Safety

How to Recognize When Your Aging Parent Needs Help

How do you know when your elderly parent needs help? Most likely, your mom or dad won’t be the one to admit they need assistance. And sometimes they may even try to hide the fact that they need additional care. We’ve put together some helpful tips to help you recognize the signs that your aging parent needs help, as well as recommendations on what you can do next. So, as you’re visiting with loved ones this holiday season, keep the following in mind: Their once tidy home is now being neglected. Does your parent seem to be having difficulty doing...

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Effectively Communicate With a Person Who Has Dementia

Caring for a loved one with dementia in Olympia poses many challenges for families and caregivers. Dementia, caused from conditions such as Alzheimer’s and related diseases, is a progressive biological brain disorder that makes it more and more difficult for those suffering from it to remember things, think clearly, communicate with others, and take care of themselves. In addition, dementia can cause mood swings and even change a person’s personality and behavior, often making communication difficult for those caring for a person with dementia. We aren’t born knowing how to communicate with a person with dementia, but we can learn. Improving your communication...

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The Benefits of Respite Care for Full-Time Caregivers

It can happen slowly or in a matter of moments.  Whether it’s for an aging parent or recovering sibling, your responsibilities in life can shift from those of a full-time employee to an unpaid caregiver. The National Alliance for Caregiving estimates 29 percent of Americans provide some sort of care to ill, disabled or aging family members or friends. Sometimes that means moving your loved one into your home. Sometimes it means daily trips to their home to provide care. Whichever it is, we also understand that you may not feel comfortable signing away complete caregiving responsibilities to a professional caretaker...

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A Guide to Having Uncomfortable Discussions with Aging Parents

Have you noticed lately that your aging parent may need more help? Perhaps you’ve seen expired food in their refrigerator? Or a mysterious new dent in the front of their car? Or perhaps they’ve started missing doses of their medication? Having difficult discussions with an aging parent can be tough, especially if your parent is having trouble accepting the fact that they may need assistance from an Olympia caregiver. You want to make sure they stay safe and healthy, but they may not see it that way. Having difficult discussions with an aging parent can be easier if you know...

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Is it time for a 'check-in' with your aging parents?

Are you taking a trip back home soon to visit your aging parents?  You might be surprised at what you find.  Older adults are pretty adept at giving a positive impression over the phone or via Facetime.  But when you get there to view their situation firsthand, it might not be what you expect. While your visiting, it might be time to start asking questions to find out everything you can about their living situation, health, financial and memorial wishes. By starting a conversation, you can work with them to develop a plan and should something serious happen, you will...

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What Can You Do When Your Aging Parents Want to Stay Living at Home?

When your aging parents or loved ones are determined to remain living independently – even if they are declining in physical or mental abilities – what options do you have? AARP reported earlier this year that 80 to 90 percent of aging people would choose to reside in their own homes for as long as possible, as opposed to moving to a nursing home or independent care facility. This desire by your elderly parents to live independently is completely understandable, but it also makes it challenging for the adult child/children who is caring for them. Many adult children actually want to accommodate...

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How to Keep Older Adults Safe in Hot Weather

We're entering the hottest part of the year in the Pacific Northwest. If you have older family members or elderly neighbors living nearby, it is important to make sure that, as temperatures rise, they are protected from the extreme heat. Here are some great hot weather safety tips that the elderly, as well as their caregivers, can follow to make sure they stay safe, cool and hydrated during these hot summer months in Olympia: Drink plenty of cool water throughout the day and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Dehydration is the root of many heat-related health problems. Eat cooling, hydrating snacks...

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How to Keep Your Aging Parents' Home Safe

June is National Safety Month, a good reminder, if your aging parents are living independently at home or a senior living facility, of how important it is to keep them safe. FirstLight Home Care – South Sound compiled this short list of home safety tips that will help you protect your aging parents from falls and accidents in their home: Start with the exterior of your parents’ home. Walk around home to check out the condition of sidewalks, handrails, lighting and vegetation or shrubs. Uneven sidewalks, loose handrails, poor lighting and overgrown landscaping could become a trip hazard. Move and put away outdoor furniture, flower pots,...

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Free Resources to Help You Care

Now you have them 24/7 with the Family Learning Center Being a family caregiver for a spouse, parent, child or loved one takes time, effort and work. You may not always have the answers, know what to expect, or how to react. Now, with our Family Learning Center, you have a free resource available for accurate information to make it easier to care for your loved one… and yourself. Never be alone… Resources ALWAYS AVAILABLE Help is as easy as connecting to the internet and logging in to our Family Learning Center, with resources that are engaging and interactive and...

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How to Balance Care with Independence for Your Loved One

by Molly Rowe We are often asked the question, how much space is safe when caring for a loved one? Is it safe to leave my husband with Alzheimer’s alone for a few hours each day? Can Mom be left alone overnight? Can Dad shower on his own? This question comes a few weeks into caregiving, when the loved one is out of crisis mode and asking for more independence, but still in danger of falling, not managing his diabetes, wandering, skipping meals, or whatever else might put him at risk. We, as caregivers, struggle because we want to give...

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