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Dangers of Elderly & Senior Drivers in Miami, FL
Posted by Scott Cantin in Senior Health | 0 comments
How to Tell if a Senior is Safe to Drive
For many senior citizens, driving is the equivalent of their lifeline to the world that awaits beyond the walls of their homes. Driving allows seniors to get around and pick up the things they need, such as food and medication. Slipping behind the wheel enables them to remain socially engaged with their family members and friends. Being able to transport themselves empowers older drivers to retain their independence and avoid having to burden loved ones with their transportation needs.
In need of a homecare professional to assist your loved one in Miami, FL?
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While any one of those things makes a strong enough case on its own for seniors holding onto their driver’s licenses, even the sum of them all isn’t always enough to justify allowing an older loved one to continue to drive. When seniors become a danger to themselves and/or others when they drive, it may be time to pull the plug on their driving privileges no matter how difficult it might be.
If you doubt that some seniors need to relinquish their driving privileges, consider the following. According to AAA, seniors only fall behind teenaged motorists in the context of crash death rate per mile driven. In addition, the crash fatality rate among senior citizens is 17 times higher than it is for people at or between the ages of 25 and 64 years-old.
Signs a Senior is Unsafe Behind the Wheel
Determining whether a senior is safe to drive involves having the ability to recognize the signs that the person is no longer a safe driver. If you notice one or more signs that your older loved one can no longer operate a vehicle safely, it’s time for you to act.
Here are some signs that may indicate a senior is no longer a safe driver:
- Drifting into other lanes or making sudden lane changes>
- Braking or stopping for no apparent reason
- Not reacting to signs or traffic signals quickly enough
- Confusing the brake and gas pedals or pressing them both at the same time
- Having trouble seeing pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles or road hazards
- Driving noticeably below the speed limit when conditions don’t require excessive caution
- Neck or back problems that make it difficult to turn and monitor conditions around the automobile
- Getting lost or “turned around” in familiar territory
- Dents or scratches on the senior’s car or on things near where the person pulls into or out of their driveway or parks
- Earning multiple tickets or citations in a relatively brief period of time
- Backing up after missing a turn, even when other cars are or might be approaching from the rear
Advancare – Helping Miami-Dade Seniors Maintain Their Independence
The team at AdvanCare knows how heartbreaking it can be for seniors and their families when older drivers have to give up their licenses. By offering senior care in Miami, FL and surrounding areas, we make the transition to being a non-driver much easier for seniors and their loved ones. When your loved one can no longer drive safely, we’ll step in and transport your family member to their destination.
We offer a senior errand service, which ensures your loved one will have all the supplies they need and that all their everyday tasks are taken care of without putting them at risk for an auto accident. Our team also provides incidental transportation so seniors can get to their doctor’s appointments, go grocery shopping, attend religious services, and engage in other activities.
To learn more about the services we provide that can help you or your loved one continue to be independent without a driver’s license, call (305) 441-9794.
Long-Term Care Options For Seniors & Elderly in Miami, FL
Posted by Scott Cantin in elderly care | 0 comments
Miami’s Long-Term Care Helps Prevent Health Issues in Elderly
You don’t need to be a retiree to know that senior social isolation is a growing problem. Many younger people know it’s a real issue whenever they reach out to their senior family members or contact their favorite teachers from elementary school.
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Sadly, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that about 28 percent of individuals who are 65 years-old or older lived alone at the time the last census was conducted. As time passes and Baby Boomers exit their caregiving years, things may get even worse.
According to AARP, the population aged 45-64 years-old will only increase by one percent between 2010 and 2030 while the subset of the nation’s population that’s 80 or older will grow by 79 percent. The glaring disparity between those numbers means radically fewer caregivers will be available to tend to the country’s aging population.
The Risks of Social Isolation for Seniors
Social isolation and the resultant feelings of loneliness can have serious consequences for seniors. Whether they’re alone because they’ve retired from the workforce, their spouse has passed, they’re childless or their kids live far away, they have mobility issues, their friends have passed on, or something else limits their ability to socialize, seniors may grapple with loneliness for any number of reasons.
Here are some of the risks that social isolation and loneliness pose for too many senior citizens in the United States and around the world:
- Premature death: Studies indicate that loneliness is closely linked to life-threatening conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and obesity. When acute symptoms of any one of those conditions or another present themselves, someone who is socially isolated may lack the contacts to recognize them and/or seek help, which could result in premature death.
- Poor health: Loneliness can have a negative impact on a person’s physical and mental health. Cognitive decline, depression, and the onset of dementia are just a few of the possible neurologic impacts that may result from social isolation.
