How to Tell Your Senior Loved One Needs Additional Care

Whether you live close by or far away, it’s sometimes hard to determine if your aging loved needs additional care. It is likely that seniors, who have been independent for a good fifty to sixty years, find that asking for help is difficult. Fortunately, there are some signs that can help tell you that someone needs extra help at home. You just should be vigilant, understanding and, ultimately, approach the subject delicately.

Physical Signs

• Changes in weight – Is it fairly obvious that they’ve either gained or lost significant weight. There may be many reasons why this might be taking place, but it’s often a sign that they need additional care or more medical attention than they have been receiving.
• Poor hygiene – This might be in the form of hair that isn’t neat when was usually in the past, intense body odor, wearing clothes that haven’t been washed, or showing signs of dirt on their skin. Poor hygiene is often due to financial problems, depression or both.
• Change in clothes –  Did your senior loved one go from wearing jeans to sweatpants all the time? Button down shirts to t-shirts? This could mean that they can no longer use buttons and need help with these types of matters.
• Frailty – Do they look frail? Diminishing bones and muscle strength is common in older adults. If it looks like they are having a hard time walking or getting out of their chair, they might need some extra help. They may also be at an increased risk of falling.

Look around the House

• Are they no longer keeping house as they used to? Poor housekeeping can be a sign of early dementia or increased mobility issues. Look for spills that were never cleaned, cobwebs, mold and dust.
• Too many take out menus and frozen dinners? This could be because they have either lost excitement in eating, do not have the transportation needed to go to the grocery shopping, have difficulty preparing food in the kitchen, or simply is no longer that hungry.
•  Is their house becoming more cluttered than usual? This could be a sign of a neurological issue that should be addressed by their doctor.
• Plants and animals getting neglected? This could point toward the beginning stages of dementia or a physical ailment that doesn’t allow them to care properly for their pets and plants.

Do you live in East or South Wake or Johnston counties? Are you interested in learning about home health care services Raleigh and nearby areas in NC? Consider contacting Always Best Care at (919) 724-4297 to setup a free care consultation. They look forward to chatting with you!

Have You Practiced Your Mindfulness Today?

Mindfulness is a buzz word that has captured the attention of people in the west. While the practice has been around for millennia in the east, an increasing interest in spirituality and meditation has brought mindfulness to the forefront for many seeking a more fulfilling life. Be aware that mindfulness is not a religion; it’s simply a way to view the world that ultimately creates a more calming, peaceful inner being.

The difference between mindfulness and meditation

Meditation is known to relieve stress and even increase longevity when practiced on a regular basis. It promotes good physical and mental health and can be accomplished via a number of ways and for varying lengths of time.

Mindfulness carries with it many of the same benefits; however, the main goal of mindfulness is to be aware of how you feel and your surroundings at every moment. It promotes living in the present and not worrying about the future or stressing about the past. It’s about gratitude and being thankful for every moment presented to you.

How mindfulness helps seniors

As people get closer to the end of life, it’s natural for them to worry and stress about chronic ailments and what might happen in the future and when. Mindfulness is particularly rewarding for seniors because it’s about living “in the now.”

• Through connectedness with the environment, mindfulness can decrease loneliness. Isolation and loneliness are two important, debilitating issues for seniors. By practicing mindfulness, seniors feel a connection with their environment and others, and report decreased feelings of isolation.
  
• Increased longevity. Studies have proven that those who participate in mindfulness and meditation often experienced improved longevity. This may be due to enhanced mental attitude and/or a decrease in cellular aging.
• Seniors communities often teach mindfulness. More and more, senior communities are aiming to increase their senior clients’ quality of life, helping them to stay more mentally and physically active. Mindfulness and other related techniques are now often taught at senior facilities, giving seniors easier access to this way of life more so than ever before in history.

Are you interested in learning about home care services in Clayton or elder care in Cary? Contact the Always Best Care Raleigh location at 919-724-4297 to set up a free care consultation. They look forward to sitting down with you to discuss your bright future!

Always Best Care Provides Superior In Home Senior Care in Raleigh

Around the age of retirement, seniors begin to think about whether they would like to remain in the comfort of their own home, or to move into a senior living environment. While there are, of course, variables attached to this decision (health status, budget, if the senior is the only one in the household), there are bound to be many other questions, as well.

Always Best Care has been in the senior care giving industry since 1996, and they have extensive experience helping seniors all over the country with their questions regarding in home care and the process involved with moving into a senior living environment. Always Best Care provides a free care consultation, in which the senior and their family can discuss these options with a professional care coordinator who will help guide the senior toward the option that suits them best.

Seniors living in the Raleigh area, who are interested in learning about home health in Garner, or in home senior care in Raleigh, are encouraged to call the Always Best Care Raleigh office to set up their own free care consultation.

In-Home Senior Care in Raleigh

What are the types of services you can expect if you choose to obtain in home senior care in Raleigh through the Always Best Care Caregivers?

• Experienced, licensed, bonded, and insured caregivers who are always employees and never contractors.


• These caregivers undergo thorough background criminal checks to ensure the peace of mind and safety of senior clients.


• The Always Best Care caregivers provide a number of services that fall within the home helper, companion, and personal care categories.


• Some of these services include laundry, housekeeping, meal preparation, conversation and companionship, escorting to various locations, and much more

Transitioning to Senior Living Environment
Making the choice to move into a senior living environment is never an easy one, and the Always Best Care professional care coordinators are there to help. They provide free referrals to three or four senior care centers and will escort the senior client on tours of the facilities to help them choose which is right for them.

Do you live in the Raleigh area? Are you interested in learning more about home health in Garner or in home senior care in Raleigh? Contact the Always Best Care Raleigh location today at 919-724-4297 to set up your own free care consultation. They look forward to hearing from you!