Respite Care

Sometimes, the most effective way to communicate with someone with dementia is nonverbally.

Conversations with a senior battling with all the challenges of Alzheimer’s, especially in the middle and later stages, is often discouraging – both for you and also for the person with Alzheimer’s. Brain changes impede the ability to listen, process, and respond appropriately to conversations, and it is up to us to employ innovative approaches to communicating to more effectively connect with an individual with dementia.

It’s quite a bit easier than it might appear, however. We already communicate nonverbally in many ways:

Touch
Posture and body movement
Eye contact
Facial expressions
Gestures
Personal space

Consider these communication tips for dementia to include increased nonverbal communication into your interactions with a senior loved one:

Offer reassurance through gentle touch. If a senior loved one is comfortable with touch, hold and pat the … Read More »

Hired Hands Homecare provides tips for determining if you’re a helicopter child.

We have all heard about helicopter parents, particularly when a daughter or son leaves for college, but what about a helicopter child? Truth be told, we may be guilty of hovering a bit too closely ourselves. Finding that optimal harmony between caring and overstepping our boundaries is not easy. 

Family dynamics can make it challenging to provide care for a loved one with whom you have a difficult relationship.

When it comes to caring for a family member, family dynamics can play a big part in the caregiver’s outlook. For those who have been brought up by loving parents who provided for all their needs, providing the same standard of care may simply be second nature. But what if you’ve been scarred by childhood experiences, determined to keep your distance from difficult family members later in life, simply to end up going back to provide assistance for them in a period of need? 

AARP offers some helpful tips for family members who want to conquer old wounds in the interests of providing care:

Set emotional boundaries. It’s possible to give compassionate home care while staying emotionally detached. Just … Read More »

Trying to juggle work and caregiving can have a negative impact on everyone involved.

In the modern world, it is often difficult enough to maintain a work-life balance, but that is made nearly impossible when it comes to attempting to juggle work and caregiving. Up to 25% of employed adults are providing some level of care for aging parents or family members. How do you work a full-time job when a loved one needs care around the clock? Oftentimes, it simply is not possible. Hired Hands Homecare, providing home care in Napa, CA and the surrounding areas, has tips to help.

Hired Hands Home Care, providers of hospice care in Pleasanton, CA and nearby areas, have gathered tips for the sandwich generation.

Ask anybody in the sandwich generation if they’ve achieved a healthy life balance between caring for an older loved one, children at home, career, self-care, household management, etc., and you are likely to receive a similar refrain: perhaps a sigh of longing, a snort of frustration, or a rolling of the eyes. And if you happen to be a sandwicher yourself, you may be struggling to set aside the time to even read this article completely! Nonetheless, allow yourself just a few minutes to consider the tips for the sandwich generation below that may just help you to breathe easier and let go of some of the pressure and stress associated with striking a better work-life balance:

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Hired Hands Homecare, providers of elderly care in Santa Rosa and the surrounding areas, provides tips for overcoming caregiver dread.

What are your first thoughts when you wake up in the morning? Are you looking forward to what your day holds, or would you like to crawl back under the covers and stay there? If you are experiencing more dread than delight when you think through your caregiving responsibilities for the day, you are not alone. Overcoming caregiver dread is possible, it just takes a little presence of mind.

Contact us online or call us at (866) 940-4343 to learn about how we can help your family

Distinctly different from anxiety, depression, and even burnout, caregiver dread is an exhausted, heavy sense of duty. It comes from feelings of over commitment together with the desire to get away from obligations. … Read More »

Hired Hands Homecare, provider of senior care in Novato, CA and nearby areas, provides tips for avoiding caregiver depression.

There’s no question that it’s a wonderful honor to care for family we love. Family caregivers encounter a closeness and connection with those in their care that very often far outweighs the difficulties. Yet there are difficulties. A continuous to-do list to ensure the senior loved one you are providing care for is as happy and healthy as possible. Household duties and errands to run. Work responsibilities. The requirements of other relatives and friends. And don’t overlook self-care. The end result is an often an overwhelming quantity of stress, that if left unchecked, can easily transform into caregiver depression, which can appear in any or all of the following ways:

Thoughts of frustration, unhappiness, despair, anxiety
Trouble with falling or remaining … Read More »

Hired Hands Homecare, providers of elderly care in Napa and nearby areas, provides advice for the boomerang generation.

Thanks to the advances of science and medicine, we’re now living longer than ever before, resulting in a new responsibility for not only the sandwich generation (adults who are providing care at home for both children and aging parents) but for countless aging adults who have been coined the boomerang generation. Luckily, there are some pieces of advice for the boomerang generation that can help seniors care for their aging parents while also caring for themselves. 

“Aging together” is the term being used to describe older adults whose mother and/or father are still living and in need of support to remain safe at home. This leads to a wave of seniors uprooting and “boomeranging” back to live in close proximity … Read More »

Care management services can help families navigate care options and services.

Hiring a professional care manager could potentially make your everyday life or the life of a loved one who needs care support easier; however, are care management services the best choice for your particular situation? When determining whether or not to hire a care manager, also referred to as an Aging Life Care Professional, consider the following questions:

Are your obligations or the adult’s care issues becoming more complex and numerous than can be comfortably managed alone?
Are other family needs and responsibilities getting in the way of providing the desired amount of supervision and care for the loved one?
Are care responsibilities interfering with the paid employment of family members?
Is the current family caregiver struggling to provide the required level of care and supervision due to health issues or … Read More »

Family caregivers have many responsibilities to juggle each day.

It might have come completely without warning: an unexpected fall that resulted in a broken hip plus the need for Mom to have help and support to stay at home. Or, it may have been building up over the years, such as through the incremental and slow progression of Alzheimer’s. Regardless of the circumstances, you have now found yourself in the role of family caregiver, and maybe are wondering precisely what this means and how to navigate these uncharted waters. You could probably use some caregiver tips to help you get started.

First and foremost, take a good deep breath, and a moment to acknowledge the selflessness of your choice. Caregiving is a respectable and extremely rewarding undertaking, yet not without its challenges. A bit of proactive planning will … Read More »