Finding a trustworthy caregiver to provide care at home is an important process when you or a loved one need(s) home care. BrightStar Care resident RN Sharon Roth Maguire has had a lot of experience on guiding families and recently shared some of her best tips and thoughts in a podcast for ActiveSeniorsHQ.com.

Click here to listen to Sharon Roth Maguire on ActiveSeniorsHQ.com

Click here to listen to Sharon Roth Maguire on iTunes

If you’d like more information about home care and tips for selecting the agency that right for you, contact us, BrightStar can help.

Demographics and falls in the elderly

• People age 75 and older who fall are four to five times more likely than those age 65 to 74 to be admitted to a long-term care facility for a year or more.
• Rates of fall-related fractures among older women are more than twice those for men.
• Over 95 percent of hip fractures are caused by falls. In 2009, there were 271,000 hip fractures, and the rate for women was almost three times the rate for men.
• White women have significantly higher hip fracture rates than black women.

So what can seniors and their families do to decrease the risk of a fall occurring? Here are some considerations:

1. Exercise regularly. Exercise must focus on leg strength and improved balance and must increase in intensity over time. Tai Chi programs work well.
2. Review your medicines. Ask your doctor to identify medicines that may cause side effects such as dizziness or drowsiness.
3. Take care of your eyes. Have your eyes checked at least once a year and update your glasses to maximize vision. Consider a pair with single vision distance lenses for outside activities.
4. Keep home safe. Reduce tripping hazards, add grab bars inside and outside the tub or shower and next to the toilet and add railings on both sides of stairways. Finally, improve your lighting.

And, in the event of a fall, good physical fitness can reduce the impact. Things like:

• Getting adequate calcium and Vitamin D from food and/or supplements.
• Doing weight bearing exercises.
• Getting screened and possibly treated for osteoporosis.

If you’re looking for even more tips and considerations, check out our elderly falls resource center. At BrightStar, home safety and decreasing the risk of falls and educating families about fall risk is a core competency. Contact us for a free in-home assessment.

Fortunately, falls can be preventable and there are some things that family caregivers and seniors alike can do to help decrease the risk of a fall occurring. Here are some falls facts, provided by the Centers for Disease Control:

• One out of three adults age 65 and older falls each year, but less than half talk to their healthcare providers about it.
• Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury death. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma.
• In 2010, 2.3 million nonfatal fall injuries among older adults were treated in emergency departments, and more than 662,000 of these patients were hospitalized.
• In 2010, the direct medical costs of falls, adjusted for inflation, was $30 billion.

So what can families do to help decrease the risk of a fall? We’ve pulled together some helpful tips around the most common causes of elderly falls. At BrightStar, home safety and decreasing the risk of falls and educating families about fall risk is a core competency. Contact us for a free in-home assessment.

• Purchase comfortable socks and slippers that have rubber grips on the soles to avoid losing footing on smooth surfaces like wood floors
• Lock doors, both when you are at home and when you go out, to promote peace of mind and security – for you and your home
• Direct electrical cords toward walls and secure them there; they should not run through walking areas
• Post emergency phone numbers in large print next to every telephone
• If you must have rugs in your home, make sure they have rubber backing on them, or lay out rubber mats on bathroom and kitchen floors to help prevent falls. Also, look for worn areas in carpets that could catch a foot and cause a fall

To access the Home Safety Checklist in CareTogether, first log in to your CareTogether Page, and select “Task Lists” from the main blue navigation bar.

Click “Create New Task List”

Select “Home Safety Checklist” from the drop down menu, name the task list and click “Save.”

When the checklist displays, you and your care team can work together to add or subtract tasks from the list, assign individual tasks to care team members, and email the complete list to each other so everyone’s aware of their responsibilities. After completing a task, check it off to let everyone else on the care team know that it’s done. Click here to create your free CareTogether page today, or learn more about elderly fall prevention.

How will you spend your time, and what do you want to do on a typical day? What do you want to learn, and what do you want to teach? Most importantly, how can you stay healthy even though you may have a clean slate. According to an article from sparkpeople.com, here are a few ways to stay healthy during retirement:

1. Limber your limbs: Try to walk or job 20 to 30 minutes, three to five times a week.
2. Get a hobby: Bowling, fishing, gardening, biking or community projects that require some physical activity can keep you on the go.
3. Make strength training a priority: This benefits seniors, as it increases energy levels, reduces stress and anxiety, delays or prevents age-related disorders and enhances sleep, balance, endurance and flexibility.
4. Eat a variety of foods: Avoid cholesterol and limit your total and saturated fats. Also, increase fiber intake, and especially if you’re a woman, calcium. Finally, drink at least eight glasses of water every day.
5. Sleep: Make sure to get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis.
6. Learn something new: Experts say intellectual stimulation is one of the basic needs of human beings. Make a list of all the things you’ve always wanted to learn or try, then pick out something that’s feasible now.
7. Read: If you don’t already, picking up reading can be a great way to stay “current,” pass the time, learn something new and even to keep your cognitive skills sharp.
8. Help around the house: If your partners is the one who cooks, make dinner tonight. Take a healthy cooking class, then show off your new skills.
9. Exercise with your partner: Tennis, ballroom dancing, mini-marathons, even yoga are fun activities you can do to stay connected and fit.
10. Exercise while traveling: When planning a trip, look for ways to be active, like swimming, walking or boating. Limit calorie-rich meals to maybe once a week. Focus on healthful foods througout your trip.

Have you or has someone you know retired? How do they spend their time? It’s very helpful for anyone considering retirement to also consider their plan for post-retirement living to continue thriving.

Families enjoy peace of mind knowing that BrightStar Care nurses are actively involved in their loved ones’ care either directly through regular visits for care settings that demand highly skilled nurses or indirectly by setting up the plan of care and overseeing the caregivers who provide person-centered companion care. BrightStar Care nurses collaborate with the client, family, and other members of the care team such as a primary physician or specialist to ensure the highest quality of life possible for the family’s loved one.