Therapy Animals: Tail wags and kisses do more than you think

It's a difficult decision to make, but sometimes it becomes clear that our older loved ones need more care than we can provide at home. If you're struggling with the decision of whether or not to place your parent or spouse in an assisted living facility, this blog post is for you. Here are some signs that it might be time to start considering assisted living.1. Are simple activities becoming difficult?Assisted living facilities are designed to help seniors with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and grooming. If your loved one is struggling with any of these activities, it might be time to consider assisted living.2. Does your loved one have difficulty with living independently?Another sign that assisted living might be the best option is if your elderly loved one is having difficulty paying bills, getting around to run simple errands, or attending appointments. If getting from point A to point B has become a challenge, assisted living can help. Most facilities offer transportation services for their residents and have services on-site for a variety of needs. 3. Has there been a decline in your loved ones hygiene or appearance?Has your loved one started to neglect their personal hygiene? Are they no longer keeping up with their usual grooming routine? This could be a sign that they need assistance with activities like bathing and dressing.4. Are you noticing changes in mood or behavior?Sometimes changes in mood or behavior can be a sign of declining health. Has your usually cheerful loved one become withdrawn or depressed? Do they have sudden outbursts of anger? These changes could be indicative of a larger health issue that might be best addressed in an assisted living facility.Making the Decision TogetherOnce you have decided that assisted living is the best option, its important to involve your loved one in the decision-making process as much as possible. Let your Senior Care Authority advisor assess their care needs, explain the options, and schedule tours of places that best fit the needs of your family. Include your loved ones in the process as much as possible so they feel that they are part of the decision to choose the next place they will call home.  If possible, try not to wait too long as adaptive skills can decrease with the progression of age or cognitive decline.Finding the best senior living setting for your loved one can be an overwhelming task, but you dont have to go through it alone. The experts at Senior Care Authority are here to help! We offer a variety of services designed to help seniors live their best life possible. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you and your family. 

This May, join the Seniors Helping Seniors team in recognizing Older Americans Month. To celebrate, we want to share expert advice and tips to help seniors age healthily and happily at home. This article suggests simple lifestyle adjustments that make home life better for seniors.Many older adults want to maintain independence in a familiar environment. Feeling comfortable and supported makes a huge difference. Thats why the Seniors Helping Seniors family made this guide. Our simple tips can help seniors, and their loved ones have a healthy and happy time at home as they grow older.Read on for our easy-to-follow tips on living your best life at home during Older Americans Month and beyond.What is Older Americans Month?Older Americans Month is celebrated every May to appreciate the wonderful contributions and achievements of older Americans. This heartfelt observance, led by the Administration for Community Living, invites us to reflect on the challenges faced by seniors and ways we can promote their healthy aging.The theme for this years celebration is Powered by Connection. It focuses on the vital role of meaningful relationships in ones well-being. The Seniors Helping Seniors mission revolves around this concept. Keeping in touch with loved ones can become difficult as we age due to changes in our routines, health, or living arrangements. But staying social is key to living a happy, fulfilling life! Thats where having an in-home senior caregiver comes in. They can make a big difference in your overall well-being and help connect you with the people you care about.Seniors Helping Seniors caregivers, who are seniors themselves, become close friends with their clients. This companionship brings so much joy and comfort to our seniors, and it leads to even better care. For seniors who want to remain at home in their golden years, our caregivers provide reliable support and a caring hand whenever theyre needed. With a compassionate caregiver, older adults can age in place with confidence.Benefits of Remaining at HomeWhen it comes to deciding where to live as you get older, there are a variety of options available. While nursing homes or assisted living facilities may suit some, others may prefer to stay in their homes or communities for as long as possible. This concept of aging in place empowers seniors to maintain a sense of independence and comfort in a familiar setting. Creating an environment that caters to physical, emotional, and social needs is essential to make this happen with in-home care resources to assist you along the way.Tips For Aging in PlacePrioritize Home Safety:Assess your living environment for any potential safety hazards and make the necessary changes, like adding grab bars, removing tripping hazards, and ensuring that you have proper lighting. Seniors Helping Seniors in-home caregivers are amazing helpers who can make your home safer. Lean on them so you can relax and enjoy your time at home without worrying about any safety concerns.Improve Accessibility: Adjust furniture placement or install ramps to make the home more accessible. Your Seniors Helping Seniors caregiver can provide mobility aids and support to help you or your loved one maneuver their home more efficiently.Simplify Your To-Do List: Call in for extra support if household chores are piling up. Our Seniors Helping Seniors caregivers can lend a hand with light cleaning, home maintenance, and repairs so you can have a cozy and safe living space.Get On-the-Go Assistance: An in-home senior caregiver can offer rides to appointments, run errands, or socialize. Your caregiver would happily arrange transportation services or accompany them on these outings.Stay Connected: Make sure to participate in social activities. A Seniors Helping Seniors caregiver can join you and accompany you to community events or help you connect with others virtually. Having a reliable friend can help combat loneliness and improve overall well-being.The Seniors Helping Seniors DifferenceSeniors Helping Seniors in-home senior care services can make a significant difference in the lives of older adults. By providing support that focuses on safety, accessibility, simplified tasks, on-the-go assistance, and social connections, seniors can truly thrive in their own homes. With the help of Seniors Helping Seniorss kind and compassionate caregivers, aging in place becomes not just manageable but enjoyable. As we celebrate Older Americans Month, lets prioritize the well-being and happiness of our seniors and ensure they age with comfort, independence, and a strong sense of community.

