Healthy Heart Tips from HomeWorks

Hearts are the strongest muscles in our bodies, beating over 3.3 billion times over 80 years while we sleep, eat, laugh, and enjoy life. Like any muscle, it needs certain nutrients and exercise to keep healthy and fit — this becomes more essential as we age. Here are some of the best tips for senior heart health, from our home health aide services team:

• Exercise. 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 5 days a week is required to keep hearts in great shape, but you need not worry about running a marathon to get results. Walking, hiking, dancing, aqua aerobics, and even gardening benefit the heart and are gentle on joints, too.
• Eat the right diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for the heart, as are lean proteins and essential oils. Try to avoid or omit red meat, fatty meats, saturated fats, and salt.
• Control cholesterol and high blood pressure. High numbers here put your heart under considerable stress and force it to work harder to get blood and oxygen to the brain and body, as well as leading to increased risks of heart disease and heart attacks. To reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, speak to your physician about keeping these numbers in a healthy range and take the required medication as prescribed.
• Stop smoking. Smoking is just as bad for your heart as it is for your lungs. This unhealthy habit causes serious health problems for the heart, including increased risks of heart disease and heart attacks. However, it is important to remember that it is never too late to quit and quitting will have an almost immediate benefit. In fact, within a few months, you will be breathing easier and in just one year, reduce your risk of heart disease by half.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Managing a healthy weight is key. Like smoking, excess weight increases risks of heart disease and heart attacks. Your physician can advise you on a health and wellness plan that will help you lose weight in a safe and manageable way.
• Stop the stress. Stress, anxiety and worry can have very real effects on your physical health, including your heart. Speaking to a therapist or pastor, taking up a new hobby, socializing more or joining yoga and meditation classes for seniors, all form therapeutic outlets.

Maintain a Healthy Heart, Mind and Body with In-Home Care for the Elderly in NJ

At United Methodist Communities, we strive to offer the very best quality home health aide services for the elderly, from assisted living to elderly in-home care through HomeWorks. This program assists the elderly in the comfort of their own homes and provides them, their families and caregivers personalized, compassionate care that prioritizes health, happiness and independence. In addition to medical care and daily home care, we also offer pastoral care for spiritual and emotional support in the home.

For more information on our home health aide services in New Jersey, please contact us today or visit our website at https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/elderly-home-health-care-nj/.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/healthy-heart-tips-homeworks/

Making the Most of Summer – Safety Tips for Seniors

Long summer days are almost here and New Jersey residents will soon be swimming, barbecuing and exploring the outdoors! Although long anticipated, this weather does carry some risks for seniors, as they are more vulnerable to the effects of the heat and sun. Here are some tips from our in-home senior care specialists in NJ on how to stay safe and healthy in the heat:

• Drink lots of liquids. Dehydration is a serious risk for seniors, as they are often less aware of their bodies’ signals for liquid. This is a common part of the aging process, but is especially problematic in seniors with dementia. The recommended allowance of 8 ounces per day can include water, fruit juices, herbal tea or electrolyte drinks.
• Dress for the weather. Light, natural fabrics that allow the skin to breathe will help regulate body temperature. Dark fabrics attract heat, while lighter colors reflect it, helping to cool the body.
• Be sun safe. As we age our skin becomes more vulnerable to sun damage. Use a high SPF (sun protection factor) of 30 or more to protect skin. While outdoors wear a hat and sunglasses to block harmful UVA and UVB rays that can damage eyesight. It’s also important to stay indoors during the peak heat of the day, from around 11am to 3pm when the sun is at its strongest and the risks of burning and dehydration are highest.
• Air conditioning. Keeping the air in your home cool is the best way to stay healthy in the heat. It’s recommended that homes don’t exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit for a significant amount of time. If there is no air conditioning, visita mall, the movies or a friend’s house to get some relief. A cool bath or shower will also help regulate body temperature.
• Check in. If you have elderly loved ones or neighbors, give them a quick call on hot days to make sure they are coping with the heat. You can use the opportunity to catch up, see if their air conditioning is on and working properly or even plan an outing to somewhere cooler.
• Know the signs of heatstroke. Heatstroke can affect anyone, but seniors are especially vulnerable because they have a difficult time regulating body temperature — with potentially deadly consequences. Symptoms  include confusion and disorientation, headaches, nausea, exhaustion and a rapidly beating pulse. If you recognize these signs, call for medical attention immediately and get the affected person out of the heat and into a cool environment. Have them lie down and place ice packs or cold wet towels on their body until help arrives.

