How to Care for Your Senior With Diabetes
When your senior suffers from a condition, you will do everything you can to help them live healthier. You may worry for them and wonder what you can do, especially when a senior has diabetes. Luckily, you can take steps to care for someone with diabetes. If you are not with your senior mom or dad often and you know they need the extra help, it is time to consider hiring senior home care providers for them. They may be able to help manage their diabetes indirectly by checking their blood sugar.
The first thing you can do is learn about diabetes and how it will actually impact your loved one’s life. Always be patient with your elderly loved one, especially when this is a new diagnosis. Sometimes lifestyle changes need to happen to manage diabetes, but it can be exceptionally hard to change overnight.
Here are a few other steps you can do or things that senior home care may be able to help with.
Focus on Foot Care
Senior Home Care Somerset NJ – How to Care for Your Senior With Diabetes
Due to poor circulation and decreased feeling in the feet (known as neuropathy), diabetics are especially susceptible to foot injuries. They often cannot recover adequately once their feet are wounded. Diabetes is the primary cause of amputations in the United States, making the prevention of foot injuries vitally crucial.
Checking the feet of your loved ones before they go to bed, then washing and drying them and applying lotion if necessary is a simple way to include foot care into your daily routine. Make sure your toenails are in excellent condition at all times. Keep your nails clipped by seeing a podiatrist regularly, whether once a year or as required. To ensure the health of the feet of your loved one, it’s a smart idea to get diabetic socks and shoes.
Keep a Log Every Time They Check Blood Sugar
A daily blood sugar journal is one of the most critical components of diabetes management. Every time you check your loved one’s blood sugar, write it down in your log. The doctor will advise you how frequently to do this. Keeping track of your loved one’s blood sugar levels can make it simpler for doctors to determine how successful their diabetic treatment plan is. To keep track of the logs, you may either use a notepad or a calendar and bring them to each visit.
Work on Senior Diet
Although diabetic diets might be challenging to adhere to, a low-glycemic diet that doesn’t raise blood sugar is essential for daily diabetes management. Make sure to include a variety of lean meats, fresh veggies, complete grains, and fruit in your daily diet. Diabetic dessert cookbooks are accessible if your loved one has a sweet craving and you don’t want them to go for something with tons of sugar.
If you are doing all these and want to help your loved one, communicate that. Ask your seniors what they need from you and do that. Not all seniors need this kind of help, and more than enough will be able to take their own blood sugar and manage their own diabetes. Remember, they are not helpless just because they are older.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Senior Home 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.
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