CarePlus

Author: Tom Najjar

  • Understanding a Dementia Diagnosis

    The Alzheimer’s Association’s Chief Programs officer recently posted a video that answers a variety of questions regarding a dementia diagnosis.  These questions include, “What does the diagnosis mean?” and “What do you do, say, and ask?”

    According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with everyday life.  There are different types of Dementia, and they include:
     
     
    Follow the links above to learn more about each individual condition, watch the video below, and contact us today with any questions regarding Dementia and home health care:
     

  • February- Heart Disease Awareness Month

    It is important to be aware of symptoms of Heart Disease. Identifying these symptoms and treating them early can greatly decrease your riskAmerican Heart Month graphic of Heart Disease. If you are experiencing chest, neck, jaw or arm pain, frequent indigestion, or palpitations, you could have a heart condition.

    What are some ways to prevent this? Take a look at your health. Smoking, a bad diet, obesity, little to no exercise, diabetes and many more factors can accelerate your heart condition. “Regular cardiovascular screening is important because it helps you detect risk factors in their earliest stages. This way, you can treat the risk factor with lifestyle changes and pharmacotherapies, if appropriate, before it ultimately leads to the development of cardiovascular disease.” [1] If it has been determined that you have Heart Disease, there are many resources to help make daily living less challenging.

    How Home Care Can Help

    A professional CarePlus caregiver can provide assistance with daily activities increasing the quality of life for those with Heart Disease. With homecare services in place, individuals with Heart Disease can live more comfortably spending less time trying to adjust to life’s daily demands.

    Customized Care Plans

    Dealing with the everyday difficulties of Heart Disease can be easier with assistance from a compassionate professional. CarePlus can create a customized plan for your loved one to address a variety of needs:

    • Transportation to medical appointments
    • Preparing nutritious meals and assisting with feeding
    • Transferring from bed to wheelchair to chair, as needed
    • Help with restroom use, bathing, dressing and grooming
    • Positioning to achieve proper alignment when on bed rest
    • Medication and personal safety reminders
    • Light housekeeping, running errands, and scheduling events
    • Offering friendly conversation and emotional support
    • Encouraging and planning social activities and exercise

    Information & Resources

    To request a free in-home assessment, contact CarePlus Home Health at 301-740-8870.

    Living with Heart Disease is stressful to begin with, and taking small steps to reduce stress for everyone involved.  For more information about the American heart Association please access their website or call 1-800-AHA-USA1.

    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/

    [1] Heart-Health Screenings, “American Heart Association.” http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Heart-Health-Screenings_UCM_428687_Article.jsp#.V2lKRqLgpzw (May 20, 2016).

  • Please help us #WalkOffParkinsons

    Support Parkinson Fundraising!

    Sign up for the walk on September 13th. Our team name is Good Vibrations.

    • Join us tonight (September 8th) at Ledo’s Pizza Montgomery Village from 4:00 PM -10:00 PM. The Parkinson Foundation will receive 20% of ALL dine-in and take out sales from 4 PM-10 PM when mentioning the Parkinson Foundation or CarePlus! CALL AHEAD FOR TAKEOUT – (301)-740-3351.
    • Like our Facebook page: CarePlus Facebook page – $1 per like (up to 250 likes), $0.25 per like (after 250 likes) and Andrew Ryan, will take a pie to the face, for every 10 likes.

  • Ebola: What Should You Know?

    As home care providers, we have the opportunity to serve our patients in the most intimate setting and build a strong rapport with our clientsEbola - What Should You Know graphic and their family. Lately we have been receiving more and more inquiries about the current Ebola outbreaks being mentioned in the news.  Based out of Gaithersburg, Maryland, we primarily serve patients in Maryland, however, we are starting to hear about Ebola cases here in the U.S. In addition, we have a number of  caregivers that are originally from African countries commonly associated in the news with Ebola. We wanted to share a resource provided by the Maryland-National Capital Homecare Association to help our patients and potential patients be informed about and understand the Ebola virus.

    “We wanted to provide you the link to updated information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC and partners, such as other U.S. government agencies and the World Health Organization (WHO), are actively working and taking precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola within the United States.

    Read about how contagious EVD really is. Also, please take a look at the CDC fact sheet: What You Need To Know About Ebola.”

    If you have any questions or concerns about Ebola, your personal care team here at Care Plus would love to talk to you! Just give us a call at (301) 740-8870.

  • 15 Ways to Help Someone With Dementia Avoid Falling

    With fall here, it is an appropriate time to talk about the real danger that falls can present to many of our patients and loved ones. As we age, 15 Ways to Help Someone With Dementia Avoid Falling graphicwe begin to develop problems with depth perception and judgment, and our brain and body begin to have trouble coordinating signals. Our highly trained home caregivers are well versed in the danger falls can present, as well as catching warning signs and creating preventative measures. Here is a great article with just a few of those tricks for avoiding falls.