Compassionate, Skilled Senior Homecare Services in New Jersey 

At United Methodist Communities, we strive to offer the very best quality senior independent homecare options, from assisted living to in-homecare through our HomeWorks program. This program assists older adults in the comfort of their own homes and provides them, their families and caregivers with personalized, compassionate care that prioritizes health, happiness and independence. In addition to daily homecare we also offer pastoral care for spiritual and emotional support in the home.

For more information on our senior home care services for the elderly, please contact us today at https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/making-summer-safety-tips-seniors/

A Portrait of In-Home Care for Memory Impaired Adults

With over 5.5 million Americans living with dementia-related health conditions that affect memory, like Alzheimer’s, in-home care services are becoming a popular choice for families who require assistance for their loved ones, but want to stay in the comfort of their own homes. Here’s some insight into how these care services work, from one of New Jersey’s leading home health agencies.

What services can a home health aide provide? 

This will depend on the agency you choose, but it’s recommended that you look for one which can offer caregivers skilled and experienced in dealing with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.Their senior care services should include:

• Memory care. These routine-based therapeutic programs are based around your loved one’s mental strengths, requirements and unique needs. They can include everyday routines, fitness programs, music therapy and sensory stimulation by trained caregivers and therapists.
• Companion services. These services focus on providing your loved one with company, assistance in socializing and general supervision.
• Personal services. These can include all personal hygiene and grooming activities that your loved one may need help with, like bathing, dressing and more.
• Home services. This can include light housekeeping, shopping, meal preparation and managing appointments.
• Skilled nursing care. This includes medication management, wound care, physical therapy, health monitoring, coordinating between medical specialists and more, as required by your loved one.

A typical day of home healthcare for the elderly with dementia 

Because these conditions affect memory and patients can easily become confused and distressed, a typical day of home care focuses on routine. By approaching the day step-by-step from setting the table and eating food to setting aside certain times for socialization, therapy and other activities, caregivers can work with patients and prioritize their quality of life. In their supervisory role, caregivers encourage patients to hold onto and exercise a comfortable level of independence while ensuring their physical safety and well-being. Your home health aide will also monitor and report changes in health and well-being, and communicate between family and medical specialists, if required.

Speak to the specialists at United Methodist Communities for expert dementia home care 

At United Methodist Communities in New Jersey, we strive to offer the very best quality senior care options, from assisted living to in-home care through our HomeWorks program. This program assists the elderly in the comfort of their own homes and provides their families and caregivers with personalized, compassionate care that prioritizes health, happiness and independence. We can assist you with respite care, overnight care, hourly or live-in care, as well as provide experienced care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

For more information on our home health aide services, please contact us today at https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/portrait-home-care-memoryimpaired-adults/

When to Consider In-Home Care Services

In-home care services  provide seniors with compassionate, skilled assistance on a temporary or permanent basis. Here are some tips from senior home care specialists in New Jersey on evaluating if your loved one will benefit from these services.

Evaluate your loved one’s care needs 

It’s always difficult for families to accept that an elderly loved one is starting to struggle with their health and day-to-day living, but at the same time it’s important to put their quality of life first. Here are some signs to look for that indicate the senior in your life may need a helping hand:

• More regular or more severe falls.
• Unusual weight loss.
• Unwillingness to prepare meals, old or expired food in their home, burned pots and pans, etc.
• Increased car accidents or unwillingness to drive.
• Home becoming much more cluttered and unclean.
• Loss of interest in activities that used to be eagerly anticipated
• Withdrawal from socializing with friends and family.
• Bills, paperwork, etc. piling up and being neglected.
• Increasing forgetfulness and confusion, including forgetting to take medication, appointments and social engagements.

Home health agencies offer flexible, affordable care 

The main advantage of senior home care services like HomeWorks, which is offered by United Methodist Communities of New Jersey, is that you can get your loved one exactly the amount of care they require without having to move. You can even set the hours that your caregiver will work, making it easier for family caregivers to manage their own lives and careers while still supporting their elderly loved ones.

Caregivers are assigned according to your loved one’s needs and can take care of housekeeping and meal preparation, in addition to skilled nursing assistance and Alzheimer’s care. In addition to medical care and in-home respite services, we also offer pastoral care for spiritual and emotional support in the home.

For more information on our in-home care services or to get a home health aide in New Jersey, please contact us today at https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/consider-home-care-services/

What is Sitting Disease?

Unlike its name, Sitting Disease isn’t an actual disease – it’s a term used to cover the more than 30 chronic health conditions associated with sedentary behavior, like sitting.

Statistics from the Mayo Clinic show that Americans are spending more and more time indulging these behaviors, with 50% to 70% of people spending more than 6 hours a day in a sitting position and 20% to 35% of people spending more than 4 hours a day in front of the television. The study found direct links between a sedentary lifestyle and a shortened lifespan – in fact, by reducing your TV time to less than two hours a day, you can add 1.4 years onto your lifespan!