Bring up the topic of decluttering in a conversation with older adults and youll get a variety of responses. For some, getting rid of things is easy; they may even respond with something like I love throwing things away! On the other hand, you have people who cant seem to throw anything away. You can actually see them shift into a state of panic at the thought of discarding their belongings. The majority fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, being able to confidently identify what is clearly trash, yet feeling certain about items theyre compelled to keep.Why Is It So Hard to Let Go?Clutter is common in the lives of so many. There is only one factor that makes the clutter of an older adult unique: time. The older you are, the longer youve had to accumulate things. As time passes, you attach meaning to those things which provoke certain emotions and these feelings may develop into a physical form of nostalgia. Many items can impact us emotionally, something renowned organizing and decluttering expert Marie Kondo calls objects that speak to the heart. These evoke a flood of memories and sentiment, something that provides even more significance and comfort as we age.Though it may be hard to discard possessions, holding onto too muchespecially as a senior with increasing needs for a safe environmentcan have dangerous results. What we accumulate can present challenges throughout the living environment. Clutter resulting from stacks of mail, paperwork, packages, books, magazines, holiday dcor, knickknacks, mementos, and more on and around surfaces and furniture can also contribute to feelings of confusion and overwhelm, increasing cortisol (the stress hormone) levels. Studies show clutter can also contribute to increasing dissatisfaction with life. Overall, these issues are something an older adultpossibly with increasing cognitive issuesneeds less, not more, of.Risks of Clutter and Life-Threatening InjuriesStatistics tell us that each year, 36 million Americans, or one in four adults over age 65, experience a fall. That number climbs every five years. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths for people over age 65.Increased risk of fallingWhile some falls are caused by physical decline, including balance and mobility issues, clutter in ones surroundings can raise the odds of an accident no matter what the seniors condition. It can present hazards to navigate, resulting in tripping and breaking a leg, arm, hip, neck, ribs, requiring stitches, sustaining head trauma, or suffering internal injuries.Confusion over medicationsCluttered medicine cabinets can be life-threatening for seniors. Decluttering your medicine cabinet is critical, especially for those with decreased vision. If a medicine cabinet is disorganized, it can be easy to confuse medicines ones life is dependent on. Throw away expired medications and keep them organized to reduce confusion.Limited mobilityExcess furniture can lead to many challenges for seniors with limited mobility. Not only can they have more trouble getting around on a daily basis, but this trouble can be serious if disaster strikes and they cant get through certain spaces.If doorways are blocked, or even partially blocked, first responders may have trouble entering the premises or getting into specific rooms. Also, if caregivers are working in the home, its especially important that they have a safe, adequate berth in which to maneuver and support the client. With challenges mounting as seniors age, the last thing a caregiver needs to worry about is steering a client around piles of personal belongings or oversized furniture too big for a space, or pieces of furniture placed too close together, or improperly stored equipment including walkers, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, shower chairs, and more.Health Benefits of DeclutteringThe benefits of having an organized space extend far beyond general safety conditions. Mental health experts and geriatric social workers concur that aging seniors with less clutter in their everyday lives enjoy many health benefits.Improved concentrationOne of the most noticeable differences you may experience after you declutter your living area is an improvement in your ability to concentrate. Although you may not realize it, the items in your space are constantly competing for your attention. When you are in a cluttered environment, you are essentially forcing your brain to multitask by giving it extra stimuli to filter through as you try to focus on your task at hand. As soon as you declutter your space, you will likely notice an immediate boost in your productivity.Better sleepMany older adults experience a surge in sleep disturbances as they age.Another great reason for seniors to declutter their space is that it can positively impact the quantity and quality of their sleep. You are probably familiar with the feeling you have when you get into your bed after you just cleaned your room. You feel noticeably more relaxed and ready for bed than the previous days.Interestingly enough, those with more clutter have been shown to have more difficulty not only falling asleep but also staying asleep. Those with clutter often have more