, so feel free to rely on EECC’s skilled nurses to help you and your loved one. 

To read more about EECC’s nursing services feel free to visit its Skilled Nursing Care page. 

EECC Talks About Cardiac Rehabilitation Care

Plastic heart diagram on top of a text book.
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No matter your age, your health is important. You should take care of body organs like your heart and brain. Even those who are recovering from a cardiovascular disease can still make the effort to work towards a healthier lifestyle. Elmhurst Extended Care Center brings up 4 things that you can focus on while going through cardiac rehabilitation care. 

A healthy lifestyle is made up of various things. One aspect of healthy living is exercising. Those going through cardiac rehabilitation should meet with their doctors to discuss a fitness plan. The exercises do not have to be extremely demanding or difficult. Your doctor could recommend some resentence or aerobic exercises. As long as you are moving and your heart is pumping, your training will make a difference. 

Other than training, EECC also recommends focusing on your daily life choices. There are small substitutions that you can make in your day to day life that can make a difference. For instance, instead of taking the elevator, try going up and down the stairs. The choices also apply to your diet. If your craving something sweet, go for an apple instead of candy. Every choice you make can make a difference, big or small. 

For more information, you may visit Cardiac Rehabilitation Care: What to Focus on During Your Recovery. 

Delicious Heart Healthy Foods

Heart shaped bowl filled with berries.
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Exercising and eating right are two ways that you can help keep your heart healthy. If you are struggling to figure out what foods are considered healthy, check out Elmhurst Extended Care Center’s most recent blog.  

EECC’s blog breaks down 7 foods that are both delicious and great for your heart. The first food that they suggest is berries. The berries can range from blueberries, strawberries, and more. Berries are great because they help the cells that line your blood vessels. With the extra help, blood pressure and blood clotting are better controlled. In other words, berries can reduce bad cholesterol and inflammation. 

If berries are not to your liking, you can always try including more dark chocolate in your diet. While adding chocolate might seem like a contradiction, it has actually proven to lower the risk of coronary heart disease by 57%. Dark chocolate helps decrease plaque buildup in arteries so your heart can be healthier. There are 5 more foods that EECC recommends if the first two do not catch your eye, so do not hesitate to read the whole blog. 

For more information, visit 7 Delicious Foods to Keep Your Heart Healthy. 

Respite Care for Family Caregivers in Lewisburg, PA

21291099 – smiling senior woman and middle aged daughter outdoors closeup portrait

Family caregivers are dedicated to providing the care their loved one needs. When a loved one develops a need for additional assistance at home, almost always a close family member will offer to care for them. However, as time goes on and their dependency becomes too demanding, it often leaves the family caregiver feeling stressed and emotionally, and mentally taxed. This is where respite care from Visiting Angels Lewisburg can come in to provide relief.

Visiting Angels of Lewisburg provides respite care for families throughout the surrounding communities. With this, family caregivers can get the relief they desperately need. Respite care from Visiting Angels allows family members the opportunity to step away from the role of caregiver and get the rest they need. One of the most important things about being a caregiver is remembering to also take care of oneself. With respite care from Visiting Angels Lewisburg, family caregivers are able to do this.

If you are in need of respite care services from Visiting Angels Lewisburg, you can contact them today to get started.

Home Care Services Tips for Caregivers in the Sandwich Generation

To be a part of the ‘sandwich generation’ means to have parents while being a parent yourself. When your parent develops a need for additional assistance at home, it can be difficult to be a family caregiver when you have to tend to your personal life as well. Balancing your life as a parent and as a caregiver is never easy, which is why Visiting Angels Lewisburg shares some tips.

One of the first things Visiting Angels suggests is to remain organized. Not only does this help you keep track of everything that’s going on, but it also helps you maintain a sense of calm. To maintain your organization, Visiting Angels suggest to utilize cloud storage. Unlike saving important documents in a file cabinet or on your computer, cloud storage provides another net of security and protection from documents being lost. Visiting Angels recommends to keep records of your parent’s medical records and tests, living will, and power of attorney credentials on the cloud. This ensures that if something were to happen to the hard copies, you still have an electronic version that you can access at any time.

This is just one way to maintain your organization when you’ve become a family caregiver in the sandwich generation. You can read the full list by heading over to Visiting Angels Lewisburg article: https://www.visitingangels.com/lewisburg/knowledge-center/home-care-services-tips-for-caregivers-in-the-sandwich-generation-weekly-message_477.