Did you realize that writing offers several health advantages? Most people do not equate writing with the elderly, yet there are several benefits to starting or continuing this hobby far into your golden years. Writing may take numerous forms specific to an individual’s requirements and interests. This can be added to a senior’s daily routine with the help of senior home cares providers‘ guidance and encouragement.

It’s time to encourage your loved one to start a gratitude journal, bullet journal, or something like creative writing. This activity can be mentally healthy but also help a senior organize their thoughts in a way that helps them cope with feelings or stress.

Here are some benefits seniors may have by writing regularly. Their senior home care aides can encourage this activity.

Writing Helps Stimulate Cognitive Function

Senior Home Care Morris County NJ – Why Seniors Should Take Up Writing

Writing things down might help you recall them later. This is how we learned for all those years in school. Seeing things written down and reading them back to oneself improves memory and understanding, leading to better cognitive processing. If you haven’t often been writing, getting back into the habit can help you develop new neural pathways and connections, which will help keep your brain fresh.

Being Creative Can Be a Stress Reducer and Improve Sleep

There’s a reason why therapists advise keeping a notebook. Putting our overwhelming thoughts and feelings on paper allows our brains to analyze and organize our emotions and responses to what is going on in our lives. Writing down our feelings will enable us to investigate, comprehend, and overcome challenging circumstances.

Have you ever woken up in the night, unable to sleep because your mind is racing at a million miles per hour? When we are overburdened with everything from to-do lists to major life choices, it is difficult for our brains to switch off and relax. Writing is beneficial. You might develop job lists for the following day to help you relax and not forget anything. You may also write down your ideas and emotions, so they don’t live just in your mind. If you replace screen time with journal time, you will notice a significant difference in how fast a senior can get back to sleep.

Writing Can Help Battle Senior Blues and Put Their Minds At Ease

Writing in a journal has been demonstrated to alleviate symptoms of depression, and this is generally acknowledged. This habit, which is exclusive to seniors, may help them cope with aging and associated lifestyle adjustments. It may encourage awareness and assist older folks in living in the present rather than worrying about the future. Furthermore, journaling may aid in processing complicated emotions and tough medical conditions.

Some elderly people approach journaling as if they were writing a memoir. Parents may write letters to their children or grandkids as part of the legacy they intend to leave behind. They may also consider their diaries to be something significant to pass along to their descendants. Knowing that they’ve conveyed their desires, goals, proudest moments, finest advice, life lessons, and so on with the people they love. It is certainly a blessing to pass on something like this to future generations.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Senior Home Care Services in Morris County NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris, and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.

As the weather is heating up, family summer gatherings will be taking place outdoors. Summer means graduation parties, picnics, Fourth of July celebrations, and all kinds of outdoor gatherings. Getting together with family for some great food outdoors is one of the best things about the summer. But if you’re going to have a senior attending your outdoor gatherings this summer there are some things that you should do to make sure that your senior loved one will be comfortable. Having a senior home care aide attend too could be advantageous.

Arrange for Senior Home Care Aides

Senior Home Care Union County NJ – Tips For Keeping Seniors Cool At Family Summer Gatherings

Senior home care services are something that seniors who are aging in place should have anyway. But you should have a care provider come to the gathering with your senior loved one so that your senior parent will have someone paying attention to them at all times. That way you don’t have to worry about whether or not your senior loved one needs something when you are also trying to manage the party and see to the other guests. A senior home care provider who is there to take care of your senior parent can make sure that your senior parent eats, stays hydrated, and isn’t getting sick from the sun.

Provide Shade

There should be some shady areas available for all of your guests, but especially for any senior guests. An outdoor patio table with a wide umbrella is a good option. So is a curtain strung over a pergola or even a backyard event tent where your senior loved one can rest in the shade and avoid bugs. If it’s humid out then you may want to put some battery-operated fans out on the deck too to keep the air flowing and prevent people from getting overheated.

Put Out Comfortable Furniture

Picnic table benches, Adirondack chairs, and other outdoor furniture may not be very comfortable for your senior guests. Chairs that are low may also be difficult for them to get out of. When you’re setting up for the party make sure that some comfortable chairs or outdoor sofas are available for your senior loved one. You may even want to move some of the comfortable chairs from the house out to the deck or patio just for the day so that there is plenty of comfortable seating available.

Make Sure The House Is Accessible

Your senior loved one may need to go inside the air-conditioned house if it’s too warm. And they will probably need to go into the house to use the restroom. So make sure that the house is accessible for your senior parent. If there are steps that they need to go up or down make sure there is a strong railing and help them get up and down. Make sure that there is a non-slip rug on the floor so that seniors don’t slip and fall. And keep the walkways free from spills so that your senior won’t accidentally take a tumble.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Senior Home Care Services in Union County NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris, and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.

Does your elderly loved one seem down a lot of the time? Sometimes, it is just the weather or gloomy days that bring an elderly person’s mood down. Other times, it is much more than that. Your elderly loved one might be experiencing some anxiety, stress, or even depression. No matter what the case might be for them, it is crucial that you and your elderly loved one know that positive living is possible in their life. There are many ways that they can make their days and overall lifestyle more positive and home care assistance providers can help them achieve this.

Spending Time with Positive People

Home Care Assistance Warren NJ – Tips for Positive Living for the Elderly

One way that your elderly loved one can live a positive lifestyle is by spending time around others who think and act in positive ways. Think about it – when you spend time around someone who is laughing and having a good time, you generally feel better than when you are around someone who seems negative and depressed. This would be the same for your elderly loved one. If they don’t have many people in their life who have positive energy or lifestyle, you might want to consider hiring home care assistance providers who can spend time with them.