    “You can’t completely prevent falls — accidents do happen. Adults over age 65, and older adults with dementia in particular, are at a higher risk of falling, for some well-known reasons. These include a higher use of prescription drugs, more night waking, shuffling and other coordination problems, and weakening musculature and balance.

    Most falls in people with dementia are “multifactorial,” meaning that a combination of problems contributed to the fall. This makes it especially hard to eliminate falls altogether. But it’s almost always possible to identify risk factors that can be changed or risks that can be compensated for.

    What you can do…” Continue Reading >>

    If you are worried about falls and are located in Maryland call (301) 740-8870. We provide home care and home nursing services and offer free in-home evaluation!

  • 7 Keys to Growing Old in Your Own Home

    We at CarePlus Home Health love the “aging in place” philosophy. From the familiarity and comfort to the proven health and financial 7 Keys to Growing Old in Your Own Home graphicbenefits, it is indisputable the ideal choice for those who have the opportunity. According to a recent report by the AARP Public Policy Institute and the National Conference of State Legislatures almost 90% of people over 65 want to live in their home and community as long as possible. Here’s a great article with 7 Keys to Growing Old in Your Own Home. If you or your loved one would like to learn more or need help getting started, our caregivers are the absolute best in Maryland or Northern Virgina and we are here to help you.

    “Aging in place requires planning ahead.

    Want to live in your home for the rest of your life? Boost your odds by “future-proofing” now. Older adults who are most likely to remain in their homes have successfully arranged their houses and lives in ways that maximize their ability to weather the physical and practical setbacks often associated with getting older — setbacks that can make living independently more challenging.

    Here are seven ingredients you’ll want to have in place in order to age in place:

    1. A single-story floor plan – Sure you can get up and down stairs easily now…”

    Continue Reading Tips – Basic safety upgrades, accessible utilities, transportation options, emergency alerts outsourced home maintenance & automated bill pay and other transactions >>

  • Top 10 Hidden Sources of Salt

    Did you know heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women? We understand how important your loved ones healthSalt image concerns are and we hope these tips will help.

    “After a diagnosis of heart failure, “reduce salt intake” is one of the first pieces of advice doctors offer. Sodium contributes to fluid retention, and too much sodium is one of the most common triggers for exacerbation. For this reason, doctors recommend that those with heart failure limit salt intake to 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams of sodium per day.

    But how to do that? Start by following recommendations for managing diet for heart failure. Putting away the salt shaker helps, as does learning to cook with other flavors, such as garlic, citrus, and herbs. However, many people find it’s much harder than they expected to reduce sodium intake,” Continue reading>>

  • Better Sleep for Seniors

    5 Practical Tips to Help You Sleep BetterImage of a bed

    Is your loved one or someone close to you having trouble sleeping? Our Maryland in home care givers (service areas: Gaithersburg, Germantown, Rockville, Potomac, Silver Spring, Bethesda and beyond) understand how this can affect the lives of our loved ones and we hope this information will be of help to you.

    “As we age, the architecture of our sleep changes dramatically. The deep, delectable sleep in which we’re oblivious to the outside world and its sounds, called slow wave sleep, becomes shorter and more elusive. Our total sleep time also declines. Infants sleep an average of 11.6 hours per night, but by the time we hit 70, our nighttime sleep has shrunk by nearly half, to an average of 6.6 hours.” Continue reading>>

  • 10 Ways to Live Normally With a Leaky Bladder

    Did you know you can retrain your brain, your muscles, and your habits to control an overactive bladder? Bladder control is a big issue for10 Ways to Live Normally With a Leaky Bladder graphic aging adults, family members and caregivers.    It can be embarrassing for our loved ones and our in home caregivers of Maryland are well trained and understand this challenging problem. We hope you find this information helpful.

    “Nervous about going out because your bladder sometimes leaks? Or constantly worried about getting to a bathroom on time? About one in five adults over age 40 has problems with urinary urgency and frequency, according to the National Association for Continence. But an overactive bladder (OAB), also called urge incontinence or irritable bladder, doesn’t have to cramp your lifestyle.”  Continue reading>>

  • 7 Questions to Ask the Doctor About Preventing Falls

    Falling is more common among the elderly and we understand the impact it can be for the elderly and the family. We hope these tips will 7 Questions to Ask the Doctor About Preventing Falls graphichelp you and your loved ones in preventing falls.

    “Each year one in three adults age 65 years or older falls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the possibility of serious injury from falling increases even more dramatically by the time your parents reach the age of 85.

     When accompanying your parents on a doctor visit, use the opportunity to find out if your parent is at risk for falling and what can be done to prevent a fall. The questions below should help. (Make sure to bring along all your parent’s prescriptions and over-the-counter medications.)”  Continue reading>>