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Senior Care in Oswego, IL: May is Older Americans’ Month, Celebrate by Staying Active!

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May is Older Americans Month, a fantastic occasion to demonstrate our thankfulness for the older adults in our local communities.

Since 1963, areas across the nation have come together to celebrate Older Americans Month—a very proud practice that exhibits our nation’s dedication to recognizing the contributions and achievements of older Americans.

The topic for Older Americans Month 2012, “Never Too Old to Play…”
inspires older Americans to continue to be involved, active and involved in their own lives and in their communities.

Here are some creative ideas for Older American’s Month

Brain Activities

Older adults may experience multiple changes in the structure and activity of the brain that can affect how we move and think. But developing studies show that specific actions can teach and spark the brain, bettering its efficiency and potentially even decreasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. While we do not know which specific daily activities may be of benefit, the ones mentioned below are fun ways to engage your brain.

Consider offering some of these events for Older Americans Month:

– Trivia competition. You’re never too old to play trivia! It’s a great way to bring together older adults and their younger friends and neighbors for a couple of hours of fun and discovery. As a featured activity for Older Americans Month 2012, AoA has developed a team trivia game for your Day of Play. Players will exercise their minds in a 90-minute competition, where intergenerational groups of four to six people gather to answer trivia questions about culture, major events, and sports.

-Crossword puzzles. Crossword puzzles are excellent mental exercises. In the spirit of Older Americans Month, AoA has developed a series of crossword puzzles that you can print and distribute to Day of Play participants.

-Traditional games. Games like Scrabble, bridge, and pokeno are timeless classics and have the potential to be fun intergenerational games. Hold a game night and invite participants to form teams to play these traditional games. Provide a venue, a few decks of cards, a handful of board games, and let the good times roll!

-Continuing education/speaker series. Talk to the older adults you work with and find out what topics interest them. A speaker series as part of your Day of Play might include local professors, authors or others expert in their fields giving presentations on the topics of greatest interest.
To learn more about brain health, please visit:

National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging Memory/Cognitive Health

Alzheimer’s Association: Brain Health

Take care of the seniors in your life and celebrate National Older American’s Month.

Senior care counselors at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Senior Care in Oswego. 

Nurses are Caregivers in Downers Grove, IL: Observe National Nurses Week 2012 May 6-12

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Throughout the United States, registered nurses are being honored.

On May 6, 2012, we are joining the American Nurses Association in honoring Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring, as part of National Nurses Week, which is held May 6-12, annually. The aim of the week long festivities is to raise awareness of the significance of nursing and help educate everyone regarding the role nurses engage in meeting the health care goals of the American people.

To honor the dedication, commitment, and tireless commitment of the nearly 3.1 million registered nurses nationally to increase and care for the health and wellbeing of the US, the American Nurses Association is elated to acknowledge registered nurses in all places on this selected day for the caregiving and top quality work they provide seven days a week, 365 days a year.

In tribute to Nursing: Advocating, Leading, Caring, all registered nurses in America are encouraged to proudly wear the official ANA “RN” pin or any other pin that plainly recognizes them as registered nurses, and/or their nurses uniform on May 6, 2012.

Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring 

Often identified as an art and a science, nursing is a job that embraces committed individuals with distinct pursuits, skills and loves because of the many choices the profession has. Nurses are caregivers, work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, among others. They have many assignments – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and perform all of them with excitement for the industry and with a strong commitment to patient safety.

National Nurses Week History    

National Nurses Week starts off yearly on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. 

These solid dates improve planning and positions National Nurses Week as an organized recognition event. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day, to be recognized each year. And as of 2003, National School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week (May 6-12) each year.

The nursing business has been backed and publicized by the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1896. 

Each of ANA’s state and territorial nurses associations promotes the nursing profession at the state and regional levels. Each conducts celebrations on these dates to recognize the contributions that nurses and nursing make to the community.

