Month: March 2019

When a senior falls and is unable or reluctant to seek assistance, EasyCall’sFall Detector Pendant can automatically detect falls and enable your patient to access help immediately, even if they are disoriented or don’t push the button.

Easy Call® is a Personal Emergency Response System available from Advanced Security Systems. For elder care or just to keep track of a parent or others who may need help, a push of a button will activate an alert to our professionally trained dispatchers at our 24/7 response center. Wear it on your wrist or around your neck—and it’s completely waterproof.

Easy Call® provides 100% warranty on the equipment. This includes regular maintenance, such as battery replacement, wristband or neck cord replacement and technical support if the equipment should ever malfunction.

Spring is here and with it come longer days and more opportunities to get outside. It’s also a great time to share some spring health tips to make sure the senior in your life has a healthy and safe season.

Check Up on Your Health

Along with spring cleaning in our homes, doing some routine maintenance on our bodies is a great idea for spring. Schedule an appointment with your senior’s primary care physician to get the latest readings on blood pressure, cholesterol levels, weight, and other important tests.

It’s also an ideal time to visit your dentist, optometrist, and hearing specialist for check-ups and new prescriptions.

Spring Clean Your Medicine Cabinet

Take control of your health by making sure everything in your medicine cabinet is up to date. Check bottles for expiration dates and get rid of anything old. While you’re at it, throw out any medicines you’re not using. Before recycling, be sure to peel the labels off of prescription medicine that may have sensitive personal information.

Finally, be sure to check with your local authorities on how to properly dispose of medicines. Many towns have special drop off locations for potentially hazardous medication. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has good resources online.

Take Control of Your Skin Health

Did you know you’re most likely to get a skin cancer diagnosis at age 63?  With sunnier days coming in spring, it’s good to explore ways to protect your skin. To be sure, sun exposure is critical to our health. Our bodies rely on the sun to create vitamin D, which helps with our absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate. But too much sun can expose us to harmful amounts of UVB radiation.

The FDA recently tightened regulations on over-the-counter sunscreen over fears they may be hazardous to human health. The best option is to wear protective clothing and to avoid extended periods in the sun. Remember, the sun is at its strongest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Get Creative With Nutrition

Winter’s over, and many fruits and vegetables are coming into season. Asparagus, artichokes, peas, and greens will all be ready in March and April, inviting home cooks to try out new recipes. Dig in! These veggies are full of flavor and nutrients, helping us to perk up after a long winter.

Technology shapes our lives. With today’s internet connected phones, light bulbs, door locks, and more, our homes are becoming safer and more convenient than ever. That’s great news for seniors, who often say they want to live in their homes throughout their final years. Here are some high tech products that can help you and your loved ones stay in their home for years to come.

Smart Lights

Falls are the leading cause of hospitalization for people over 65. Making sure your home is well lit can prevent many of those accidents. With smart lights, you can program lights to turn on automatically or respond to motion. By creating a schedule for your smart lights you’ll never have to worry about remembering to switch on lights. When smart lights are integrated into a smart home hub, like Amazon Alexa or Google Home, seniors can use voice commands to turn lights on and off. Seniors often find voice commands easier and more intuitive than using a smartphone app to control connected devices. Voice commands also let them control the lights from the couch without having to reach for awkwardly placed light switches.

Smart Medicine Organizers

Smart medicine organizers, sometimes called automatic pill dispensers, help you rest knowing your loved one is taking medication on schedule. These smart organizers are lockable, can be programmed with multiple schedules, and can often hold several days’ worth of medication. The New York Times’ Wirecuttersite has a great overview of smart pill organizers along with a buying guide.

Personal Emergency Response System

A reliable and automatic way to summon help in an emergency can help seniors stay in their homes as they age. Personal Emergency Response Systems, like EasyCall from Advanced Security Systems, provide the peace of mind of a 24-7 connection to police, fire, and ambulance services. EasyCall can even automatically detect falls and summon help in an instant without the senior needing to take any action.

Fire and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Life safety systems are a critical component of the overall security for your home. Early warning and monitored smoke and carbon monoxide detectors give you the peace of mind to keep everyone safe and secure. The moment these sensors detect smoke or carbon monoxide, a signal is sent to a central monitoring station that will dispatch fire and police services. There’s no need to rush to the phone; help is already on its way. Advanced Security Systems specializes in installing and monitoring these systems. In some spots—like attics and kitchens—heat detectors sense a sudden change in temperature even before smoke is created.

Care Coordination Apps

The smartphone revolution makes it easy to stay connected with each other. App developers are busy creating programs that leverage social connections to ensure our loved ones are getting the care they need. Caringbridge.org is a service that allows users to create a website that acts as a hub for issues relating to the care of a loved one. More than 700,000 CaringBridge websites have been created to share news about the health of a loved one, rally support from family and friends, and communicate privately. CaringVillage and Lotsa Hands offer similar services and apps for iPhones and iPads.

Having a conversation with your doctor can be harder than you think! You put in the effort to make the appointment and get to the doctor’s office.

You might even have a list of topics you want to cover, but before you can finish your second sentence, the doctor cuts you off.

The truth is, doctors only wait an average of 18 seconds before interrupting their patients.

Getting the most out of our time with medical professionals is important because it helps us identify health issues before they become big problems.

In other words, good doctor-patient communication supports good health.

Be prepared for your next medical visit. Check out these great tips from the National Institutes of Health for talking with your doctor.

Being a caregiver is no easy task. Your loved one’s well being depends on you being there, day or night, to help with everything from routine tasks to unexpected surprises.

Those responsibilities can place a lot of stress on us as caregivers. That’s why it’s so important to make sure we’re doing our part to stay healthy—both mentally and physically—so we can give the best care we’re capable of delivering.

Here are four ways to stay healthy and sane as a caregiver.

Prepare Yourself for a Range of Emotions

When we take on the role of caregiver for a loved one, it’s often the result of a sudden change in health or a diagnosis of a medical condition. This news can knock us off our feet, and it’s not unusual to experience emotions such as grief, disbelief, and denial as we process our new reality. Don’t feel bad when you find yourself going through good days and bad. It’s all part of the journey of being a care provider.

Get Educated

Educating yourself about your loved one’s condition will help you understand the different aspects of what they’re facing. It’s also a good idea to educate your family members and close friends, so they’ll understand what you are going through. Education is empowering, and the more you know about the health condition of your loved one, the more resources, and inspiration you’ll have to draw upon.

Build A Support Network

Creating a network of support is critical to performing your best as a caregiver. There will be days when you need to take care of yourself, so knowing you can rely on others to lend a hand is a big deal. This support can come from friends, family members, or the community. Most areas have senior resource offices that can direct you toward respite care or other forms of help that can make being a caregiver a little easier.

Your Health Matters

Make sure you’re taking the time to look after your own health. It’s easy to get swept up in the daily duties of doctor’s appointments, personal care, preparing food, and more for our loved ones.

Our health often gets overlooked, but if we’re not at our best, we can find ourselves in a situation where we need our own caregiver.

Don’t get taken out by a routine cold or flu.

Make sure you’re attending your own doctor’s visits, get the flu shot every fall, and make sure your lifestyle includes plenty of exercise and healthy eating. Our loved ones are counting on us, and staying healthy is the best way to ensure we’re up to the challenge.