The Destructive Duo: Depression and Dementia - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

Depression - the life sucking mental trap - can hamper your day to day life to a great extent. It may even become so severe that one does not want to simply live anymore and attempts to commit suicide. However, a vast number of research and studies also suggest that depression, be it early life or late life, increases the risk of developing dementia significantly.

A Review of the Studies

A research, after thoroughly examining 23 independent studies, has concluded that depression significantly increases the chances of developing dementia. This research found out the link between depression to all types of dementia. However, the risk was more prominently higher in case of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

Another study concentrating on and following up 1764 participants for eight years for depressive tendencies and the possible dementia development have found out that there are surprising amount of evidence and correlation between late-life depression and dementia.

Yet another research conducted a comprehensive review of 16 studies focused on late life depression and five studies on early life depression and have found out that both the groups had two to four times more likelihood of developing dementia than those without depression.

What’s the Link?

To frankly tell the truth the experts do not have any definite answer to this link of depression to dementia. However, what they can confer is that as depression is connected with brain changes so it makes it more likely to cause the damage in the brain cells seen in case of dementia.

What Can We Do?

Now, this is the most practical part as far as our and our loved ones’ well-being is concerned. What can we do to stave away the depressive tendencies seen in us or our loved ones?

First of all, we have to acknowledge the fact that medication really works in case of curbing depression, anxiety and other such mental illnesses. Besides, there are very effective therapies that are proven to get people out of the depressive mental closet. So, whenever you see depressive tendencies in yourself and in your loved ones contact a psychiatrist as soon as possible.

Apart from medication and therapies, there are some other environmental and lifestyle changes that you can make in order to deal with the depressive tendencies.

Lead an active life and encourage your loved ones to do the same. Do regular physical exercises, engage in social and communal activities, do some volunteering for a worthy cause and get yourself involved in artistic or creative activities.

Practice meditation. Meditation can help a lot in case of removing depression and taking you towards a bright and peaceful inner atmosphere.

Find things and activities that make you happy. It can be anything - wearing new and nice dresses, going to the woods, singing songs or listening to them, going to your favorite location in town or any other little thing that makes you feel better.

Another very important thing to remember is that while a person is suffering from depression he or she may not be aware of it or may not be even forthcoming to express their situation. So, it is up to us to keep an eye and discern the symptoms of depression in the people around us.

Whenever you see any such depressive symptoms in your loved ones then start talking with them with care and make them realize that it is an illness for which they are sad. It’s not normal sadness and it is very much curable with medication and other practices.   

Brain Health in Senior Years - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

We often observe various misconceptions and wrong ideas related with what aging does to your brain and about the things that you can do to improve your brain muscles in senior years. So, we from Comfort Keepers thought of clearing up some of the major misconceptions and at the same time guide you towards the right way to improve your brain health, memory and overall cognitive faculty.

Simple Exercise

One of the major misconceptions is that most of us think aging of the brain and the consequent decay is inevitable. However, this is not altogether a true statement. Although it is natural that with age the brain is likely to shrink but with just a bit of added measure you can also reverse the brain shrinking quite significantly. A study conducted by the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh combined have found out that just simple exercises like walking or stretching can increase the size of the hippocampus, the main area of the brain responsible for memory, up to 2% in just one year. Besides, the study also suggested that seniors who exercise regularly are likely to have less amount of amyloid, the sticky plaque found in the brain in case of Alzheimer’s disease.

Eat Fish

Another common misconception is that supplements can boost memory and brain power. This cannot be asserted for sure. The evidence and reports on this matter often portray conflicting information on the results of supplements. Although vitamin E has been shown to slow down cognitive decline with age, high doses come with some obvious side effects. However, there’s a natural brain health booster that is unknown to most of us is fish. A UCLA study has found out that among the seniors over the age of 65 who ate at least one meal a week centered on fish items had higher amount of gray matter in their hippocampus than those who had less fish or didn’t have at all. The research concluded that the more you eat fish, up to three servings per week, the lesser the chances of cognitive decline.

Learn New Things

Although many of us tend to believe that playing games like crossword puzzles help to boost our brain power but in reality, it is not exactly the case. Actually what helps is learning anything new. Be it a game like crossword puzzle or a new skill like playing a musical instrument. But, keep playing the same game won’t help. Doing repetitive tasks won't help in creating new neural connection or improving your brain but learning new things will. A recent Swedish study reports that learning a new language increased the size of some brain parts. So, keep learning new things be it small games or huge task like learning a language.

