When visiting an elderly family member over the holiday season, it’s the best time to begin evaluating how they are managing with their chosen lifestyle. While family members should be on the lookout for warning signs that their loved one might be struggling, the holiday season is not the right time to actually have a conversation about life changing events or cause stress. Families, can however, do an impromptu evaluation of their own and take note of things that should come up during future discussions.

Senior care experts recommend that families make note of the following things:

1. Learn about what your senior wants for the future – the holidays aren’t a time to bring up stressful conversations, but you can casually ask them about their desires for their future. If you learn they’re hoping to move closer to their grandchildren or to a warmer climate, that can help you understand for planning

2. Take a look at how they’re doing physically and mentally – simply being in a senior’s presence over the holidays will help you to evaluate their physical and mental health that could dictate their future senior care needs

3. Include the whole family – particularly if the senior you are assessing is a parent and you have siblings, everyone needs to be included in the discussions, at least until a family caregiver is decided to provide family care. Open the dialogue with your family members about the future of your loved one’s care

Via: www.stagesofseniorcare.com

Image: sxc.hu

Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

Each and every day that goes by, you might feel like you just haven’t accomplished everything you wanted to and that’s because 24 hours in a day just isn’t always enough. While we can’t increase the number of hours in the day, we would like to help you make the most out of the hours that you do have in everyday so you can increase your productivity and accomplish your goals. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be discussing the below points and providing you strategies to make your 24 hour days seem longer:

1. Sleeping for productivity

2. Eating your way to a 36 hour day

3. Learning to multi-task effectively

4. Organizing your way to success

5. Learning how to get it done faster

6. Learning while multi-tasking in your free time

7. Using technology to increase productivity

8. Turning off

9. Asking for help

Via: Gaia.com

Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

Everyone feels stress on occasion, but learning to cope with it using effective strategies is necessary to get over the hurdles. Here are some tried and true techniques, recommended by family caregivers on how they reduce their own stress and that experienced by their elderly care recipients.

“I don’t allow myself to ever get overwhelmed by stress. When I encounter a situation that causes anxiety, I take a step back, and use deep breathing techniques learned from practicing yoga. While it’s not always possible to walk away from a stressful situation, especially when caring for an elderly loved one, by practicing this method of stress management, I find things don’t affect me is much”

- Marilyn, 58

“I find that my elderly mother is often plagued by anxiety, and with so much change and uncertainty in her life, I can’t blame her. I find the best cure for stress to help make sure my mother doesn’t become too overwhelmed is to keep her engaged in social activities. By connecting with friends and family, she staves off loneliness and has more positive feelings about stressful situations.”

- Sandra, 45

“I started practicing yoga when I reached middle age, I was initially reluctant because I no longer had the flexibility I had in my 20’s. After realizing just how beneficial the relaxation techniques and physical activity was for my stress level, I encouraged my elderly mother to give a senior yoga class a try. She had concerns about her level of physical fitness, just as I had; but with modified poses and supportive apparatuses to help with the exercise, she’s experiencing the benefits too!”

- Michelle, 52

Sources:

1. American Institute of Stress

2. About

Image Source: img.webmd.com

Call Home Instead Senior Care serving elders in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga when seeking help for your aging parents - 408-370-6360.