If you know a registered nurse, be sure to thank him or her for their service during National Nurses Week 2012.

Caregivers at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Home Care in Downers Grove.

Enjoyable Senior Care in Lisle, IL: Observe National Garden Month with Interesting and Helpful Ideas In Your Neighborhood

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Here are some options on how to to spread the energy of gardening in your community.

Plant a Row for the Hungry at a Local Community Garden

In this land of abundance it’s difficult to envision lacking access to high quality food at a realistic price. Nonetheless, for millions of Americans, finding a healthy meal is not always simple and easy. It’s projected almost 33 million people, including 13 million children, turn to emergency food because they cannot purchase the food they need.

Hold a Plant Swap at a Local Church

The ideal plants aren’t always from your nearby garden center or seed catalog. As a replacement they are assembled through quick cuttings or by gathering seeds from the garden of a friend or family member. These “pass-along plants” deliver both grace and sentiment to your garden.

Have a Spring Cleaning Green Up Day at a Senior’s Home

Spring cleaning — indoors and out — is a ritual that marks late winter and the beginning of a brand-new season, and like many functions, it’s more fun when you share it. A senior’s home, your street, neighborhood, town park, and any other public space could use some greening up; it just takes someone to organize a small group.

Yard Sale Philanthropy

The arrival of spring, coupled with lengthier days and higher temperatures, generates dreams of green oases teeming with tomatoes and brimming with beans. Spring is also a time for cleaning out. This year, celebrate National Garden Month in an unexpected way-by visiting yard sales in search of second-hand stuff that every senior’s garden needs.

Organize a Garden Visit with Senior Friends, Over Tea!

Gardeners grow more than plants – every one of us has stories to share. For a change, why not share them in over tea? Socialization and admiration of another person’s garden brings joy to everyone.

Other tips for having fun with seniors in your area:

-Prepare or be part of a town beautification day.

-Check out your community farmers’ market.

-Compliment a neighbor on his or her garden.

-Gather with neighbors to purchase compost and mulch in bulk quantities.

-Volunteer to plant and sustain a garden at your community library.

-Submit a gardening article or essay to your nearby paper.

-Arrange to Talk With an elder to learn what foods his or her family grew when he or she was a child.

-Search for neighbors from numerousethnic groups to study about their native cuisine and gardening techniques.

-Clean up your street or a local park by picking up trash.

-Share a cutting of one of your favorite landscape or houseplants with a senior neighbor.

-Look at your gardening gear (e.g., pots, seeds, stakes) and give the excess to a neighborhood gardening program, assisted living facility or school garden.

-Celebrate other important “green” holidays: Earth Day (April 22) and National Arbor Day (April 26).

-Volunteer at your local school’s garden.

-Volunteer at a local senior center’s garden.

-Start a neighborhood garden club.

-Share your garden’s bounty with a senior neighbor.

-Have fun doing a gardening project with a senior.

-Deliver houseplants or flowers to a nursing home, assisted living or children’s hospital.

-Donate past issues of gardening magazines to your library, or buy the library a gift subscription.

Senior care counselors at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Senior Care in Lisle.

Home Care in Aurora, IL: April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month, Learn How Home Care Can Help!

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Parkinson’s disease (PD) is just like a group of disorders called motor system disorders, which are the result of the decrease in dopamine-producing brain cells.

The four primary symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or weakened balance and coordination.

As these warning signs become more definite, patients may have difficulties walking, talking, or completing other simple chores.

Parkinson’s disease usually impacts people over the age of 50.  Initial problems of PD are faint and occur steadily.  In some people the disease advances more rapidly than in others.  

As the disease advances, the shaking, or tremor, which affects the majority of PD patients may begin to hamper with day to day activities.  Other indicators may include depression and other emotional changes; difficulty in swallowing, chewing, and speaking; urinary problems or constipation; skin problems; and sleep disruptions.  

