Senior Independence

Learn some of the most common myths about hospice care and the true facts about this incredibly beneficial form of care.

If you knew that a significantly better quality of life could be achieved for someone you care about, you would not think twice about exploring that option. Yet one of the most beneficial forms of care – hospice – is one that family members shy away from, due to many different misperceptions and myths about hospice care.

Hospice is meant to help someone with a life-limiting illness find respite from pain and other difficult symptoms, while obtaining comfort as well as spiritual and emotional support. Hospice care is provided night and day, both for the individual needing care as well as family members. And, for anyone covered by Medicare, hospice care is offered for a very low … Read More »

Try these tips to help someone experiencing sleeping problems in dementia get a better night’s rest.

If it seems like a senior with dementia has completely rewritten the rules on when and how to sleep, you’re not dreaming. For reasons that aren’t yet fully understood, sleeping problems in dementia are quite common. Changes to the senior’s circadian rhythm lead to drowsy days and sleepless nights.

The development of the disease is one contributing factor. Damage to brain cells causes increased weakness, making everyday tasks and activities exhausting. Medication side effects from commonly-prescribed dementia treatments can further exacerbate the issue.

Why Is a Good Night’s Sleep Crucial for a Loved One with Alzheimer’s?

Decreased sleep quality in dementia may bring about an increase in restlessness and delusions, and can cause serious safety concerns, such as the potential for an … Read More »

Taking steps to learn how to be the best possible caregiver will improve life in a variety of ways for the person in your care – and yourself.

If someone were providing care for you, how would you want that caregiver/care receiver relationship to look? What qualities would shift that level of care from ordinary to extraordinary? Placing yourself in the shoes of the person in your care is the first step to learning how to be the best possible caregiver – something that will have a lasting impact on both your family member and yourself!

ry implementing a daily routine for seniors who are struggling with physical or cognitive functioning problems.

Life can be full of uncertainties. For seniors who are feeling less in control of particular areas of life, such as losing cognitive or physical functioning, concentrating on what can be controlled is empowering. An excellent way to help is by establishing a daily routine for seniors, personalized to a senior’s particular interests and needs.

Keep in mind that the older adult’s routine is certainly not meant to be a rigid regimen to be adhered to, but simply the basis for predictability and structure. With the older adult’s input and direction, settle on a preferred framework for every day. A sample daily routine may look like this:

Wake up at 7:30 a.m.
Handle personal hygiene needs and get dressed
Enjoy breakfast on the porch while … Read More »

We all need to understand how disrespectful talking to the elderly like babies is, and to avoid this common practice.

Watch what happens at the next family members get together when a new mother places her baby in someone’s arms. The person is likely to shift instantly into baby mode: a sing-song, high-pitched voice, exaggerated facial expressions, and overly-simplified speech. Of course, this is quite normal and actually beneficial to an infant’s growing brain. Sadly though, it is also quite common to hear people talking to the elderly like babies too. This can be so harmful to the elderly, that there’s a word to describe it: elderspeak.

A recent research study by Susan Kemper, a professor specializing in gerontology at the University of Kansas, matched senior listeners with younger speakers. Even with  the seniors’ instructions just to listen … Read More »

Learn the distinct dementia signs to watch for in Latinos.

A new study sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association is uncovering some striking results in how dementia may show differently in Hispanic people. While further research is necessary to fully understand whether these differences are the consequence of social/cultural nuances or the dementia itself, it is beneficial information for Latino families to learn the specific dementia signs to watch for in Latinos.

What Are the Unique Dementia Signs for Hispanic Seniors?

Daily Life Activities

One feature of this research was the dramatically faster decline in the capability to do everyday activities, including walking, getting dressed, and taking a shower, when compared with other ethnicities. Andrea Ochoa Lopez, the University of Houston doctoral student who performed the research, explained that the cultural dedication to caring for older relations can be … Read More »

Join us today from 10 to 3 at the 2023 Senior Disability Tech Expo!

Proudly sponsored by Sonoma County Senior Advocacy Services and HICAP.

Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Grace Pavilion
1350 Bennet Valley RD
Santa Rosa, CA

More info:  https://senioradvocacyservices.org/gva_event/2023-northern-california-tech-expo-outreach-event/

Learn what not to say to aging parents regarding driving and giving up the car keys.

As our parents grow older, it’s not always easy to know what our role as adult children should be. We want what’s best for them, but if we’re not careful, we can overstep our boundaries and find ourselves trying to parent our parents. It’s important to choose our words carefully, and to take it a step further, to know what NOT to say to aging parents.

This is especially true when safety is a concern. There’s a fine line to walk between ensuring senior parents are safe, and promoting the independent lifestyle they need and deserve. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago when our parents were meeting not just all of their own needs, but ours as well. The transition … Read More »

As many as half of all seniors living at home are not utilizing life-changing adaptive tools.

Consider the many tools you make use of each day – your phone, toothbrush, hairbrush – simple items, but ones you can’t imagine living without. For many seniors, there are basic but life-changing adaptive tools available that could mean the difference between living at home and facing a move to assisted living. Yet almost 50% of seniors living at home are not utilizing these helpful tools – even though costs are minimal.

A recent National Health and Aging Trends Study assessed the ability of older adults to execute tasks such as rising unassisted from a sitting position and walking, and discovered that a large number of the participants could benefit from assistive devices.

Not only that, but the likelihood of older adult … Read More »

Studies are showing an increase in senior falls from medications, making it imperative to know what to do to reduce fall risk.

We’ve known for a while that there are certain medications that raise the likelihood of falls for seniors. Twenty years ago, a little over half of seniors were impacted by that risk; yet today, that number has increased dramatically – to a staggering 94% of older adults who are now in danger of senior falls from medications. Additionally, deaths from such falls are happening at more than twice the earlier rate.

Researchers who observed this growing concern also discovered that between 1999 and 2017, senior prescriptions for medications that escalate fall risk were filled more than 7.8 billion times. This consists of a spike from 12 million antidepressants in 1999 to greater than 52 million in … Read More »