Archive for March 31, 2012

5 WAYS TO SAVE ON THE COST OF SENIOR CARE

March 31, 2012 Assisted Homes No comments

Most of us are looking for more practical ways to save money. Well, here are four ways to save on the cost of senior care which you might find useful:

1. When it comes to senior care, going the route of assisted living is a great option. Though it may seem difficult to save on the costs, there are plenty of ways to do so. From renting a smaller apartment to getting the right level of care and even comparing the prices of each assisted living facility, there is always room for negotiating the costs.

2. Utilize an online-based home monitoring system. For those who are always on the go or who are busy with work, you can save on the cost of senior care by using an internet based home monitoring system to decrease home care aide hours. Even if you’re at work, you can still check your elderly loved ones. Home monitoring systems come with sensors and cameras that relay videos or alert you in case of emergency. This way, you no longer need to pay for 6-8 hours a day of caregiving services.

3. Hire independent caregivers. Did you know that you can save more money by hiring independent caregivers instead of hiring those from an agency? You actually get to pay as much as 30% less for independent caregivers. However, one disadvantage of this is that if ever your caregiver can’t come to work, you might have a hard time finding a substitute. Nevertheless, this setup can be applicable to some families.

4. Hire a home care aide instead of a home health aide. Costs for hiring a home care aide varies depending on the state where you live in. Home care aides are less expensive than home health aides. Try to assess your needs before hiring one.

5. Take advantage of respite care. Did you know that you can avail of respite care to offset home care hours? You can avail of respite care programs offered by your state or some non-profit organizations such as those for Alzheimer’s, etc. For instance, a four hour respite care can save you four hours of pay for a home care aide. Imagine how much money you can save on that! You can try to look for respite care programs online.

Like anything, there is always a way to save on the cost if you’re creative and search for ways!

This is a guest post written by the writer of FindSecuredCards.com, a website that offers not only the best secured credit cards on the market, but also a blog to help you get on the right financial foot.

Assisted Living, Finances

5 Fitness Exercises for Seniors

March 28, 2012 Assisted Homes No comments

Age doesn’t matter when it comes to exercise – a vital component of healthy living. Physical activity from exercises will help you to become more active and be in a better position to prevent diseases. Furthermore, it will help you to strengthen your cardiovascular system and maintain your overall health especially if you are senior.

According to different studies, regular exercise can help seniors to prevent and treat various diseases and disabilities like Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Osteoporosis.

Here are 5 fitness exercises that are suitable for seniors:

1. Walking

Walking is one of the best form of exercises for seniors because it is natural and safe. It will help you to make your heart strong and make you feel much more active. Furthermore, it doesn’t require you to invest in some fancy equipment and you can do it anytime and anywhere you wish.

Walking doesn’t require you to put excessive strain on yourself and you can vary the intensity as per your requirements. If you are new to exercising, you should first aim to build endurance by walking. Try to gradually increase your walking duration till you are at a level where you are walking at least for 40 minutes each day.

2. Swimming

Swimming is a great low impact exercise that is great for your joints. It will help you to increase your cardiovascular fitness and tone down your body. You can also use swimming as a social activity by doing it with your friends or using it as opportunity to make new friends at the local pool.

3. Weight Training

This may be surprising to read but as a senior, you can greatly benefit from weight training. You must however make it clear that the purpose of weight training for seniors is not to gain huge mass but rather to increase strength.

Weight training will help you to build muscles that will help you to retain your strength. This will make it easier for you to manage your day to day activities and live a more active life. Furthermore, weight training will help you to increase your metabolism, which will help you to achieve a healthy weight and keep your blood sugar in check.

4. Balancing Exercises

Balancing exercises may sound trivial but are extremely crucial for seniors.

Having a better balance will enable you to prevent injuries that result from falling like broken hips. This is important because such injuries can lead to disabilities and, therefore, make you dependent on others.

These exercises are easy to do and take little time. They will help you to build your leg muscles and strengthen your core.

5. Yoga

Yoga can be an excellent choice of exercise for seniors to incorporate in their life. It will help you with your blood circulation and mental well-being. It will enable to increase your range of motion and hence improve your flexibility.

 

Guest Post: Andy has been blogging for several years. He has written numerous articles about aged care and the health industry. When he is not writing, he specializes in mobility equipment and walking frames

Activities, Health

Osteoporosis Common With Women Over 65

March 27, 2012 Assisted Homes No comments

Women over age 65 stand at a higher level of risk for getting osteoporosis than younger woman do. Osteoporosis can be a debilitating disease and it often goes unnoticed until it is too late. Many women don’t even know that their bones have been weakened until they fall and break a hip. In many of these cases, the patient never fully recovers. This is why it is so important to have a bone mass test conducted. Medicare will cover a energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) test once every two years, and it is extremely important that this is done. While many women won’t show any signs of developing osteoporosis in this short of a time frame, it doesn’t hurt to have the test conducted just to be on the safe side of things.

In a recent study, it showed that osteoporosis needs about 15 years to develop after testing at a normal bone density level. But the problem with lengthening the amount of time between testing is that people with osteoporosis can worsen at an alarming rate. When Medicare decides that they will only cover a test once every two years, this might be overkill for healthy women, but with those that have osteoporosis this might not be often enough.

There is a very low percentage of women that get this test conducted. A recent survey showed that only about 30 percent of women over the age of 65 get the DXA test on a regular basis. Osteoporosis is much more common than breast cancer, but almost 65 percent of women in the same age bracket get a yearly mammogram. The main problem is that osteoporosis’s symptoms don’t show themselves until a catastrophic fall points them out. And unfortunately, many women never recover from a severe fall. The numbers in this category speak for themselves: 50 percent of women over age 59 will experience a fall and break a bone at some point in their lives. If the victim has osteoporosis, the break will be much more severe. Hips are perhaps the most vulnerable area in this regard.

Unfortunately, about 20 percent of the women that fall will die within a year of their broken hip. This should point out the severity of osteoporosis. As a precaution, every eligible woman should have a DXA test conducted. This will help them to find out if they are at risk or already have osteoporosis. Your doctor can make a much more educated decision about how to treat you before you fall and help you to avoid a potentially catastrophic fall. There are plenty of medications on the market that can help strengthen bone density, but without knowing if you need these medications, you will be at a complete loss. Your doctor cannot treat you for a condition that he doesn’t know that you have.

Assisted Living, Health, Seniors
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