There are at the moment no blood or laboratory tests that have been proved to support in diagnosing sporadic Parkinson’s disease.  As a result the diagnosis is based on medical history and a neurological examination.  

The disease can be tricky to diagnose properly.   Medical professionals may occasionally get brain scans or laboratory tests in order to rule out other diseases.

Is there any treatment?
At present, there is no cure for PD, but a variety of medications give remarkable comfort from the indicators.  

Elder Care and Treatment
In early stages, Parkinson’s disease may not drastically interrupt your life. But for plenty of people, the disease becomes more disabling over time. Elder Care can aid patients as they become adjusted, and as the disease advances. This of course, assists them to stay independent for as long as possible. The quality of their life may rely in part on their ability to keep on working, take care of a home, care for their family, and remain independent. They may want adaptive devices such as canes or walkers as the disease takes its toll.

Elements of Home Care that are significant for a person with Parkinson’s Disease include:

•       Changing their activities and their family home, including streamlining their day to day activities and modifying the location of furniture so that they can hold something as they move about the house.

•       Eating healthy foods, including plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, cereals, legumes, poultry, fish, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products.

•       Exercising and doing physical therapy, which has benefits in both early and advanced stages of the illness.

•       Dealing with tremor, which may include putting a little weight on the hand to help reduce tremor and restore control.

•       Improving speech quality by working with a speech therapist (also called a speech-language pathologist).

•       Reducing problems with eating and drooling by changing how and what they eat.

•       Dealing with “freezing” by various means, such as stepping towards a specific target on the ground.

•       Dealing with depression. If they are feeling sad or depressed, ask a friend or family member for help. If these feelings don’t go away, or if they get worse, talk to their doctor. He or she may be able to suggest someone for you to talk to or give them medicine that will help.

•       Dealing with dementia. Dementia is common late in Parkinson’s disease. Symptoms may include confusion and memory loss. If a family member notices that they are confused a lot or have trouble thinking clearly, talk to their doctor. There are medicines that can help dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease.

Home Care counselors at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Home Care in Aurora.

Home Care in Oswego, IL Tip: Occupational Therapy Permits Seniors in Oswego to Live Life to It’s Fullest

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Occupational therapy empowers men and women of all ages to live life to its fullest by supporting them to encourage health, prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability. It is a practice that revolves around science and is evidence-based, meaning that the plan designed for each individual is supported by data, experience, and “best practices” that have been developed and established over time.

If a senior in your life is receiving home care services, you might also consider asking their physician about Occupational Therapy services that are often covered by Medicare.

Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants focus on “doing” whatever occupations or activities are meaningful to the man or woman. It is occupational therapy’s purpose to get way beyond difficulties to the alternatives that promise living life to its fullest. These remedies may be variations for how to do a task, changes to the surroundings, or assisting folks to modify their own behaviors.

When working with an occupational therapy practitioner, procedures and adjustments are tailor-made for each particular person to resolve problems, increase function, and aid everyday living tasks. The goal is to maximize potential. Through these therapeutic tactics, occupational therapy aids folks design their lives, develop needed skills, adjust their environments (e,g., home, school, or work) and build health-promoting habits and regimes that will let them to flourish.

By taking the full picture into account—a person’s psychological, physical, emotional, and social makeup as well as their environment—occupational therapy assists clients to do the following:

•           Achieve goals
•           Perform at the best level
•           Emphasis on what matters most to them
•           Maintain or rebuild their self-sufficiency
•           Participate in daily interests that they need or want to do.

Founded in 1917, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) represents the interests and concerns of more than 140,000 occupational therapists, assistants and students nationwide. The Association educates the public and advances the profession of occupational therapy by providing resources, setting standards including accreditations and serving as an advocate to improve health care. Based in Bethesda, Md., AOTA’s major programs and activities are directed toward promoting the professional development of its members and assuring consumer access to quality services so patients can maximize their individual potential. For more information, go to www.aota.org.

Home care counselors at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Home Care in Oswego.