November is National Diabetes Month and a good time to review how your loved one is doing with managing his diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease that if it is managed well, your elderly loved one can continue to live a long and enjoyable life. Your loved one may need some help with his care, and a senior home care provider who helps him manage those daily choices that affect his health may be just what the doctor ordered.
Diabetes Management Reduces the Risk of Other Health Complications
Diabetes becomes a serious health concern when diabetics don’t maintain the recommended health practices from their care team to keep the disease in check to prevent it from progressing. The disease can cause damage to the heart and many other areas of the body, making it difficult to maintain good health.
Four Important Tips to Manage Diabetes
As a caregiver for an elderly loved one, you might find a big part of your caregiving revolves around encouraging your loved one to practice these four tips for managing his diabetes.
Monitoring Blood Sugar Levels.
An important part of managing diabetes for many diabetics is routinely checking blood sugar levels to ensure that they are where they should be. By checking blood levels routinely, your loved one can reduce the risk of his levels dropping dangerously low and developing hypoglycemia. It’ll also help protect from blood sugar levels getting too high. Blood sugar levels that remain consistently too high can lead to eye, kidney, and heart damage.
Managing medications.
If your elderly loved one has prescription medications that need to be regularly taken, staying on top of those medications can be tough for some elderly individuals, especially if there are other medications for other conditions as well. Your loved one might find it helpful to have a senior home care provider assist in medication management by reviewing what he has taken each week, helping him schedule his upcoming medications (such as filling in a pill dispenser for him each week), and helping him stay on top of refills.
Healthy Eating.
You may not be able to be there to make sure your elderly loved one eats well every day, but a senior home care provider who assists with meals can help your loved one stay within the recommended diabetic dietary guidelines. Diabetics should eat a diet that is low in sugar and saturated fat. Creating a healthy food plan and then helping your loved one stay on that plan is one way a senior home care provider can step in when you need a bit of help encouraging your loved one to eat well.
Exercising Regularly
Building regular exercise into your loved one’s daily routine is a great way to help him stay on top of his activity goals. The general recommendation for exercise is 150 minutes a week, or 30 minutes five times a week but your loved one can be flexible in how he gets those 150 minutes a week in. He may have a 20-minute daily walk with the dog or go swimming for an hour several times a week.
While diabetes is a difficult chronic disease that can affect many other areas of your loved one’s overall health, it is also manageable with constant care.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Home Care Services in Del Mar CA, please call the caring staff at Canaan Home Care today! 1-844-CANAAN-1 (1-844-226-2261)
Canaan Home Care – A Premier Provider of Senior Home Care in the La Jolla, Del Mar, San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Tustin, and Manhattan Beach areas.
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