Last night, if you were watching the 9 o’clock nightly news, you might have noticed a spry, good-looking older gal cruising the shops of downtown Chicago. And then, if you continued watching, you would have learned that that older woman was, in fact, 85 years old. According to a study taking place at Northwestern University, 85-year-old Barb Shaeffer falls under the category of superager – men and women in their 80s or older who exhibit remarkable memory and energy for their age. Since discovering this category of age-defiance, Northwestern researchers examined 12 individuals from the Chicago area who fit the
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Archives for Freedom Home Care
What is a geriatrician and how do I know if one is needed?
For senior citizens or anyone caring for an older individual, many of the signs of aging can be quite obvious. The ways to deal with those signs, however, might not be as clear. Whether it be depression, incontinence, arthritis or an increase in falls, a common question is whether the long-time family doctor has the necessary experience to provide proper care and advice. At some point in time, a visit to a geriatrician may be a good idea. But what is a geriatrician and how do I know if it’s worth it to add another doctor to the mix? According
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Alzheimer’s – 10 ways to detect it on its onset
In a recent blog post here at Freedom Home Care we reported that more than 5 million Americans age 65 and older are thought to have Alzheimer’s disease and that one person in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease approximately every 69 seconds. The numbers are staggering, but the forms of treatment are growing and improving every day. An early diagnosis will allow patients to have a say when it comes to decisions about care, transportation, living options, and financial and legal matters. Therefore, it’s important to look for early warning signs. Although Alzheimer’s usually begins after the age
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Flexing the mental muscles to maintain a healthy brain
As most of us know, the brain is like a muscle, and if you don’t flex it from time to time, valuable functions like memory can be weakened. And just as exercise stimulates the body, exercising the brain will help to keep it healthy and strong. grow grape vines Our brains are constantly hungry for new information and so is definitely true later in life. One way to feed the brain, so to speak, is to learn a new language. Taking on tasks like learning simple French of Spanish can give the brain the workout that it needs and can
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Sit and be fit with Mary Ann Wilson
Yesterday, we here at Freedom Home Care reported on the importance of maintaining healthy bones, joints and muscles in order to increase coordination and balance. In our post, we talked about the benefits that come from weight-bearing activities like taking a walk. Understanding that all older individuals might not have the mobility to get out of the home, we are happy to take advantage of the exercises suggested by the PBS series, Sit and be Fit. In it, Mary Ann Wilson focuses on healthy activities that can take place while sitting in any household chair. For the video that we’ve
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Making the bedroom a safer place for your aging loved one
This week, we here at Freedom Home Care have dedicated our blogging to in-home safety for sufferers of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Our caregivers, based in Oak Brook, Buffalo Grove, Grayslake, Highland Park, Hinsdale and Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, understand that sometimes it’s necessary to place himself or herself in the position of the patient to anticipate potential dangers in the home. “Caregivers will find that such approaches will be dependent upon the person for whom care is being provided,” say the editors at AgingCare.com. “The most important aspect of caregiving in a home is safety and security, for both the patient
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Four tips for creating a safe kitchen environment
Providing a safe home environment for a loved one suffering with Alzheimer's is a top priority. And the caregivers at Freedom Home Care understand how important it is for a patient with Alzheimer’s or dementia to be safe and comfortable in their own homes. Therefore, over the course of the next few days, we here at FHC will dedicate our blog posts to providing helpful tips and methods to ensure the utmost level of in-home safety. According to the editors at AgingCare.com, “in the long run, adapting the home environment is much easier than trying to adapt behaviors that may
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Asking the right questions regarding in-home care
Communication is truly the key to a successful in-home-care environment. As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, developing a plan before the need arises can ease the stress involved with transitioning into one’s twilight years. Therefore, creating an open forum for discussion within the family is essential when it comes to the specifics of everyday care. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the first step in exploring care options is identifying what is most important to your aging loved one. “Projecting into the future is difficult, but it is important to educate yourself about choices and communicate how you feel about
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Creating a twilight plan
Although planning for our twilight years should be on the top of our list of priorities, often times it’s not. For starters, most of us don’t want to think about getting old and potentially needing assistance. Compounding that is the fact that many individuals don’t even know where to start. One way to bring twilight planning to the top of the list is with the help of the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information website. Founded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the website provides information and resources to help a family or an individual plan for future
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FHC serves as a preferred provider for Ravinia Associates
To celebrate our staff and their professional development, we here at Freedom Home Care hosted an annual caregiver appreciation day on Aug. 3 and then followed it up with a company outing at Ravinia Park in Highland Park. Spending the day at America’s oldest outdoor music festival, we were reminded of our relationship with the Ravinia Associates in Internal Medicine Ltd. as a preferred provider. Ravinia Associates, which was recently brought into the North Shore University Health System family, serves the North Shore community by providing up-to-date quality medical care and by imparting their expertise on service providers like the ones at
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