Heart failure is a leading cause of death among seniors. If you have an elderly loved one who has a history of heart disease, you may need to take an active role in helping your senior enact lifestyle changes that will reduce the risk that your senior suffers from heart failure. However, it can be difficult to manage these lifestyle changes, and you may need assistance from a home health care aide. Be sure to clearly explain your concerns with the aide.
Engaging in Exercise
Regardless of how old a senior is, there is usually never a time when he or she is too old for exercise as long as it is done with close supervision by the senior's physician. Simply by spending more time walking, a senior can improve his or her heart health and reduce the risk of heart failure. Not only that, but if the home health aide walks with the senior several times a week, the process can reduce stress, which is another contributing factor for heart disease.
Reducing Stress
The home health care aide will play a major role in how stressed your senior feels. If the health care aide fails to create a positive environment and if the senior doesn't feel comfortable around the aide, this can lead to increased stress.
Be sure to ask your senior about how he or she feels about the aide. Also, pay close attention to how the senior interacts with the aide to assess whether the senior has cultivated a good relationship.
Cutting Fatty Foods
Not only should the aide make sure that your senior eats low-fat food, but the aide should also not eat fatty foods near the senior. Seeing something that is delicious and unhealthy can make it more difficult for the senior to remain on a diet, which can also create stress.
Quitting Smoking and Drinking
Seniors who have had a history of drinking or smoking will need to seriously consider finally giving up these habits. Fortunately, if your senior is not doing his or her own shopping, it'll be easier to prevent cigarettes and alcohol from making their way into the home.
Tell your aide to look for alcohol or cigarettes that are stashed away and to tell you about this. Do not simply throw these items away, but get to the bottom of how the senior is acquiring these. Also, be sure to talk to your senior and remind him or her of why you are concerned and want the drinking and smoking to stop in the first place.
For more information, contact a business such as All Stat Home Health.
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