If you live in the Greater San Diego or Orange County area then you know we’ve been hit with some cold nights lately!

Some parts of the county have fallen to 30 degree temperatures over the last few weeks.

This is nothing compared to what our friends in the Midwest have to deal with.

Nonetheless, they are cold temperatures and if you’re caring for a loved one, there are precautions to take.

Let’s look at safety precautions you and your family should take as the weather gets colder.

4 health and safety precautions to think of as the weather gets colder

Adequate heating

Do you have enough heating in your home?

People cite cost as a reason why they may not turn on their heat.

If this is the case for you, get in touch with SDG&E (or your local electric company if you live outside San Diego county).

Gas and electric companies have special programs for the elderly and those that fall below certain income levels.

Your rates could get adjusted based on these factors so you pay an affordable rate.

You could also find out about county and government programs that could help you and your family cover heating costs.

Helping your loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s

If you have a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s, you might want to put extra precautions in place in case they wander off.

A whopping 6 in 10 people with dementia will wander.

We have heard media stories about children or older adults with dementia who have died in the cold because they wandered off.

Even though we don’t have to endure harsh winters, this is something to keep in mind.

Keeping your loved one out of the cold can protect them from respiratory tract infections, for instance.

Practical tips to do this would include:

• Install locks/latches at high and low points especially to protect your loved ones at night.
• Help your loved one with calming language when they feel disoriented. Instead of becoming impatient with them, assure them that they’re safe.
• Make sure to meet their basic needs. Your loved one may wander when a particular need -food, water, toileting-is not provided. Make sure to help them here so they don’t wander off.

Here are even more tips from the Alzheimer’s Association on how to keep your loved one from wandering.

Check on them

If you don’t live with your loved one, check on them.

Elderly adults who live alone are more likely to sustain a life-threatening injury.

You wouldn’t also know if for some reason they are unable to heat their home unless you check on them.

So check on them especially now that the weather is colder.

Pre-existing health conditions that worsen with the cold

Some people tend to get more joint pain as it gets colder.

People with any type of lung disease may also be affected by cold weather.

Make sure to check in with their doctor if there are any steps you or your loved one needs to take to prevent these episodes.

 

Following these health and safety precautions as the weather gets colder will ensure you enjoy an incident-free holiday.

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“Check on your friends who are caring for their aging parents. We are not okay.”

This was a post a Facebook friend of mine created recently.

This friend is in her late twenties and is currently caring for her parents.

Her statement made me sad, however, her situation is very common.

According to the National Alliance on Care-giving and the AARP, 48% of caregivers are between the ages of 18-49 years old. 

You’d like to enjoy your youth but at the same time, you have the responsibility of taking care of a loved one who depends on you.

What should you do?

How do you cope?

In today’s post, I’ll discuss some of the steps you can take to ensure you’re taking the best care of yourself while caring for your loved one.

Caring for the caregiver – Tips for younger caregivers

Join a support group

Whether you realize it or not, we all need support. We all do.

And especially when the responsibility of caring for an aging loved one is one you bear.

So look for support communities both online and offline where you can interact with other people going through the same things.

You will find resources in these communities you never knew about.

Plus there is the potential to form meaningful relationships that will help your mental health.

Speak to a counselor or therapist

Seeing a counselor or therapist does not mean there is something wrong with you.

Just like you get regular check ups for your physical body, it is good to get regular check ups for your mind as well.

This is where a trained mental health professional like a counselor or therapist can help you.

While there are several frameworks a mental health professional can guide you through, it does help to know that there is someone you can chat with about what you’re going through emotionally.

Look for resources from your local and state governments

Your local and state governments may have resources you can tap into.

As a caregiver, your ability to take certain jobs could greatly affect how much money you can make.

This can definitely put a financial strain on the family and be stressful.

Your local and/or state government may have resources like respite (so you can take some time off for yourself) or financial incentives for people like you. It’s worth doing your research on these types of resources.

Discuss your situation with your boss

It doesn’t hurt to discuss your situation with your boss and come to an agreement about what your work hours and responsibilities should be.

During this time, you may still need to depend on your job for an income to support yourself and your loved one.

Remote work is becoming more and more acceptable in the workplace.

If your work is something you can carry out from home, discuss it with them.

If remote work is not something they’re willing to consider, how about switching your hours?