Reduce Complaints

Have you noticed your elderly loved one complaining recently? If so, it would be a good idea to help them reduce their complaints. The first step in doing this would be to make a list of their complaints. Then, you, your elderly loved one, and their home care assistance providers can determine what can be done about the complaints. For instance, if your elderly loved one is saying they c’t get to the grocery store for food when they want it, you could have a home care provider take them whenever it is needed. If there aren’t solutions to some complaints and they are just general in nature, you might want to encourage your elderly loved one to practice positive affirmations. By doing these affirmations, it can help to reduce their negativity which, in return, can reduce the complaints.

Routines Can Help

Studies show that people who stick to routines have less stress and chaos in their life. If your elderly loved one is complaining a lot about how things don’t go as they planned, one solution to this would be for them to have routines. You or a home care assistance provider could help them to set up routines in their daily life. It can include morning, mealtime, evening, and nighttime routines. There could even be personal grooming routines or socialization routines.

Home Care Assistance can Work with Your Senior

Does your elderly loved one seem negative a lot of the time? If so, do you also notice that they complain often? If this is the case, you and elder care providers may want to work with your elderly loved ones to help them live a more positive life. The tips that were noted above can be a great start to helping them do this.

Sources: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-do-we-know-about-healthy-aging

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Home Care Assistance Services in Warren NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris, and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.

Self-esteem involves a person having confidence in their own abilities, and for many aging adults, self-esteem is low because of all the different challenges they’re facing. February is International Boost Self-esteem Month, so it’s a fantastic opportunity to look closer at what is impacting your senior’s self-esteem and how you and her elder care providers can help her to get back to where she wants to be.

Remember that Self-esteem Is Internal

Elder Care Somerset NJ – Elder Care: Ideas to Help Your Senior to Boost Her Self-esteem

Self-esteem is just that, something that your elderly family member has to build within herself. There are tools that she can use, like journaling, to help her to become more aware of negative thoughts and how those impact how she’s feeling. Once she recognizes those negative thoughts, she’ll be better able to counter them with more accurate and more positive versions.

Help Her to Take the Best Care of Herself Possible

Much of this can involve helping your senior to take the best care of herself that she can. Often aging adults find that their self-esteem takes a hit as their health worsens. If your senior is finding it difficult to perform normal daily activities that she’s always been able to do, that can have an impact on how she sees herself and her own abilities.

Get Extra Help from Elder Care Services for Your Senior

One way around this is to get help for your senior. Elder care providers are able to pitch in for your senior only where she needs the extra help. If that means help with household tasks or preparing meals, that can be an immense help. Elder care providers can tackle things that your senior may feel are weighing her down. It’s also possible that your senior isn’t getting enough contact with other people, which is another way that elder care providers can make a huge difference for her.

Reassess Over Time to Correct What Isn’t Working for Her

Different solutions are going to help your elderly family member over time, especially as her self-esteem increases. It may be important for her to remember to check in with herself periodically and determine what’s working and what isn’t. From there, you and she can make changes that work for her, like increasing her time with caregivers.

Sometimes problems with self-esteem can be a sign of other issues your elderly family member is experiencing, like loneliness or frustration. Helping her to manage those other issues can make a big difference in helping her to rebuild her self-esteem.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Elder Care Services in Somerset NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.

It’s very easy for everyone including seniors to gain a few pounds over the holidays. All of those extra holiday treats, snacks at holiday parties, and indulgent celebratory meals can add up quickly. And most people don’t exercise as much as usual during the holidays because of the weather and because of holiday hustle and bustle. But even a few pounds of extra weight can hurt seniors and increase the chances that they will develop new health problems or make existing health problems worse. Senior home care providers can step in and help implement some of these suggestions.

Seniors who need to get rid of those extra holiday pounds should:

Senior Home Care Westfield NJ – Senior Home Care: How Seniors Can Safely Lose Those Holiday Pounds

Move More

Being active is essential for getting to a healthy weight. In the winter seniors may not want to be as active as they are during other times of the year. But seniors who don’t want to go for walks because of the cold and snow can go to a senior friendly gym, join a senior’s exercise class, or walk on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike at home. Being active in some way is a big part of getting rid of those holiday pounds.

A Senior Home Care Aide Can Pay Close Attention To Diet

Activity alone won’t cut it when it comes to weight loss for seniors. Seniors also need to pay close attention to what they are eating and make smart food choices. This usually means cooking more meals. But cooking is difficult for some seniors, and so is shopping. A senior home care provider can be a big help for seniors who need help with their diet. Senior home care providers can help seniors cook healthy meals and shop for fresh healthy ingredients a couple of times each week too. Making vegetable based meals using high quality fresh ingredients will make weight loss much easier. And a senior home care provider can help seniors make sure their portions are correct by portioning out meals for them.

Get More Sleep

The amount of sleep and the quality of sleep that seniors get will impact their weight. If your senior loved one isn’t sleeping at well night you should help them figure out why and how to fix that. Maybe they need a senior home care provider with them at night so they feel safer. Or maybe their bedroom needs a relaxing makeover with a new paint job and new lighting. If there are any medical issues that are preventing your senior loved one from sleeping well like medications that keep them up or give them nightmares those need to be addressed with a doctor.

Stay Busy

When things are boring is when most people start snacking. And winter can be very boring for seniors because they are stuck in the house by the bad weather. Seniors who need to lose weight should try to stay busy so that they don’t want to snack. Working on puzzles, knitting, sewing, reading, and other activities will all encourage seniors to stay busy so that they’re not thinking about snacking. A senior home care provider can work on hobbies with your senior loved one or suggest new hobbies for your senior loved one to try.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Senior Home Care Services in Westfield NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.