Your Mind Actually Gets Better with Age

Contrary to popular beliefs our brain actually get better with age. This happens because the left and the right hemisphere of the brain sync better due to the richness of neural connection that is achieved with age. That’s why we often see wisdom and emotional balance increasing with age. Due to the same increased left and right connectivity creativity also soars in senior years. Besides, with a huge reservoir of skills, knowledge and experience accumulated throughout the whole lifespan our senior loved ones develop a crystallized form of superior intelligence.

Now, with these ideas in your head we can rightly hope that you will never allow the negative misconceptions about aging take the upper hand on you. For any help and support regarding senior health and well being do not hesitate to contact Comfort Keepers San Mateo!

Caregiving Guidelines for Parkinson’s - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

Mayo Clinic defines Parkinson’s disease as a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease that affects our senior loved ones. It is only second to the Alzheimer’s disease in this context.

As the number of seniors increasing so is the sufferers of Parkinson’s disease. Treatment can reduce the symptoms but there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease. So, proper lifestyle management is the only solution to staying safe and continue with daily life. And home health caregivers from Comfort Keepers can render immense help and support to our senior loved ones who are suffering from Parkinson’s.

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease develop slowly. They are often unnoticed until it reaches severe stages. So, proper attention is necessary to detect the symptoms.

The symptoms also vary from person to person, however, starts to appear between the ages of 50 and 60. The major symptoms are:

●     Tremor or shaking of hands, legs and arms.

●     Stiff or aching muscles.

●     Slow and limited movement.

●     Muscle weakness, especially throat and face muscles

●     Difficulty while walking and maintaining balance.

●     Difficulty in speaking and writing

So, if you have senior adored one living among you keep be alert and keep an eye on them to discern any such symptoms. If so then take a doctor’s appointment as soon as possible and have a diagnosis.

And if you have a loved one who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease then you already know how important it is to look after them with great caution. As Parkinson's is directly connected with movement so it makes everyday life much difficult and even impossible at times. So, having professional help can make a huge lot of difference.

●     A professional in-home caregiver will not only be able to take care of your senior loved one’s daily essential tasks but they will be able to assist them with all the lifestyle changes and specific practices that are proven to help seniors with Parkinson’s stay more happy and comfortable.

●     With Parkinson’s having a healthy diet and doing daily physical exercise helps a lot in reducing the impact of the symptoms. A caregiver will be able to plan and prepare the dietary plan and the daily food menu for the best interest of the senior loved one. Besides, they will be able to direct, assist and motivate the seniors for having their daily physical exercise.

●     The possibility of sudden falls increases a lot with Parkinson’s. So, it becomes even more important to make you home fall-proof and to keep a cautious eye on your senior loved ones constantly. Both of these tasks can be achieved with a proficient home health senior caregiver.

●     In some severe cases daily essential tasks can become impossible for our senior loved ones to do without assistance. Tasks like bathing, grooming, eating and walking can become very troublesome at times. A caregiver will be able to help and support our senior loved ones with these daily life activities and can lead them to better health conditions.

●     Another thing that is important in this regard that anxiety and stress is one of the forces that increase the effect of symptoms in case of Parkinson’s disease. So, taking necessary steps to keep your senior loved ones relaxed and stress-free is task that you have to do. Even in this case having an expert caregiver who knows how to deal with such situations and knows how to direct the mental energies and movements within the senior minds with targeted activities can make all the difference.  

So, if you have a senior loved one who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease then do not delay in contacting Comfort Keepers San Mateo.

Planning for Your Retirement - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

Life in declining years poses unique situations and conditions to our lives. There arise unforeseen dangers and unwarranted mishaps without any prior notice. Moreover, in senior years one very naturally needs help and support from others. For these reasons planning for your declining years after your retirement is of superlative importance.

Most of the time our senior loved ones expect necessary help and support from their friends and family but there are almost a quarter of seniors living in the US who are single, widowed and childless, hence practically living alone without anybody to help. Another significant portion of our senior loved ones are living far away from their families due to various reasons hence they are also having to live alone.

For those seniors who have no one to seek help in their senior years, planning for retirement is even more crucial and has to be done with caution and urgency as long as they are able to make the plans and the necessary actions done or delegated.

So, we from Comfort Keepers have these thoughts, ideas and guidelines to share with our senior loved ones who are still in a position to make plans for themselves and are able to take care of themselves; as soon the days may not remain the same as it is now!