Here’s the deal: if there is anything that can be done about your work situation to support your caregiver role, don’t hesitate to ask.

You just never know what could come out of that conversation.

What financial provisions does your aging loved one have? Find out.

Do they have a retirement fund? A savings account? Some other financial investment that could support your care-giving role?

How about healthcare plans like Medicare and Medicaid?

Ask your loved ones and work with them so that you can use this money to support them as well.

Take time out to do things for yourself.

I know.

This suggestion is a difficult one.

Between your work life and taking care of your loved one at home, where are you supposed to find the time to take care of yourself?

This may require some creativity on your part.

You may ask a friend or another family member to help out.

You could depend on respite services for help.

Or you could hire a professional home care service like our care aides at Green Tree Home Care to help you out.

Whichever path you choose, you have to realize that doing things for yourself will rejuvenate you so you can be a better caregiver.

 

Those are my tips for younger caregivers.

Are you a younger caregiver? Do you know someone who is? Did you find these tips for younger caregivers useful?

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While elderly incontinence is common, it is not a normal health condition.

In fact, because it is so common, people will not see a doctor or health practitioner until it’s too late.

In today’s post, we will go into why you should see a doctor about you or your loved one’s incontinence and what you can do to manage the condition.

Let’s delve right into it.

Incontinence defined

What exactly is incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine.

According to the National Association of Continence, over 33 million people struggle with incontinence.

If you or your loved one are going this right now, it can feel embarrassing.

It is also common for people to feel like they have lost control when they’re faced with incontinence.

But, the good news is that, incontinence can be managed and even treated if you take the right actions.

Causes of incontinence

Urinary incontinence can be caused by several factors including:

• Stress – For people who have weak muscles in their urinary tract, coughing, sneezing or constipation could cause incontinence
• Weak bladder muscles
• Enlarged prostate
• Prostate cancer
• Childbirth – Women who have had complications of childbirth or had many children may struggle with incontinence.
• Infections in the urinary tract
• Surgery – Certain surgeries that involve the bladder, prostate or a part of the urinary tract can lead to incontinence as well.
• An obstruction along the urinary tract may also lead to incontinence. This obstruction could be a tumor or a urinary stone.
• Neurological disorders can also lead to urinary incontinence. Conditions like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or a spinal cord injury can affect the action of nerves in the urinary tract and that can lead to incontinence.

Why you should see a doctor about elderly incontinence

As you may have deduced from the above, it’s important to see a doctor so they can rule out any serious cause.

Thus, my advice to you is that the moment you or your loved one notice incontinence, make plans to see your primary health practitioner. They will then likely refer you to a urologist or geriatric doctor.

If it is a tumor, your loved one may need to undergo treatments.

If it is an infection, antibiotics can be prescribed to deal with the issue.

For older adults that have chronic urinary incontinence or who have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, behavioral therapy may prove helpful in helping to control the condition.

Whatever the case is however, if you or your loved one is struggling with incontinence, don’t think you have to struggle alone.

Talk to your doctor and plan a course of action.

Managing elderly incontinence

Talk to someone. It is hard to navigate big changes like urinary incontinence for your elderly loved one.

It’s important to be honest about those feelings and talk to somebody about it.

Also, get the right supplies. These days, you have access to a wide array of incontinence products on the market. In fact, there are products that feel just like underwear but which will keep your loved one dry. There are also special bedding supplies that will help keep your loved one dry at night. Talk to your local medical supplier about what will suit your family’s needs the best.

Remember to keep them safe. A urinary accident can lead to a small puddle that can cause falls. If your loved one is not comfortable using adult diapers, create a communication system so that it can be cleaned up quickly.

And don’t forget to continue to provide excellent perineal care.

Make it easy for your loved one to travel to the bathroom when there’s a need.

If your loved one has prescriptions for incontinence, it’s important that you encourage them to follow the regimen to prevent further complications.

 

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How long does it take to pass a kidney stone?

Kidney stones are painful. There are no two ways about that.

And if you’re currently experiencing it, then you’re wondering when you’ll be free of this nuisance.

While there is no hard and fast rule as to when a kidney stone will pass, there are a number of things you can do as an individual or as a caregiver to help your loved one get rid of a kidney stone.