- Loneliness spreads: While it might not seem possible since it’s not a virus or germ, research shows that loneliness can be passed from one person to another. In other words, one lonely person can cause others to feel socially isolated and put them as risk for the negative consequences that feeling lonely can produce.
Advancare: Your Source for Home Help for Seniors in Miami-Dade County
Making sure seniors have the long-term care they need to remain engaged and social is vital to the well-being of your senior family members. Advancare is proud to provide in-home services for seniors located throughout Miami-Dade County.
Our talented team provides all sorts of senior home care in Miami, FL and surrounding areas every day. We offer help with bathing and grooming and assistance with paying bills, meal preparation, transportation, light housekeeping and more.
When you reach out to Advancare to arrange long-term care for an aging family member or friend, you can rest assured that your loved one will receive the care necessary to prevent feelings of isolation and loneliness. And your loved one won’t just benefit from care today. Your family member or friend will receive loving, informed care to keep them social over the long-haul.
To make arrangements for long-term care for yourself or someone else, contact Advancare now.
5 Fun Senior Activities in Miami To Stay Active & Healthy
Posted by Scott Cantin in Senior Health | 0 comments
Activities Keeping Miami’s Elderly Happy & Healthy
No matter what your current age might be, it’s wise to maintain an active lifestyle. Given the benefits that staying active can yield, an active lifestyle may be even more important for senior citizens.
Here are some of the benefits that staying active can yield for seniors:
- Reduced risk of stroke, obesity, diabetes, certain cancers, and heart disease
- Improved cognitive function
- Elevated mood and outlook
- Greater physical strength
- Better balance
- Enhanced self-worth
Knowing that being active can yield meaningful results for seniors is one thing. Actually developing an active lifestyle is quite another. Luckily, the team at Advancare has some ideas that can help you get going.
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Join a Gym
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that seniors get at least two hours and 30 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise every week. Using exercise equipment commonly found at a gym such as a treadmill can make working out easier on joints because it softens the pounding your knees, hips, and ankles will experience.
Don’t limit your workouts to aerobic exercises exclusively. You should also engage in strength-building activities such as weightlifting or resistance training and balance activities like tai chi several times per week.
Volunteer
All types of charities exist that rely on help from volunteers, such as shelters, soup kitchens, and animal rescues, to name just a few examples. To stay active, consider volunteering at one or several local charities.
Welcome a Dog into Your Home
Dogs of all sizes, breeds, and mixes need daily activity just like you do. To ensure you go for a walk at least twice a day, why not welcome a dog into your home?
If you like that idea but don’t look forward to being responsible for a companion animal on a permanent basis, consider fostering a pet until the dog finds a forever home. Are you worried about a dog being too excitable for you to handle? If so, you may want to adopt one of the many senior dogs that populate shelters and rescues throughout the United States.
Engage in Activities That Stimulate the Mind Alone or with Others
There are plenty of things you can do alone or with others that will stimulate your mind and keep you engaged. If you’re on your own, visit the local library and catch up on all the reading you may have put off for years or investigate the assisted living options for seniors that are available in your area in case you need to make a change down the line.
Playing cards or board games like Scrabble with others is a great way to engage your mind. If your friends are up for an adventure, plan a road trip to a destination you haven’t visited before. Going out to eat with your comrades, attending a sporting event or a show, starting and managing a community garden, creating a social group for people who have an interest in one of your hobbies – the list of activities you can enjoy with others is only limited by your imagination.
Let Our Miami-Dade Home Care Agency Help Keep You Active
If mobility issues are preventing you from being active, Advancare can help. We offer companion care, help with errands, incidental transportation, and other services that can allow you to be active and engaged in and outside your home.
Advancare – the home care agency for active seniors in and around Miami, FL.
Miami’s Innovative Music Therapy Helping Alzheimer’s & Dementia Patients
Posted by Scott Cantin in Dementia | 0 comments
Six Benefits of Music Therapy for Miami Seniors
Music is more than something that can get your blood pumping at the club or a means to entertain you as you’re cruising down the highway. When used properly, music can also be a form of therapy that can benefit people of all ages, including senior citizens.
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What is Music Therapy?
If you’ve never thought of music in a therapeutic sense, it may be difficult for you to think of it as a kind of therapy. Knowing what music therapy is can give you a clearer picture of its therapeutic applications, however. According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy is, “an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals.”
How Music Therapy Can Help
When music therapy is part of senior care in Miami and other locations, it can provide some meaningful benefits to people who participate in it. Even people who aren’t particularly fond of music can benefit from this type of therapy!
