Your Proactive Caregiver Advocate: Dr. Cynthia Speaks!
Topic: Essential Conversation on Quality of Life for Loved Ones
Several key health topics are essential for our elderly loved ones, including managing chronic conditions, preventing falls, preserving mental well-being, and promoting healthy aging habits. Focusing on these areas can improve our loved ones’ overall health and quality of life.
We know that our loved ones, over time, are facing health challenges that require management and maintenance. It can come in ways like medications, lifestyle changes, and staying on top of medical appointments. This is especially vital when facing chronic diseases that are fragile. We also tend to forget to pay attention to falls that cause injuries that can be compromising and sometimes deadly. Did you know that many falls occur in the bathroom and kitchen? Did you know that many falls are the result of not understanding your loved one’s medical conditions and the signs that give warning before fainting or collapsing? Did you know that many falls directly result from poor medical equipment maintenance? Let’s not forget the surroundings, like clutter on the floor or furniture too close together.
Have you thought about the mental drain on our elderly loved ones as they face aging? Have you thought about putting yourself in their shoes and wondering what it must feel like to be unable to care for themself as they once did? As a caregiver, stepping into the shoes of your loved one will remind you why the role of caregiver is so important. One day, it may be us. As we face the challenges of watching our loved ones lose cognitive function due to conditions like stroke, vascular disease, dementia, and Alzheimer’s, make the extra effort to normalize your loved one’s experience, even as we know things are no longer ordinary. Normalcy may come in the form of nutrition, meaning incorporating favorite foods or snacks they enjoyed. Looking for some activities they once enjoyed… reading, riding in the car, or watching a favorite television show. The goal is to decrease the chance of depression and sadness.
As Your Proactive Caregiver Advocate, adopting and maintaining habits promotes overall well-being and quality of life, even in our loved ones’ wonder years. Caregivers play a vital role in supporting the health and well-being of loved ones. We can’t do it without you! Be Safe! Be Well!
Dr. Cynthia J. Hickman is a retired registered nurse and case manager who serves as the CEO of Your Proactive Caregiver Advocate. She’s excited to share her latest book, The Essential Caregiver Training Course for Corporations and Community. Her previous works, From the Lens of Daughter, Nurse, and Caregiver: A Journey of Duty and Honor and The Black Book of Important Information for Caregivers, reflect her experiences and insights gained during her heartfelt caregiving journey.
Website: www.cynthiajhickman.com