Passing a kidney stone – How to speed the process along

1. Regardless of the size of a kidney stone, it is important to report to a doctor immediately so they can help determine the best course of action. If the stone is small enough, the doctor might send you or your loved one home with instructions to drink more fluids so the stone can pass. Once they determine it is a large kidney stone, there are medical procedures that can be used to break up or remove the stone.
2. If your doctor determines that the stones are small enough to be passed, they will recommend that you drink more fluids. One of the causes of kidney stones is dehydration. If your body doesn’t not have enough water to dissolve the salts and minerals in your body, it can lead to kidney stones. So drinking a lot of water will help that stone pass quicker.
3. Pain medication. Kidney stones are painful. Pain killers can help to reduce the pain so you can move around and perform your daily activities. Moving around could also help with breaking apart the stones and help you or loved one pass the stones easily.

Passing a kidney stone: Special circumstances to pay attention to

Even if you’ve seen a doctor previously and you notice that your urine is cloudy, you should go again.

Cloudy urine indicates that there is an infection.

If a medical professional does not treat the infection, sepsis (the spread of bacteria through the body) can happen. Sepsis regularly causes death.

Thus, cloudy urine should move you to action immediately.

So how long again?

According to the American Urological Association, once a kidney stone makes it way to the urinary tract, it will pass within 2 days.

However, it is not unusual for a kidney stone to take up to 40 days to pass.

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You just found out you will be giving your loved one bed baths.

But you know nothing about bed baths.

And perhaps this is causing you a bit of anxiety.

I have good news for you-yes giving your first few bed baths will feel awkward. And that’s usually because giving one is brand new.

But once you get a hang of the basics, you might be able to give one in your sleep.

Well, maybe not.

But you get the point.

How to prepare to give a bed bath

There will be some emotion around it

There is always some kind of emotion around something new. If this is the very first time you’ve had to do this, you might feel nervous. Your loved one might be nervous too.

If this is your older parent, they might have feelings of sadness around not being able to take their own bath in a tub for instance.

It’s important to understand the emotions around this new thing so that you can adjust quickly and so you can find ways to help your loved one as well.

Get the supplies you’ll need

If you know ahead of time that you will be giving bed baths, now is a great time to get the supplies you will need.

I recommend storing all of the bed bath items into a small plastic basket/tub and saving it in a place you can access easily. This way, you don’t always have to frantically search for an item you need when it’s bath time.

You will need:

• 2-3 wash clothes
• A basin of water
• Soap/body wash, lotion, deodorant, dry shampoo/regular shampoo
• 2 large towel or lightweight blanket
• Clean clothes

Let your loved one know it’s bath time

Right before bath time, let your loved one know that you’ll be giving them a bath.

If they currently have memory problems, it is helpful to mention it a few times before the bed bath actually happens.

You can do this as you gather the items you’ll need to give them a bath.

Protect their dignity

Always protect the dignity of your loved one during a bed bath.

You can do this by announcing in the house that your loved one is receiving a bed bath before it happens.

Make sure to close the door behind you while a bed bath is going on.

Close windows. If it is necessary, you might also want to turn on or increase the heat in the room so they don’t get cold.

Giving the bed bath

• Wear gloves.
• Fill the basin with warm water. Place the wash cloth in the warm water.
• Place a few drops of body wash or rub soap on the wash cloth.
• Place the towels or light weight blankets on the bed to catch any moisture.
• Use the soapy wash cloth to wipe your loved one’s body. I like to start with wiping the face before cleaning other parts of the body.
• Make sure to pay special attention to those parts of the body that are usually folded over such as the armpits and around the groin.
• Perineal care is important and a bed bath is an excellent time to provide it.
• After cleaning the part of the body that is not lying on the bed, you will need to turn your loved one over so you can clean the backside of their body. If you need a tutorial on how to turn a person who is bed-bound, watch this video. I highly recommend that you get help to turn them if they are completely immobile or obese.
• Once you’ve wiped their entire body with the soapy wash cloth, you could change the water and do a second wipe down with just plain water.
• Place a dry towel around their neck area and use dry shampoo or a small amount of shampoo to help them wash their hair. If you use regular shampoo, use a wet wash cloth wipe out all the shampoo from their hair.
• Once the bed bath is over, apply lotion, deodorant and perfume (if they like that) to help them smell fresh.
• Remove all wet clothes, towels etc from the bed and help your loved one put their clothes on.
• Before you leave, make sure your loved one is comfortable in bed.

And just like that, you’re ready to give bed baths!

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