Watching your parents or grandparents grow older and more dependent on others for care may not be easy, especially when you are not always available to offer them help with their daily activities as you wish. Since their well-being is among your top priorities, you may consider sending them to a senior home where they will receive constant care and attention. On the other hand, you may decide to let the senior family member remain independent at his/her home, especially if he/she has made it a preference to receive care at home instead of at a senior care establishment. Regardless of residence, it is important to consider including caregiving services to your loved one, especially if he/she is living with Diabetes. The condition poses more severe threats to the elderly because of the possible complications that may arise, prompting additional care for the senior.
With services from Mom's Home Care, you can worry less about your loved ones lacking the necessary care for any senior person with Diabetes. Our senior care services in Los Angeles, California, ensure that all elderly under our supervision receive the best services to assist them with daily activities and manage any existing medical conditions. Our skilled and compassionate team of caregivers are happy to make house calls to private residences or visit a senior home as agreed upon to ensure that your loved one is in good hands and receives required caregiving services for a better quality of life.
The Need For Caregiving Services to Seniors Living With Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition that affects the normal blood sugar levels in the body, causing you to have low glucose supply to your body cells, or in other situations, having high glucose levels. There are two types of Diabetes, depending on the source of blood sugar irregularities in the body. Type 1 Diabetes inhibits the pancreas from producing enough insulin for the body, causing a low absorption rate of glucose into the bloodstream. The insulin hormone plays a pivotal role in glucose absorption, and having it in small amounts is detrimental for your body, with the main effect being a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. In such a case, the senior person in need of care will need several services to help him/her regulate insulin levels in the body for continuous healthy physiological functions.
On the other hand, Type 2 DIabetes is a condition that arises from too much blood sugar in the body, meaning that the insulin available will not absorb all the glucose. In this case, the pancreas, which produces insulin, will be overwhelmed and may create additional complications in the body. Type 2 Diabetes is often linked with poor lifestyle choices like unhealthy diets and little time allocated to body exercises, leading to extremely high blood sugar levels. Consequently, the person will require a caregiver to assist with routine activities steered towards healthier lifestyles that ultimately lead to sustainable blood sugar levels.
Services Available for Diabetes Care
Despite numerous efforts made by the affected senior's family to manage their conditions, it may quickly become a daunting task, mainly because they require constant attention and help with different activities that may continue for the entire day. Elderly spouses take care of each other adequately, but may eventually both require care from an external source, especially when one spouse is overwhelmed by the medical care he/she must provide for the other spouse living with Diabetes. The predicament is the same for you, primarily if you volunteer to visit the senior loved ones and provide care services now and then, catering to your spouse's and children's needs.
Thanks to our services, you can be sure of continuous support and care of your elderly parents or grandparents, without compromising their independence in carrying out daily activities. Or caregiving services aim to supplement the senior's lifestyle by ensuring that he/she sticks to healthy practices to access a less challenging life with Diabetes. Some of our care services include:
1. Assistance With Checking and Regulating Blood Sugar Levels
Since both types of Diabetes affect the normal levels of insulin in the body, leading to high or low glucose levels, it is crucial to regularly check blood sugar levels. A consistent routine to check the glucose levels will prevent any medical emergency that may attack the senior unexpectedly because of late detection of high/low blood sugar levels. Therefore, your caregiver will be responsible for tracking all checks and taking the necessary steps afterward, based on the findings from the readings made.
2. Injecting Insulin and Administering Any Other Medicine On Time
For seniors living with Type 1 Diabetes, the body depends on synthesized insulin to help in the blood sugar absorption. Subsequently, the person will need help with tracking all allocated times to inject insulin into the body, to ensure that all blood sugar levels are well regulated. The caregiver can handle the needle and the insulin packets' application to direct it into the body, especially if the senior person cannot inject himself/herself. Moreover, it will be relatively easier to track each dosage with a caregiver present, mainly because he/she can mark off all dates and administer insulin packets instead of leaving the senior to handle it. Eventually, your loved one will have consistency in blood-sugar regulation, leading to a healthier life overall.
On top of this, the doctor may prescribe the senior person additional medication to help with other body conditions that arise from Diabetes. The prescriptions vary depending on the type of situation that the senior lives with and may require prompt administration each day. Typically, the senior may find it challenging to keep up with the insulin injections and medical prescription drugs intake, meaning that he/she may neglect to take the pills. Thanks to a caregiver present to keep track of the person's consumption of all medication, you do not need to worry about your loved one missing doses that help maintain healthy body operations. The service ensures that he/she follows the doctor's guide promptly, to prevent any missed doses.
Lastly, some medications may require the patient to follow specific instructions, like taking the drugs before or after meals. Upon understanding the directives given for each prescription, the caregiver ensures that the senior obtain optimum benefits from each drug, by following the doctor's recommendations.
