Caregivers
Beat the Heat! Important Considerations for Seniors and Caregivers
In the Bay Area, they’re forecasting TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT for the upcoming Holiday Weekend!
We all suffer in hot weather. However, for elderly and disabled people and those with chronic health conditions such as vascular disease or diabetes, the weather does not have to hit 100 degrees to cause heat stress or even deadly heat stroke.
As we age, we gradually lose the ability to perspire and regulate our body temperature. This is why older people tend to overdress — they don’t feel heat the same way anymore. Heart rates do not speed up-or return to normal-as fast during exercise. Older skin also thins and offers less protection from the sun. Poor circulation, heart, lung and kidney diseases, and high blood pressure increase the risk for heat-related illness. Being overweight or underweight also increases risk.
Medications taken for a variety of diseases … Read More »
Dementia Home Care Strategies: How to Respond to Hallucinations and Illusions
For family members providing dementia home care for a senior with Alzheimer’s disease or another kind of dementia, a number of complex effects have to be very carefully handled, but perhaps the most overwhelming consist of hallucinations, illusions, and suspicions that other individuals are out to cause him problems or ill will. False perceptions such as these arise typically in the more advanced phases of progressive dementia as a result of changes within the brain. It’s essential to first recognize the reasons behind these emotions and behaviors, and to deal with the root cause.
Hallucinations/Illusions
Causes for hallucinations may perhaps be the result of a general confusion, a medicine side effect or an infection. Seek advice from the doctor to rule out medication side effects or infections, but also monitor the person’s environment.
For example:
If the person keeps hearing someone talking: Is a … Read More »
Need Help Transferring a Senior from a Bed to a Wheelchair? Prevent Back Injury with These Tips.
The odds are certainly not in our favor: more than half of all caregivers are incurring injuries as a result of lifting or transferring an older adult. With so many family members providing care for senior loved ones, it’s imperative for them to learn proper lifting and transferring techniques, and Hired Hands Homecare, providing home care in Sonoma and the surrounding areas, is happy to share the following, which can both prevent back injury for a caregiver and protect the older adult from injury as well.
Follow the steps below carefully in the order they’re listed:
Place one foot on a footstool beside the bed (if the bed is low) to relieve pressure on your lower back.
Place the wheelchair as close as possible to the bed and perform a quick safety check on the wheelchair’s position. Make sure the brakes are locked … Read More »
Preventing Back Injuries: 10 Tips All Caregivers Should Follow
If you’re providing care for an elderly loved one at home, it’s more than likely that you’ll find yourself in situations where you need to lift, move or transfer him or her – which, if not performed correctly, can place you in danger of hurting either yourself or your senior loved one. Injuries occur most frequently when caregivers:
Have not learned proper lifting and transferring techniques
Do not recognize when they’ve reached their physical limitations
Are not equipped for the physical strain of transferring and lifting
Desire to “manage it themselves” rather than asking for help
Since back injuries are especially prevalent as a result of incorrect lifting techniques, preventing back injuries by learning proper lifting protocol is crucial. Hired Hands Homecare of California would like to share some of the top guidelines to help minimize risk of back injury for family caregivers:
Only lift what … Read More »
Celebrating Mothers!
We are so honored to be blessed
with so many wonderful MOTHERS and GRANDMOTHERS
in our Hired Hands family fold.
You are our Caregivers, our Clients, and our in-house Management Team,
and in this world of Caregiving,
you bring that maternal love and compassion and joy
with you each and every day.
You enrich our lives with your very presence.
We are so grateful that you have blessed us
with that light you shine wherever you go.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
Read More »
What Would We Do Without Espy?
“Espy” has been a caregiver for over 25 years! She became a caregiver after retiring from her career as a school principal in the Philippines. Espy loves working with many of our hospice clients. She is dedicated to helping clients move “to the other side” as she calls it. She devotes herself to making those last moments comfortable and meaningful for the whole family.
A recent client said that she relies heavily on Espy to guide her through the difficult moments when no one else is around.
Espy’s focus is on the quality of life, however that may show up. She recently was able to help a hospice client make a short outing to take in some of her favorite old sites. The trust Espy built helped this client accept help from other caregivers so she was able to remain in her … Read More »
Cat Brings the Laughter… and Wisdom!
Cat has been working for Hired Hands for 8 years. Being a veteran caregiver, she frequently takes on some of our higher acuity and more challenging clients. “I love to tell stories to make my clients laugh. Laughter is such an effective way to redirect a client who is struggling with memory issues.”
“I was a Navy Corpsman where I received fantastic training. Afterwards I worked for years as an RN in the prison system. That experience was challenging. I worked under conditions that simply would not occur in a mainstream hospital setting. I learned so much.” Cat enjoys the opportunity to work one on one with her clients. That is the big difference from her nursing days.
Cat is an avid gardener and loves eating the fruits of her labor.
“The best complement I’ve received from Hired Hands was once when I … Read More »
Lacey Makes a Difference!
Lacey has been a caregiver for 2½ years. Prior to working with seniors, she was a Nanny, working with small children. She earned her CNA and is currently working toward becoming a Registered Nurse.
“I became a caregiver because I love to interact with others, especially when they need help.” As we know mental attitude can be fundamental to a senior’s well being. You can tell that this is key in Lacey’s mind by the care she gives everyday. “What I like most about being a caregiver is being able to brighten up someone’s day, keeping them positive.”
“It really makes me feel like I am making a difference when my client says, ‘I appreciate you and everything you do for me!’”
And we appreciate you, Lacey, for making that difference for your clients! Thank you! ! !
Many Thanks to Estefania!
Estefania began working with Hired Hands in April of 2014 after earning her CNA certificate at Santa Rosa Junior Collage. She has worked with a number of clients ranging in several different levels of care.
“It’s very rewarding, working with seniors. Sometimes a simple gesture is all it takes to make a difference in someone’s day! Simple things that we take for granted can be really challenging for seniors to do for themselves. It makes me so happy and grateful for what I can do to help.”
“I had been working with client for about a year when I began to notice a decline in her condition. Then I began to notice other differences and she was becoming more withdrawn. I notified the office and they worked with the family to increase her care. Shortly after, she got pneumonia, we … Read More »
Celebrating Diversity and our Neighbors in Mexico
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Today is a day of festivity, of celebration, of color and of magic. Hired Hands Homecare is truly honored to work so closely with many, many members of the Latino Community, who make such a critically significant and important impact on the lives of the families we work with. While most of us honor and observe this day as a light and festive holiday, we recognize the immense importance of this day to the nation, history and culture of all Latinos. We can only hope that those in Washington, and across the country, can possibly re-evaluate the value and importance of our great neighbors to the south.
In the name of familia, of history and of independence, and honor… a happy Cinco de Mayo to all!
Sincerely,
The Hired Hands Homecare Family
