by San Diego Home Care

How to Overcome Senior Fitness Hurdles and Improve Wellbeing

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senior fitness hurdles - at home nursing in san diego

San Diego Home Caregivers offers suggestions on how to overcome senior fitness hurdles to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle through exercise.

Establishing a routine exercise habit is challenging at any age. Working out is tedious. We would prefer not to expend the time. We’re feeling the pain from yesterday’s workout. We’ve all made excuses such as these for not staying physically fit; but frailty and advanced age make it even more difficult to stick with an exercise routine and overcome senior fitness hurdles.  

San Diego Home Caregivers, provider of in-home elder care services in San Diego and the surrounding area, is here to help older adults continue to remain physically active with suggestions to overcome the following normal senior fitness hurdles: 

  • Self-confidence: It’s natural for aging adults to feel some level of stress with the concept of achieving exercise objectives. It can be beneficial to begin slowly with exercises that are easily accomplished and advance slowly; and, encourage the senior consistently. 
  • Attitude: Attitude is so crucial when it comes to exercise. If approached negatively, it will be much more difficult to stay with an effective exercise regimen. Opt for activities that will be enjoyable and that the older person will look forward to. 
  • Pain: The expression, “No pain, no gain” actually isn’t true. Older individuals should prevent overdoing it, and scale back the level of intensity if sensing pain or discomfort. 
  • Disabilities: Older adults with physical or cognitive limitations can and should remain active according to their ability level. Consult the doctor for a referral to a personal trainer or physical therapist who can come up with a program of specialized exercises. 
  • Fear of Injury/Balance Problems: There are a range of assistive devices to permit safe, effective exercising without worry of falls while still enhancing senior fitness. 
  • Financial Concerns: It does not have to cost a lot of money to stay fit! Walking and other simplistic exercises in and around the senior’s home, making use of ordinary household objects can be incorporated into an exercise plan at little to no cost. 
  • Illness or Fatigue: Exercises can be personalized to match the older individual’s energy level, and he or she may gradually increase the endurance level over time. 

Keep in mind that the way to ongoing positive results with an exercise plan is to ensure the senior feels comfortable and safe with the plan and the exercises. If discomfort is observed in muscles or joints the next day after exercising, a reduced intensity can be put in place; and check with the doctor if the pain or discomfort continues.  

San Diego Home Caregivers will work with your loved one’s doctor to develop a safe exercise plan in accordance with his or her abilities to boost strength, independence, and overall quality of life. Contact us at 619.487.9000 to learn more about the advantages of daily exercise in improving senior fitness and to learn more about how our elder care services in San Diego and the surrounding area can help! 

by corecubed

From Frail to Fit: Best Exercises for Seniors

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exercises for seniors - elderly home care in san diego

Seniors should participate in exercises that help strengthen muscles and improve flexibility.

Exercise for seniors is not only beneficial, it’s extremely crucial to uphold as active a way of life as possible. Even seniors who are confined to a bed or wheelchair-bound have a variety of possibilities available to strengthen, increase resistance and flexibility.  

The first step is always to consult the physician to get a recommendation on the best exercises for older persons that match your loved one’s activity level and medical history. At first, exercising even for as little as a few minutes every day, repeated several times during the day, can dramatically improve the older adult’s health and wellbeing. 

Following are examples of the best exercises for seniors: 

  • Aerobics: If whole body movements are not feasible, exercises from a sitting position can be found to improve cardio strength. When possible, good possibilities include: 
    • Swimming or water aerobics 
    • Dancing 
    • Walking 
    • Tai Chi 
    • Bowling 
  • Resistance Exercises: To strengthen and build muscles, resistance exercises can be performed with elastic bands, which can be found in a variety of tensile strengths. The Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences shares that even just one day per week of resistance training helps older adults retain independence and decrease the chance of injuries. 
  • Flexibility Exercises: Stretching exercises help enhance flexibility and range of motion. Search for yoga classes at local senior or recreation centers. 
  • Dementia Exercises: In the initial stages of Alzheimer’s especially, a range of exercise possibilities are possible, and with enhanced supervision and some adjustments, can be continued as the disease progresses. Because repetition is typically comforting to those with dementia, activities including walking, riding a stationary bicycle, and folding laundry are beneficial to both the older adult’s physical and mental state. 

Motivating your older loved one to start and then stay with an exercise program is integral to success. Try these tips to make it something interesting that he or she will look forward to: 

  • Join in an exercise program with the older adult. It’s always more fun to exercise with a partner. 
  • Include favorite, upbeat music. 
  • Set aside dedicated time each and every day expressly for physical fitness, and make it a priority. 
  • Designate incentives or rewards for obtaining goals. 

