1-800-999-9883
Independence. Compassion. Care.

How to Keep Seniors Active

by

Keeping seniors active is a vital ingredient to helping them maintain their independence and good health.

That’s part of the goal each February, when National Senior Independence Month is celebrated. Educating seniors has helped more of them stay active and increased independence, but more is needed.

Some sobering statistics from the Administration on Aging illustrate that. For example, only 10 percent of Americans 65 and older meet the federal government’s guidelines for physical activity (150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise). More than 20 percent of women age 65 and over cannot walk two blocks, and 15 percent of men can’t do it.

Staying active helps reduce the risk of falls, which can have a devastating effect on seniors. One in three people age 65 or over will suffer a fall this year, so balance exercises are especially important.

Exercises can be as simple as walking regularly, lifting a small amount of weight (less than 10 pounds), or even squatting into a chair. Liberty staff members can help those receiving home care to initiate exercises through physical therapy. One way to get things started is through an in-home assessment done by Liberty staff. That assessment can help determine the proper treatment and whether a loved one may be a candidate for physical therapy.

If physical therapy is deemed to be an appropriate treatment, a Liberty physical therapist can create exercises appropriate for each individual patient.

Keeping a senior mobile is a vital part of maintaining their everyday health. Contact Liberty if we can help you or a loved one get started.

How Home Care and Hospice Can Make a Difference

by

News headlines have been splashed recently with terms such as “fiscal cliff” and “debt ceiling.” Congress has been negotiating for months on ways to reduce spending while also still providing the best services to their constituents. In many instances, finding those solutions can be incredibly challenging, yet there is one obvious step to help alleviate the some of the rising costs of healthcare, while still providing top-notch service.

Home care and hospice are both proven ways to help reduce costs. A recent study showed that when used as the first post-acute setting after a hip fracture, home care saved Medicare an average of more than $5,000 per patient. Home care can also help reduce costs through lowering rehospitalization rates and improved chronic care management, as the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation demonstrated in this video in November.

Hospice care can also reduce costs. A recent Duke study stated that hospice care reduced spending by more than $2,300 per patient compared to normal care, which typically included costly hospitalizations near death.

Most importantly, both home care and hospice care improve quality of life while providing those cost benefits. The overwhelming majority of patients prefer to receive treatment in their own homes, and both home care and hospice care allow that for patients. Studies have shown that hospice patients live longer than other patients in similar conditions, and home care patients recover faster than similar patients.

These two vital care choices should be more receptive to new patients and not more restrictive. Ending costly rehospitalizations through home care and expensive hospital stays at the end-of-life should be a primary focus of how to reduce costs in healthcare.  By utilizing home care and hospice services to a wider group of patients, we can look past “cliffs” and “ceilings” and optimistically consider a large potential of savings, all at great benefits to patients.

Returning To Daily Life After A Loss

by

The death of a loved one is one of the most devastating events in our lives. Coping with that loss can be very difficult, and people often do not know how to handle it. The demands of daily life can also make that even more challenging, but there are ways to help everyone as they try to return to their daily activities.

  1. Get professional help. Bereavement support groups can play a vital role in helping people cope with the loss of a loved one. Liberty Hospice offers support groups for loved ones of its hospice patients, and also has hospice chaplains available for spiritual guidance. There are many different support groups available in different areas. Having an outlet to discuss your loss can be a major part of the healing process.
  2. Plan ahead. Scheduling things to do can often help someone get through a difficult time. Meet up with family, friends or co-workers or even just go outside for a walk. Staying busy can help a person realize the value of their own life.
  3. Live a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining an active life keeps you mentally and physically healthy, but other steps should be taken. Make sure to eat a balanced diet, exercise when possible, and get enough rest.

Coping with the loss of a loved one is never easy, and the staff at Liberty can make a difference. Contact us for more information. We want to help.

Exploring a Challenging Conversation

by

Educating patients and their loved ones about hospice care, and how it can boost quality of life, is one of our goals at Liberty HomeCare & Hospice Services. Hospice care is not an easy topic to address – many patients feel like they are giving up, or fear that end-of-life conversations may create anxiety or added stress for loved ones.

End of life conversations can be difficult to address, but understanding the rewards from the quality of life that follow can help make starting those conversations a little easier. The vast majority of people prefer to have their end-of-life care at home, and those at the end of life typically live longer under hospice care than without it. Determining that care, and what tactics will be used in a patient’s final days, can create peace of mind and alleviate some of the stress that inevitably comes when a family member’s condition worsens.

It’s also important to start talking about end of life as early as possible, because that gives loved ones the best opportunity to express their wishes, before there may be a time when they are no longer able to speak on their own behalf.

But how do you start the conversation? We’ve created a page on our website that can help start dialogue with a patient’s doctor, which may be easier than starting that conversation with a loved one. That page includes questions to address and valuable links to make the conversation a little easier.  It discusses questions about advance directives, medical treatments, and other preferences that a patient may have.

Creating a clear plan of action will help families make the most of the remaining time they have with a loved one.

That’s what end of life care is about: increasing the quality of life for all involved.

Long Distance Caregiving: Know When to Ask for Help

by

“I wish I could do more.”

Long distance caregivers often feel that way as their loved one’s health begins to decline. Long distance caregiving presents a unique set of challenges, and it can often seem overwhelming. That feeling grows even stronger when a health crisis, such as a fall or dramatic change in condition, can thrust a caregiver into a sudden change of circumstance.

An important step is to do as much research as possible before you take action. Know what the options are before you get there, and understand what each of those options entail. Then, one of the most important steps as a long distance caregiver is to assess the situation. Determine who is involved in your loved one’s care, your loved one’s overall health, and any troubling signs. Those warning signs could include memory problems, a recent fall, or other physical ailments. Find out everything your loved one can do, what they struggle to do, and what they can’t do at all.

Figure out who can do what – whether that means delivering meals or even just the mail, providing transportation for appointments, or even just simple checking on your loved one. But, also understand your limits. As a long distance caregiver, you cannot do it all, and professional help may be the best option. Our needs assessment survey can help determine if home care may be the right choice for your loved one, and beginning the process of home care is not as complicated as it may seem.

Home care may also be the most beneficial for you, the caregiver, in this situation. Having professional help provides reassurance and ensures the best care for your loved one. Recent studies have shown that caregivers have seen reduced stress once a loved one receives professional care.

Taking that step is never easy, particularly when a crisis arises. But home care can have great results, and make the long distance caregiver understand that they are making the best choice for their loved one.

You Might Also Be Interested In

Assisted Living

Locate a housing community tailored to deliver personalized services with a caring and dedicated staff.

learn_more

Long Term Care

Find communities that offer specialized inpatient and outpatient treatment while providing comfort, dignity and peace-of-mind.

learn_more