The FirstLight Care Corner

A Family Caregiver's Guide to Senior Safety and Emergency Preparedness

From our Care Blog

September focuses on Falls Prevention and Emergency Preparedness If you’re a family caregiver, you may, at some point, need to handle an unexpected situation when it comes to your loved one. It could be anything from helping them stay safe during a natural disaster to helping them heal after a serious fall. Family caregivers should have a plan in place to help in emergency situations. At the very least, they should have a conversation with the person they’re caring for about the potential risks and what they can do to be prepared. If you or someone you know is a...

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Let’s Talk About Dementia

From our Care Blog

World Alzheimer's Month is an international campaign every September to raise awareness and challenge the stigma that surrounds dementia. The impact of World Alzheimer's Month is growing, but the misinformation that surrounds the disease remains a global issue that requires global action. We also understand that caring for someone with dementia can be challenging and stressful. It is important for family caregivers to take care of their own physical and mental health needs by seeking respite and focusing on self-care. Throughout the year, we focus on the impact Alzheimer’s has on the family. Here are three blog posts we have...

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What are the Signs of Senior Self-Neglect?

From our Care Blog

Self-neglect among the elderly is a growing problem that commonly goes unreported. We interviewed Nurse Beckie with FirstLight Home Care to learn more about this trend and how to prevent it. What is senior self-neglect? Senior self-neglect is when an elderly person is no longer able to meet his or her basic daily needs, which can result in serious health and safety concerns. The Aging Life Care Association has found that self-neglect among seniors is a more common form of non-financial neglect encountered by most caregivers. “When it is self-neglect and the senior is not able to take care of...

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Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Caring for Your Aging Parents

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Approximately 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months [National Alliance for Caregiving, 2019]. Every day a new family caregiver becomes part of this large group of people dealing head-on with the tasks of helping their parents with daily living: personal hygiene, dressing, food preparation, walking and mobility, transportation, housekeeping, medication management and more. If you are the family caregiver - whether you’re new to the role or not - we have compiled some advice to help you avoid 5 common mistakes when caring for your aging parents. Mistake...

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5 Ways to Ease the Stress of Back to School

From our Care Blog

Back-to-school time can be stressful and hectic for kids, and let’s be honest…for parents too. As families prepare to head back to school, parents may be feeling overwhelmed by the pressure that comes from managing their family’s needs in addition to their daily work and household responsibilities. Here are five ways to ease the stress of back to school for parents and help the entire family make a healthy transition from the lazy days of summer to the structure of the school year. 1. Establish routines: Before summer comes to an end, start establishing everyone’s school-day routines to avoid shocking...

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Caring for Our Military Caregivers

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"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." -- Joseph Campbell Earlier this year, Veterans Affairs officials agreed to a set of 12 recommendations that are meant to assist family caregivers of veterans with things like including caregivers in medical check-ups, creating new training and support services and expanding research into their challenges. Read more about these recommendations. Because of the work we do in non-medical home care and the services we provide to military caregivers and their loved ones, a couple of these recommendations stood out to us: Recommendation 6: Conduct...

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Immunization Awareness for Older Adults

From our Care Blog

August is National Immunization Awareness Month, an annual observance meant to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. However, vaccines are particularly important for older adults because as you age, your immune system weakens, and it can be more difficult to fight off infections. The older you get, the more likely you are to get diseases like the flu, pneumonia, and shingles. Certain immunizations can help keep seniors from getting and spreading serious diseases that could result in poor health, medical bills and the inability to care for themselves. Getting vaccinated can help keep your older loved...

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How Sandwich Generation Caregivers Can Manage Stress

From our Care Blog

Are you part of the sandwich generation? You know, those adults who are “sandwiched” between their elderly parents and their own children. Sandwich generation caregivers are made up of people who are caring for their aging parents while also supporting their own children. This generation typically includes people in their 40s, 50s and sometimes 60s. Most of these individuals work outside the home. It is predominantly women who take on this caregiving role. The majority struggle to balance the demands that come from caring for so many. According to a 2017 Pew research report, nearly half of those aged 40...

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The Impact of Being a Spousal Caregiver

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Taking on the role of spousal caregiver can be tough, but there are a number of ways that enlisting the help of FirstLight Home Care can benefit you.

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Happy Birthday, America!

From our Care Blog

With a true national spirit of courage, integrity, sacrifice, liberty and independence we wish you a Happy Independence Day! From all of us at FirstLight Home Care, we wish you a happy 4th of July.

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