Be Economic

Save money as much as you can for your senior years and for your days after retirement. Although you do not have friends and family to take care of you, you may be able to source help from professional services. According to a 2013 report, an estimated $470 billion dollars worth of senior care are currently rendered by family caregivers. So, for the seniors who are alone, professional help is the only choice.

Organize Your Assets

Make a list of all of your assets, bank accounts and other financial accounts like insurances, mortgages etc. and save it for future. Document your financial details like account names, IDs, passwords etc. Automate your financial distributions like paying bills and other disbursements and save the necessary automation information for future reference.

Prepare Your Financial Documents

Get in contact with a trusted attorney and prepare your will and other financial documents like living trust, health care proxy, or any other document that you may need as per the advice of your financial consultant and accountants.

Choose a Health Care Surrogate

This is especially important for seniors who are looking forward to living alone. You might be able to take actions and plan for your life right now but in future, there may arise some situations when your judgment and cognitive faculty may not work properly and you will need a trusted individual to make crucial health care decisions for you. So, find someone from your acquaintances and make him your health care surrogate.

Be Socially and Communally Active

Staying socially and communally active not only boosts your physical and mental health but also will help to gather support in your senior years. Get involved in various social or religious groups. Join volunteer groups and retirement communities. This way you will have lots of people to get connected with who will be able to help you in various ways after your retirement.

Select Retirement Community and Your Senior Care Provider

It is always a good idea to browse all the options beforehand. Select one that best suits you among the best retirement communities in your region and get connected with them. Or if you want to age in your own home then you should do the same with senior home health care service providers of your choice.

Create a List of Advisors and Keep their Contacts with You

Find all the expert advisors like accountants, financial advisors, legal attorneys and medical emergency professionals and make a list of them along with their contact details. This way you will be able to get help right when you need and in times of emergency.

Preparing Food for Seniors - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

In our declining years, our teeth become weaker or even start to fall forcing us to change our eating habits drastically. However, this does not necessarily mean that one can’t enjoy tasty, delicious and nutritious food items in senior years.

With a bit of knowledge and planning, you can very easily prepare easy to chew foods that are at the same time and healthy and tasty for your senior loved ones. Here we have brought to your some necessary knowledge in this regard from Comfort Keepers. Keep reading to know how you can prepare foods for your senior loved ones easily.

Fruit Preparations

Fruits can be a great source of energy and nutrition in senior years. Cut or slice fruits into small bite size pieces so that it becomes easier for our senior loved ones to consume. Mangoes, bananas, berries, peaches, melons, etc. are soft and easy to chew. You can also prepare mashed or pureed fruit items. Another preparation can be compote made of boiled fruit mix. You can boil the fruits in sugar mixed water.

Vegetable Preparations

Food items cooked with potatoes, squash or pumpkins can be easily made and had as a side dish. You just have to peel, boil and mash these vegetables to prepare nutritious food for your senior loved one. You can do the same with beans or peas. These are great for seniors who has a chewing problem. You just have to boil and steam properly. You may also use some of the crispy vegetables like carrots and broccoli if you cook these for a long time and keep the pieces small.

Meat Preparations

Many of you may think that having meat in senior years is impossible. But no! You can make meat items that you senior loved one will enjoy with bare gums or weak teeth quite easily. Shred boneless, skinless meat from well-roasted pork, chicken or beef. Just make sure to roast it slowly. You can add some minced meat into mashed potato or vegetables. Another option could be to hash shredded precooked meat with boiled potatoes.

Grain Preparations

You can make foods with cereals like oatmeal, rice and wheat cream for your senior loved ones. You just have to make it softer. Soft banana or blueberry muffins can be another option if your remove the top hard crust from it and cut it to bite size pieces. Another option can be a bit of overcooked pasta, barley or rice. Our seniors can very well have some delicious snacks made out of peanut butter sandwiches - just remove the hard crust from the sides of the bread. 

Hopefully, with these ideas, you will never feel at a loss while preparing foods for your senior loved ones who faces difficulty chewing. For any help and support regarding senior care and wellbeing do not hesitate to contact Comfort Keepers!

Getting Started with Caregiving - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

Are you thinking of getting professional senior care help for your senior loved ones? Or would you opt for family caregiving for them? No matter what be your choice, transitioning to care-receiving for in senior years can be overwhelming at times for our senior loved ones as well as for the family members. The circumstances are totally new to us and the changes are often difficult to accept.