3. Creating a Recommended Diet Plan for the Senior
The person's diet is vital to regulate, especially if he/she is living with type 2 diabetes. In most cases, senior loved ones become susceptible to Diabetes and all other arising conditions from the lack of adequate dietary advice, coupled with lacking someone to help with preparing healthy meals for them. Consequently, most of them may opt for cheaper and more accessible food options like delivered fast food, even when the condition is already diagnosed. Therefore, the lack of opportunities and assistance with sourcing and cooking healthy food complicates any developments for the senior in creating and sticking to a healthy food diet.
The care service provider appointed to assist your loved one will ensure that he/she takes note of the senior's food preferences, and use the information to write down a plan for easily accessible healthy foods. Moreover, since our caregivers undergo intense training that educates them on the importance of each food group for different elderly persons living with medical conditions, you can trust that the plans created will be for the senior's benefit. We also recommend availing any medical recommendations provided by the senior's medical doctor, to ensure that the caregiver is aware of any existing allergies and medical supplements that should be included in the diet.
Once the caregiver gathers all necessary information, he/she will ensure that each meal presented to the senior contains all the required nutrients from different sources. The care service provider will also be keen to ensure that the food prepared and served will have a low sugar content for type 2 Diabetes, to prevent exposing the senior to more health risks. On top of that, each meal will contain lots of fruits and vegetables to supplement the carbohydrates and lean protein intake. We also ensure that your loved one receives a low-fat meal to eradicate the possibility of additional complications that all stem from Diabetes.
Also, we understand the need for high water intake levels coupled with minerals and food rich in fiber to help with digestion. Therefore, the caregiver will create a helpful routine for any senior person with difficulty taking water regularly. A good example involves creating a method whereby the care service provider provides the senior with a glass of water each time he/she uses the bathroom. In doing so, the elderly's health will improve significantly and ward off any symptoms or additional conditions caused by Diabetes.
4. Creating Different Exercise Plans for the Senior
Leading a sedentary lifestyle carries more severe consequences for seniors living with type 2 diabetes because it leads to the accumulation of high blood sugar levels. Such low-active lifestyles are additional complications that may even attract fatalities if not well taken care of. Ensuring that the senior loved one incorporates a healthy work plan in his/her life will inevitably enhance the person's health by regulating high blood sugar levels and preventing any medical emergencies.
Your caregiver is responsible for proposing manageable exercise routines to the person, to ensure that he/she does not expose the senior to risks of injury, even as he/she encourages a more active lifestyle. Hence, the caregiver may introduce low impact aerobic sessions to promote cardiovascular exercises for the senior, and slowly progress to include strength and resistance training to build muscle and increase general body strength.
If the senior has significant conditions that have already affected the legs and feet, the caregiver may choose to assist the senior in conducting simple exercises by undertaking regular daily activities. For example, if the person is well enough to walk up the stairs, the care service provider will encourage him/her to make a few trips up and down the stairs to keep the body active. As the senior gets used to these engagements, he/she will eventually take on new challenges that promote even better results, as long as proper care and caution are exercised to avoid injuries.
5. Enhancing Accountability In Diet and Exercise
Once the senior loved one gets used to a new dietary and exercise lifestyle, he/she will be motivated to maintain accountability by reporting to the caregiver on each development made after the care service provider completes a shift. The accountability partner initiative goes a long way in ensuring that the senior maintain his/her independence while still following guidelines provided by the caregiver closely. Therefore, the person enjoys the journey to healthy living more, as the care provider explains and trains the senior on new ways of handling each activity. For example, the care service provider may create a table for the senior to fill each time he/she takes a glass of water when the caregiver is not around. Thus, once a new shift begins, the senior can give daily reports of personal progress registered, to empower him/her to do better individually.
6. Improving the Senior's Quality of Life
Usually, it is difficult to live with medical conditions, on top of facing additional challenges with old age. Moreover, the senior may live alone, especially when he/she has lost a spouse, meaning that the person may always be subjected to loneliness. Therefore, having a caregiver present throughout the day or at any other agreed time will improve the senior's quality of life significantly, as he/she now has someone to engage with. Thus, the caregiver will accompany the senior to friend visits, help with hobbies like gardening, or provide good company to your loved one. The caregiver can also run some small errands like grocery shopping for the senior person, or even accompany him/her if that is the preference. With such services, you will feel more at ease, especially if you live quite a distance from your senior loved one, and cannot afford to see him/her every day.
Contact a Senior Home Care Service Agency Near Me
We want our elderly parents or grandparents, among other close family members, to receive the best quality of life, even as they enjoy old age despite living with Diabetes. Seeking senior care services will provide all the necessary care for your loved one to ensure that they are healthy and safe when you are not always around to take the responsibility yourself. At Mom's Home Care, we provide excellent senior care services across Los Angeles, California, by conducting scheduled house calls and visits to elderly homes. With our trained and professional caregivers, your loved ones are in good hands and will receive the best home care to manage their Diabetes and other related conditions. Call us today at 323-244-4789.