For more resources on helping seniors increase activity levels, contact San Diego Home Caregivers, providers of in-home elder help in San Diego, CA and the surrounding areas. Our skilled caregivers are knowledgeable in helping seniors thrive and improve their overall wellbeing, and we love nothing more than knowing the seniors in our care are healthy and living life to the fullest! Contact us at 619.487.9000 to learn more! 

by San Diego Home Care

Geriatric Care Managers Help Families Navigate Long-Term Care Needs

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Geriatric Care Managers

Geriatric care managers work to help families find care solutions for senior loved ones.

We all desire the best for our loved ones – it’s only natural. Yet sometimes, when families are involved with an older loved one’s care, feelings about what is best may be conflicting. This can lead family members to argue with each other as opposed to working with each other. This is when it can be a good idea to bring in an outside person such as a geriatric care manager (GCM), one who understands what older adults need for long-term care and how to accomplish getting this care.

Geriatric care managers (or aging life care professionals, which is the more modern term) have the experience needed to help families in identifying what kind of care an older loved one needs and how to best coordinate long-term care. They can also function as mediators when family members end up at odds when attempting to plan eldercare for their loved one.

Consider a geriatric care manager as a “professional family member,” usually a nurse or social worker, with expertise in all of the available resources to offer help to seniors with a variety of concerns and challenges. Just a few of the numerous ways they can help include:

  • Helping families sort out complex discussions and issues
  • Addressing emotional needs
  • Collaborating with other care experts, such as a senior’s medical team
  • Making visits to the home to evaluate needs and recommend appropriate services
  • Developing both short-term and long-term care plans and goals
  • Offering much-needed relief to overloaded family caregivers

Be sure to get the answers to these kinds of questions from potential geriatric care managers:

  • Are you licensed?
  • How much experience do you have as a geriatric care manager?
  • What happens if I have an emergency after-hours?
  • Are there references I can talk to?
  • Does your agency also help with home care services?

Geriatric Care Managers and Home Care

One of the advantages of using a geriatric care manager to help coordinate care is that GCMs are specialists who are trained to work with a number of differing types of people and organizations. A GCM can help coordinate health care, work with lawyers and coordinate with your chosen in-home care agency. Home care agencies, like San Diego Home Caregivers, work seamlessly with geriatric care managers to help relieve family stress and improve quality of life in the home.

If your loved one could benefit from in home caregivers, the professionals at San Diego Home Caregivers would be happy to discuss with you how best to go about coordinating care. Call us at (619) 487-9000 to learn how to get started with our top-rated senior companion care in San Diego and the surrounding areas today.

by San Diego Home Care

How to Help Seniors Maintain Independence and Safety

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Independence and Safety at Home

Our goal is always to help seniors maintain independence and safety at home.

Ask most elderly people if they wish to stay in their home, even if they are having difficulty coping, and the reply is normally a resounding “yes!” Having to move away from their home, the place which includes so many memories, can be frightening, even if they realize that it’s getting more challenging to cope. But, wishing to continue to be at home and having the option to remain at home, all alone, are two different things. So what can you do? Even as a full-time, live-in family caregiver, you are not able to do it all independently. You need help and it may be that our elder care services are the solution.

Lots of families find that planning for this kind of care necessitates the input of a professional who thoroughly understands all of the options. And it’s true — appropriate care coordination from an aging care specialist will help every person involved feel much more organized and secure.

Who Can Help?

Many older people have the need for assistance with a number of aspects of their life, including meal preparation, getting to and from doctors’ appointments, taking medications, and conducting the activities of daily living. Trying to organize all of these facets can be a daunting task for a family caregiver. What many people do not recognize is that home care agencies, like San Diego Home Caregivers, can help identify, locate, and coordinate all of the components for successful aging care at home. They can even unearth possibilities that may not have been first considered.

Home care agencies have resources and contacts that can be incredibly beneficial for families who are in the process of planning for long-term care. Our experienced caregivers are always on hand for help with senior in-home care in San Diego and the surrounding communities. We can help you figure out the right plan of care for your loved one and assist with all his / her care needs, always customized to each individual and including a wide variety of services, such as:

  • Assistance with personal hygiene needs, such as showering, dressing, etc.
  • Planning and preparing nutritious meals
  • Providing friendly companionship to boost socialization
  • Light housecleaning and laundry
  • Errand-running, such as grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions
  • Transportation and accompaniment to medical appointments and pleasant outings
  • And much more

Call us at (619) 487-9000, so we can arrange for an in-home evaluation to learn more about the challenges your loved one is facing, and offer solutions. We would love to share more about our senior in-home care in San Diego, CA and the surrounding areas.