Cognitive Skills
Many people associate music with events from their past, which means music can bring memories from years ago to the front of a person’s mind. Even when a dementia patient can’t communicate anymore, music has been proven to be an effective treatment for evoking positive responses and increasing engagement.
Speech
As it progresses, music therapy can help older participants improve their speech and enhance their ability to respond to inquiries and make decisions. Music therapy can slow the deterioration of language skills in people who have dementia and it can help individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to recognize and/or hum their favorite tunes even after they lose their speech abilities.
Motor Skills
Music and dancing go hand in hand, which means music therapy can get senior participants up, moving around and socializing. Even if patients lack the mobility to dance, they can still tap to the beat of the music or clap their hands.
Socialization Opportunities
Music therapy involves plenty of chances for seniors to interact with their therapists and other patients. The socialization opportunities that are inherently available in music therapy sessions can help seniors ward off feelings of being isolated, lonely or depressed, which can improve their physical health and sense of mental well-being.
Stress Management
People suffering from dementia don’t always handle changes to their daily routines well. Music therapy can help patients adjust to changes in a calm, non-aggressive manner.
Grief Management
Music therapists can help terminal patients transition to the afterlife in a more relaxed state by playing songs that reduce their physical pain and emotional distress. They can also help a patient’s family members manage their grief with the help of music by making a legacy gift of a CD that includes their dying loved one’s favorite songs or by composing a song that celebrates the patient’s life.
Elderly Companion Care by Advancare
Music therapy is often part of the elderly companion care we provide for seniors living throughout Miami-Dade County. If therapy sessions are held outside of the home, our team can transport you or your loved one to the appropriate medical facility whenever a music therapy session is scheduled.
Call (305) 441-9794 the proven source for compassionate senior care in Miami, FL and surrounding areas.
Grandparents Babysitting Grandchildren Could Lower Risk for Alzheimer’s
Posted by Scott Cantin in caregiving, elderly care | 0 comments
Your children love spending time with grandma and grandpa, which is great for everyone involved. Now, new scientific research has revealed that grandparents babysitting grandchildren could actually lower the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Tips on Long Distance Care
Posted by Scott Cantin in caregiver stress, caregiving, caregiving tips, depression, elderly care, home care, Senior Health | 0 comments
Tips for Long Distance Senior Care
Caring for far away loved ones can be quite the challenge. If you live far away from someone that you care about and they need constant attention, then check out some of these helpful long distance senior care tips. It is always important to understand how your loved one may feel about being cared for from a distance. The most crucial thing you can do is put yourself in their shoes and take into account how they feel about the situation. Your life will be affected, but theirs will be affected even more than yours. Always keep this in mind, even when caring from someone close by. These things are not always easy to deal with and it is important to remember what matters most to you and your loved one: being there for each other and loving one another.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Facts
Posted by Scott Cantin in Alzheimer's Disease, caregiving, caregiving tips, Dementia, depression, elderly care, home care, mental health, Senior Health | 0 comments
Understanding the Difference – Alzheimer’s & Dementia
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease of the brain. It is the leading cause of dementia, which is a term for a group of symptoms including memory loss, impaired judgment, loss of language, and reduced motor skills. There is currently no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Time Management and You
Posted by Scott Cantin in Alzheimer's Disease, caregiver stress, caregiving, caregiving tips, depression, home care, mental health, Senior Health | 0 comments
When our brains age, it may become tougher to remember things that you easily used to remember. To prevent this, there are many different things you can do to both strengthen your memory and improve your time management skills. Check out our previous post that focused on improving your mental health from a couple of weeks ago for some tips on how to keep your memory sharp. This week’s post focuses on time management and what you can do to improve it while bettering yourself.
New Advancements in Alzheimer’s Treatment
Posted by Scott Cantin in Alzheimer's Disease, caregiving, caregiving tips, Dementia, elderly care, health innovations, home care, injury recovery, mental health, Senior Health | 0 comments
There are many new advancements in the medical field every single day. Many of these advancements are extremely surprising to a lot of people. It can be quite exciting when someone finds a possible treatment that is not only effective, but also easy to obtain and relatively cheap. That is exactly what happened to Dr. Mary Newport and her husband, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Stay Sharp: Tips on Maintaining Mental Health
Posted by Scott Cantin in caregiving, caregiving tips, elderly care, home care, mental health, Senior Health | 0 comments
Being a healthy human being is not just about keeping your body in good shape. It also requires you to be sound mentally. In some ways, mental health can be more important than physical health. Also, if you are not sound mentally, then you may find it hard to even get into the physical exercises. There are many little things seniors, as well as the average person, can do to keep their minds sharp and focused. The brain is like a muscle, so it is important to keep it challenged and strong.
