This week I had an opportunity to appear on a local news station talking about winter and emergency preparedness for the elderly. Working for the last seven years in providing non-medical home care to the elderly population has taught my husband, myself and our staff a lot. First and foremost, we have become expert weather watchers and secondly we prepared, checked and double checked to be sure our staff is able to get to our clients who need our services no matter what the weather is.

In my news interview I talked about many things to help prepare for bad weather, making sure that the heat was adjusted properly, clients had plenty of clothing for proper layering, warm outer attire, food, water, medications filled so as not to run out and more. 

If you or your loved one hasn’t been feeling right it might be time to visit your physician. Over medication, or Polypharmacy in the elderly is becoming a growing problem for many. So what is Polypharmacy?

Polypharmacy means the use of more drugs than is clinically indicated or warranted. The elderly population is approximately 12% of the population but they receive 32% of the prescriptions. The average use of medications of a person age 65 is 2 to 6 prescription drugs and 1 to 3.4 over the counter medications. The elderly use more drugs because illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders and bladder dysfunctions are more common in older people.

Have you or a loved one been through the revolving readmission door of the hospital or rehab facility? Furthermore depending on the number of times the readmissions have occurred, you or a loved one could be put in the position of having to pay privately while in the hospital or rehab facility, but that will be discussed in another blog. For now let’s look at the Why readmissions are happening and How you can take steps to reduce or eliminate them.

Tis’ the season for helping others!

At Always Best Care Senior Services, we realize that the weather is cold and raw, and we want to make sure that people who need warm coats have them.

As part of our Make a Senior Smile campaign, we’re holding a coat drive for seniors in need – and we need your help.

Right now, we’re asking for the donation of new or gently used coats. We’ll then have them professionally cleaned and we’ll distribute them to seniors in our area who can’t afford coats to keep warm.