These concerns are even more serious for sedentary elderly people, as they are more at risk than ever before of developing serious health conditions, including diabetes, physical disabilities, cognitive decline, osteoporosis, heart disease and even certain cancers.

Staying active through your senior years 

Walking is great for your health and by far the most
popular low-impact exercise for older adults.

While the best way to prevent Sitting Disease is to live a more active life throughout your adult years, there is still much that you can do to reduce your risks as a senior. With the help of a specialist, you can determine how much exercise you need and how vigorously you need to exercise in order to gain a good fitness level. It’s also important to remember that ‘exercise’ doesn’t only mean going for a run – there are plenty of alternative physical activities for seniors that are safe and fun, for example:

• Dance classes
• Gardening
• Aerobics
• Yoga
• Nature walks

When it comes to fighting Sitting Disease, it’s also the little things that matter, from taking the stairs instead of waiting for the lift to choosing a walk to the shops over an hour in front of the television.

By getting into a routine of regular exercise, seniors also benefit from healthy weight loss, muscle development, and even stress reduction, all bringing a better quality of life.

Affordable and compassionate help for seniors at home

At United Methodist Communities, we strive to offer the very best quality senior care options, from assisted living to in-home senior care through our HomeWorks program. This program is about assisting seniors in the comfort of their own homes and providing them, their families and caregivers with personalized, compassionate care that prioritizes health, happiness, and independence. For more information on our at home care for seniors, contact us today.

This post originally appeared on https://umcommunities.org/blog/what-is-sitting-disease/

Home Health Aide Services: How Can We Help You Live an Abundant Life?

Home health aide services are more than simply getting household chores done or managing medication and healthcare services for seniors. They’re about providing essential support so seniors can live the fullest, most rewarding lives possible. Here’s how we do it:

• Staying in the comfort of your home and community: If moving into assisted living isn’t something you want  or simply doesn’t make sense from a financial or other perspective,senior home care services can help. By bridging that gap between full independence and living in an assisted living community, home healthaide services can make living in your home easy again. This means the comfort of familiar surroundings, as well as staying within your community and social circles.
• Health monitoring: Chronic disease management is about staying on top of medical conditions before they become a more severe problem. In an unobtrusive way, home health aides will help you track your health data to ensure more effective management of chronic diseases y. This directly leads to better health, less falls in the home and less time in hospitals.
• Emotional and spiritual support: While friends and family are a wonderful source of love and support, many seniors feel a lack of spiritual support as part of their medical and health care program. This is why HomeWorksoffers pastoral care. .Compassionate, community-based companionship brings a great source of spiritual wellbeing to many seniors and yields essential support for health and happiness.
• Custom care: Is your health still good but you’re struggling with daily housework? Does your partner need special assistance to deal with a chronic medical condition or Alzheimer’s? Whatever your needs, home care services can be tailored to meet them , so you aren’t paying more than you should be or getting more assistance than you require. These services can also be scaled up or down as you need them, making it easier and more affordable to get high quality assistance without sacrificing your independence.

Custom, affordable senior home care services in New Jersey for a full, independent life 

United Methodist Communities in New Jersey, strives to offer the very best quality senior care options, from assisted living to in-home care through our elderly in-home care HomeWorks program. This program assists older adults in the comfort of their own homes and provides them, their families and caregivers with personalized, compassionate care that prioritizes health, happiness and independence. We can assist you with in-home respite care, overnight care, hourly or live-in care, as well as experienced care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

For more information on our home health aide services for the elderly, please contact us today.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/home-health-aide-services-can-help-live-abundant-life/

Home Organization Tips For Seniors

Keeping your home well-organized is essential for any stage of life, but it is especially important for seniors. Keeping the home clutter-free and easily navigable is key to a long, healthy and enjoyable life for several reasons: First, falls are the leading cause of non-fatal and fatal injuries for the elderly. Second, recovery becomes more serious and lengthy as we age. Here are some tips from our continuing care retirement community in Sussex County, New Jersey.