So, in such situation what can we do to cope up with the changing dynamics and conditions? Comfort Keepers are here with some soothing thoughts and effective guidelines.

Accept the Changes

Change is the law of nature. There's no way to fight it. So, the best way to deal with it is to accept it as it is. Try to realize this fact and make your senior loved ones understand that the changes are for their safety, good health and well-being.

Discuss

Our senior loved ones often feel discontented over receiving care. Various negative thoughts and ideas may force them to think this way. They may think that care receiving is a dependency and lack of autonomy. So, discuss with them and make them realize that care receiving is for their betterment and no one can stay safe and healthy without proper care in declining years.

Make Opinions Heard

Often in  situations like these when family members are engaged in ensuring proper care for their loved ones situations may occur when some may feel blighted thinking that their opinions are getting heard. Even our senior loved ones themselves may at times think that you are forcing your decisions upon them. So make it sure that everybody is having their say in deciding what type of care would be the best.

Make a Routine

Whenever in life we are faced with changing times it is always a good idea to sketch out a plan of actions that would carry out the change with ease. So, sit with your senior loved one and sketch out the plane make a regular routine describing the necessary changes. Besides, having a clearly planned out routine keeps the mind stable in times like this.

Ensure Care for Caregivers Too

Being too much focused on the care of the senior loved ones, it may happen that the family caregiver becoming strained or not being taken care of properly. However, for ensuring the best possible care for the seniors the caregivers also have to be in top shape. Otherwise, they won't be able to be fully in sync with their own life as well as the caregiving process.

Make Your Home Fall-proof

One thing you should be  especially aware while having a senior around is the propensity of having falls in senior years. In senior years the chances of having potentially damaging falls increase significantly for various reasons. So, be mindful and scan your home for any potential fall causing elements. Read the resources that Comfort Keepers have on fall prevention and get the expert fall prevention team to scan your home for you to make it fall proof.

With these guidelines in mind, if you approach this phase of your family life then it can be expected that the changes will be played out with ease and smoothness. And it these difficult times if you need any help regarding senior care and well being then contact Comfort Keepers San Mateo immediately!

Loneliness and Isolation Can Have Severe Effects in Senior Years - Comfort Keepers San Mateo

For various reasons many in our senior years face the difficult times of living alone. According to US census data 2010  about 28% (12.5 million) of no-institutionalized senior loved ones live alone (8.8 million women, 3.8 million men). Almost half of older women (46%) aged above 75 live alone. This is a severe problem almost reaching the stature of an epidemic.

However, we all know that loneliness and isolation can never be good for our mental and physical health. It is often the case that most of us know but do not acknowledge due to family circumstances or other reasons. But it is high time we acknowledged the issue and took necessary steps.

Loneliness and isolation are not only dangerous in senior years but also may prove to be devastating in all the phases of our life. A recent study conducted by the Brigham Young University in Utah found out that isolation and loneliness can have negative effects on health and wellbeing as adverse as obesity.

The researchers observed almost 35 years of studies and have concluded that living alone and isolation can dramatically decrease lifespan.  The study’s lead author Julianne Holt-Lunstad said in a statement, “We need to start taking our social relationships more seriously, the effect of this is comparable to obesity, something that public health takes very seriously.”

After conducting their thorough analysis on data collected from more than 3 million people they reached the conclusion that isolation and loneliness can increase the risk of early death up to 32%.

Another study conducted by the University of Chicago also found out some very disturbing link between physical health conditions and loneliness. The study pointed out that isolation and loneliness can increase the level of your stress hormone cortisol which leads to a significant increase in the chances of heart diseases and strokes. This condition can even multiply in effects in senior years. The effects of loneliness on longevity has been shown as similar to the effects of poverty, in this study. Apart from the physical effects the mental and emotional health of our loved seniors also debilitates a lot due to loneliness and isolation.

So, this is an eye opener. As more and more seniors are being pushed into living alone now a days, due to the changing social dynamics and as the 'graying of America' speeds up, the country may experience an epidemic of isolation in senior years. To deal with this serious situation, we have to implement pro-active senior care programs and services like the one from Comfort Keepers, termed as the Interactive Caregiving approach.

Interactive Caregiving from Comfort Keepers adopts a proactive attitude towards senior engagement in social activities along with involving them in their own care receiving processes. Through these interactive techniques even if the senior loved one is out of sync and connection due to depression or other issues it is possible to get them back on track to engage with people.

However, we need more such facilities made available to our seniors in order to deal with the ever-growing isolation epidemic in senior years.