sleep disturbances.Reduced stressAnother good reason to get rid of your clutter is to reduce your overall level of stress. Many studies have shown a negative correlation between those who keep their homes clutter-free and those who reside in well-organized homes. There are many reasons for this.As mentioned, having many items in your space places additional work on your brain as you force it to constantly work at filtering out irrelevant information so you can focus on whats important.There has been a study conducted that identified a relationship between homeowners and their density of household objects. They found that the higher the density of household objects, the higher their levels of cortisol tested thus indicating higher stress levels.Improved positivityWalking into a room where there is a lot of clutter can do more than add to your stress, it can also cause you to feel like you dont have your life together.If you think about it, looking at a pile of papers can easily remind you of all the things you havent completed yet, directing your attention away from everything you have accomplished. You know the phrase, out of sight out of mind. Well, that is certainly the case with a pile of papers, along with all other clutter.Using The Four Box Method for DeclutteringOne of the simplest strategies for decluttering your home is one referred to as the four box method. This method works great because it forces you to make decisions about everything you own.To use this method, you are simply going to take four boxes (trash bags can work too) and label them as one of the following.Keep/put awayDonate/sellTossStorageOne room at a time, you will use these boxes to help you categorize your belongings.For example, lets say you have made the decision to organize your home. And lets say you decided to start in your living room. You figure this is not only where you spend most of your waking hours, but it is also where you entertain your guests.When you are ready to begin, you will bring your four labeled boxes into the living room. You will then go through each item in the room and make a decision as to whether you need to keep it, donate it, throw it away, or store it.The Keep/Put Away BoxThe keep/put away box is designated for items you want to keep. Ideally, this should be the smallest box. If the item you want to keep belongs in the room you are working with, you are going immediately put it away. If the item you want to keep belongs in another room, you are going to place it in the box. This is going to help ensure you have enough space for all the items you want to keep.For example, there might be piles of magazines and miscellaneous papers on the table in your living room. In this case, you might want to sort through the pile. You may decide to keep the current magazines on the table and place the important papers in the keep box to be filed away. Any papers deemed unimportant can be placed in the trash box.The Donate/Sell BoxThe donate/sell box is going to be designated for items you want to donate or sell. These items should be in good condition. Ideally, they should be items you no longer find valuable but that may be valuable for someone else.You might have furniture in your living room taking up space. You might want to consider selling or donating it. You can even give it to someone in your family who would make better use of it.Also, take a look at unnecessary knick-knacks.The Toss BoxThe toss box is for items you decide to throw away. This should be anything you dont want any more that is unworthy of selling or donating. Think about damaged items or broken items you intended to fix but never got around to.The Storage BoxRefrain from thinking of storage as a place for items you dont know what to do with, but think of it as items you dont currently need.Seasonal items are a great example. Think about seasonal decor or holiday-specific decorations. These are items you dont need out at all times, only during the particular season or holiday time. Place the out of season items in the storage box.Clothing may be another item you may want to store. If you live in a seasonal area, you will have little to no use for a winter coat in the summer. This would be something you want to keep for the cooler months, but you dont need to have it handy in the summer. Place it in your seasonal box.Its Okay to Ask for HelpAt the end of the day, decluttering should be about letting go of the things you have weighing you down for the benefit of your quality of life. Mental health experts confirm, explaining that the process can result in feelings of accomplishment and control for seniors who are aging at home. In short, decluttering has a positive impact on so many levels.Frequently, the most difficult step is simply to start and that being the case, its okay to ask for help. Check with your county aging services department or community senior resource center on the availability of decluttering services. If youd like to learn more about how a trained caregiver can support a senior loved one to live safely at home, feel free to contact one of our friendly and resourceful Amada Senior Care advisors. Click here to find an Amada Senior Care location near you.