• Raise your storage height: As we age, we lose flexibility and strength, which makes bending down to pick up boxes more difficult and poses an injury risk. Place boxes and stored items no lower than upper-thigh height and keep lower areas clear.
• Keep important documents together: Sorting through papers can be a mammoth task, but it’s also a very important one. Recycle anything unimportant to get rid of clutter and reduce fire risk. Place passports; insurance policies; wills; powers of attorney; and social security, tax, home and car documents together in designated folders inside a specific cupboard or desk at home.
• Medication sorting and list: Sort through all medications in the home and remove all that are expired. Make a list of all the medication and dosages your loved one is currently taking and attach it to the fridge along with any important notes. This is very useful for tracking medication and for providing doctors with essential information on your loved one’s medical status. Medication should be sorted in day-of-the-week pill boxes.
• Remove clutter, add light: It’s easy for clutter to build up in the home, especially if your loved one has lived there for decades. Unfortunately, it presents a very real tripping, health and fire hazard, so it is important to sort through belongings and keep spaces clear. This is especially important in bedrooms, passageways and on stairs. In these spaces, the floor should be kept as clear as possible, carpet should be perfectly flat, and without throw rugs. Additional lighting should be added to ensure visibility and easy around-the-clock navigation. A press-on or bedside light in the bedroom  eliminates the need for seniors to search in the dark for a wall light.

Comfortable, vibrant, independent senior living in Sussex County 

Bristol Glen, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Sussex County, New Jersey, offers seniors independence, comfort and a vibrant social life. Bristol Glen is part of United Methodist Communities, a ministry of over 100 years and experts on senior living.

Contact us to find out more about our Continuing Care Retirement Community and  book your visit today.

Original content posted on https://umcommunities.org/blog/home-organization-tips-seniors/

What’s Included In-Home Care Costs?

As the demand for senior care rises, seniors and  their families are under a fair amount of pressure to find an option that offers quality care at an affordable price.. Often, home care offers the best of both worlds – the ability to stay in your home and age-in-place, as well as keep costs down by tailoring the services to exactly what is needed. Here are some insights into what is included in the cost of in-home care for the elderly.

What makes in-home care an affordable, high quality senior care option? 

The cost of in-home care services varies from agency to agency, at a range between $15 and $35 per hour. While you may realize significant savings from staying in your own home, the biggest day-to-day savings come from strategically tailoring services to fit your needs – so you only pay for care as you need it.

Hourly care is ideal for seniors who need assistance with some daily tasks but don’t require around-the-clock care. This is also a good respite care option for family caregivers who need to find care for an elderly loved one when they need to travel or are unable to provide 24-hour care because of work or other commitments.

For seniors who require more intensive care, the services can be broadened to include overnight, live-in care or specialized Alzheimer’s or dementia care. All of these services can be scaled up or down to provide a tailored care solution that ensures that you aren’t paying for services that you don’t require.

These costs cover services that range from assistance with day-to-day tasks, pastoral care, companionship and light housekeeping, to medication management, nursing and chronic disease management.

Compassionate, certified in-home care in New Jersey 

United Methodist Communities offers high-quality senior care at affordable rates,  through our HomeWorks program. Our home health aides are fully certified in New Jersey and have senior care training and experience, so please feel free to ask for formal certification and references.

For more information on our home services, please contact us today.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/whats-included-home-care-costs/

Home healthcare: Supporting the social side of senior living

When most people think about in-home senior care, they envision trained caregivers assisting with scheduling medication, managing the home and providing personal services that assist the elderly in day-to-day living. While true, it’s missing a very significant component – supplying companionship, one-on-one interaction and keeping your loved one social, having fun and enjoying life. Here’s some insight from our senior independent home care specialists.

• Daily companionship: In addition to being fully trained and experienced caregivers, in-home senior care specialists are dedicated companions and friends. Residents are matched with caregivers with whom they get along well in order to alleviate the stress of inviting new persons into their homes. From conversation and board games to providing transport to social events, caregivers support the social side of life.
• In-Home Respite Care Services: Using respite services can support and strengthen your ability to be a caregiver. Seeking respite services is not only normal, but oftentimes essential to a caregiver’s health. United Methodist Communities offers in-home adult respite care services to seniors in various central NJ locations.
• Pastoral care: This spiritual support service is offered to seniors who would enjoy and benefit from holistic care. Our chaplains assist with clients’ spiritual needs  offering professional guidance and compassion, as well as partnering with local pastors in providing community support and companionship.

HomeWorks – Compassionate home care services for seniors in New Jersey 

At United Methodist Communities in New Jersey, we’ve developed our HomeWorks program to help the elderly and their families live full and independent lives. With an emphasis on holistic care, we tailor our services to the level of services  and companionship to meet your loved one’s specific needs.

In addition to providing assistance with daily tasks, transport and personal care, our team can assist with medication management and more. For dementia and Alzheimer’s patients, we can develop specific care routines that foster a sense of structure and help reduce stress and anxiety.

For more information on our senior home care services, please contact us today.

Original content posted on https://homeworks.umcommunities.org/blog/home-healthcare-supporting-social-side-senior-living/#