More than one in four seniors has diabetes, and many of them don’t even know their bodies have difficulty regulating blood sugar levels. Your aging loved one should be screened for diabetes during regular medical appointments, and you should help him or her schedule an appointment if he or she shows signs of poor blood sugar regulation, such as excessive thirst or frequent mood swings. Then encourage your loved one to implement these practices to maintain better blood sugar.
Offer to Go to Healthcare Appointments Together
Seniors who are diagnosed with diabetes might be overwhelmed by all the information they receive and instructions they need to follow. Your loved one’s doctor will likely make recommendations about medications, exercise, and eating habits. Being there with your parent will give you valuable insight into the steps you need to take next.
Provide Help with Medication Management
Many seniors need to take insulin to regulate their blood sugar. At first, this is usually one of the most challenging parts of achieving better health. Your loved one might need frequent reminders to check his or her blood sugar or take medication. Having you or another caregiver make sure your loved one is properly addressing his or her health condition provides extra support for getting blood sugar levels under control.
Helping a senior maintain healthy blood sugar levels and prevent or manage diabetes can be challenging. In garland, respite care is a great help to many families. Caring for a senior loved one can be overwhelming at times, which puts family caregivers at risk for burnout. However, an in-home caregiver can take over your loved one’s care, allowing you the time you need to focus on your own health, maintain a full-time job, or care for other members of your family.
Make Eating Healthier Easy
Following a sensible diet plan is another challenge seniors face when trying to regulate their blood sugar. At first, your loved one might detest the idea of cutting out carbs or favorite desserts. Working with a professional senior meal planner can help your loved one discover healthy recipes that are just as enjoyable as his or her favorites. Your loved one might also benefit from having someone help him or her prepare meals that are more complicated than simply opening up a package of processed food.
Consider hiring a professional caregiver if your loved one needs help preparing nutritious meals. If your aging loved one needs help managing everyday tasks or encouragement to adopt healthier lifestyle choices, turn to Ambience In-Home Care, a leading provider of in-home care. Ambience In-Home Care provides professional in-home caregivers around the clock to help seniors live longer, happier, and healthier lives.
Celebrate Achievements
When your loved one needs to get his or her blood sugar within a healthier range, it helps to encourage him or her to set goals. Your parent may need to lose weight or skip eating at his or her favorite restaurant. Whether your loved one walks for a specific number of minutes each day or takes an exercise class, celebrating achievements with a fun activity is a great way to keep him or her motivated to make even more progress.
Prevent Physical & Mental Stress
Getting sick or experiencing serious stress strains the body’s energy resources. Your loved one’s immune system may start working harder to clear an infection, which means it might not utilize blood sugar the way it normally does. Help your loved one avoid common illnesses by encouraging good hygiene practices. Surrounding your parent with social support can reduce mental strain that impacts blood sugar.
Monitor the Effects of Lifestyle Changes
Maintaining good blood sugar may require making adjustments to your loved one’s care plan. For instance, starting an exercise routine can cause blood sugar levels to fluctuate. Although this might be frustrating for your parent, his or her body will eventually adjust and stabilize once it gets used to the routine.
If your loved one needs encouragement to adopt healthier habits, a professional caregiver can be an ideal source of support. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of home care service. Garland families can rely on Ambience In-Home Care to provide individualized care plans to meet their elderly loved ones’ unique care needs. Our holistic Balanced Care Method was designed to help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and our Cognitive Therapeutics Method offers mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. To learn about our revolutionary in-home care plans, call us at (469) 573-4213 today.