Getting the right healthcare when you need it can make a huge difference, especially for seniors who want to stay in their own homes. Home healthcare, including occupational therapy, can help seniors stay independent, regain lost skills, and avoid injuries that could make daily life harder.
What is Occupational Therapy?
Since April is Occupational Therapy (OT) Month, it’s the perfect time to talk about how OT helps people stay independent. Occupational therapy focuses on making everyday tasks easier so people can take care of themselves and do the things they enjoy. These tasks fall into two main categories:
Everyday Basics (ADLs):
Getting dressed
Bathing
Using the bathroom
Moving in and out of bed or chairs
Eating
Taking care of personal hygiene (brushing teeth, washing face, etc.)
More Complex Tasks (IADLs):
Grocery shopping
Cleaning the house
Cooking meals
Paying bills
Getting around (driving or arranging transportation)
Keeping track of medications
We often don’t think twice about these tasks—until they become difficult. Losing strength, balance, or memory can make it harder to stay independent, and small struggles can become bigger problems without help.
How Occupational Therapy Helps Prevent Bigger Problems
Most seniors want to avoid moving into a nursing home, but staying at home takes some planning. Occupational therapy can step in before everyday tasks become too hard to manage.
If you’ve noticed that getting around is harder, you’re feeling more pain, or you’re relying on others more than before, it might be time to ask your primary care provider about occupational therapy. Getting help early can keep you stronger for longer and make daily life easier.
Signs That Occupational Therapy Could Help:
Trouble eating or drinking
Falling more often
Difficulty using your hands or gripping objects
Vision problems
Struggles with personal care tasks
Pain or stiffness
Poor balance or coordination
Wheelchair positioning issues
Less interest in hobbies and activities
Tremors or shaky hands
Getting Therapy at Home: A Simple, Convenient Option
One of the best parts about occupational therapy? You can do it right at home! A home-based occupational therapist can:
Check your home for safety risks and suggest helpful changes (like grab bars or shower benches)
Teach you how to use tools and techniques to stay independent
Help you build strength, improve balance, and keep up with daily routines
CaringEdge helps seniors stay independent. If you or a loved one could use extra support, contact us at info@caringedge.com. We’d love to chat about your goals and help you take the next step toward getting the care you need.
Walking is a wonderful way to improve your health. It strengthens your heart, boosts your mood, enhances mobility, and helps prevent chronic illnesses. But here’s the catch—walking requires a baseline level of health and mobility to be safe and effective.
If your balance, strength, or endurance is compromised, walking can become more challenging or even risky for short distances. By addressing any mobility concerns you might have early, you can enjoy the countless benefits of walking while reducing the risk of falls or injuries.
Has Your Walking Slowed Down? Here’s Why It Matters
If you’ve experienced a recent fall, struggled with balance, or didn’t move as much as you wanted this winter, you’re not alone. Aging, injuries, and being indoors for long periods can make us less active. The good news? You can regain mobility and reduce your risk of falls with simple steps.
Did You Know?
Walking speed can predict your future independence. Research shows that slower walking speeds are linked to:
Higher risks of falls
Challenges with daily activities like cooking and cleaning
Increased likelihood of hospitalization
The best part? Gait speed can be measured, monitored, and, best of all, improved!
What Is Gait Speed?
It’s simply how fast you walk.
Why Does It Matter?
A gait speed evaluation provides valuable insights into the following:
Your fall risk
Whether you need help with daily activities
Your overall health and life expectancy
What Happens During a Gait Speed Analysis?
This quick test takes less than five minutes. You’ll walk a short distance at your normal pace while a healthcare provider observes your movement.
Why Get a Gait Speed Analysis?
If you’ve been slowing down, losing balance, or falling, this evaluation can help healthcare providers develop a personalized care plan to improve mobility and safety.
How CaringEdge Can Help
At CaringEdge, our physical therapists specialize in gait speed analysis and can create a plan tailored to your needs. We accept Medicare for home health services, meaning your care could be low-cost or fully covered.
Based on your results, you may qualify for physical therapy to:
Boost your independence
Prevent falls
Improve your overall quality of life
Benefits of Physical Therapy:
Gain confidence in your mobility
Reduce fall risks
Get back to doing what you love
The Power of Prevention
Slowing down when walking indoors can increase your risk of trips and falls. Remember: you lose mobility when you don’t use it. A gait speed analysis is a powerful tool for assessing your condition and tracking progress.
Don’t wait for a fall to take action. You can improve mobility and safety today with CaringEdge’s therapists and home health services. Contact CaringEdge at info@caringedge.com to learn more. Let’s work together to keep you moving safely and confidently!
Living life to the fullest means something different to each of us. A long, healthy, happy life filled with family and adventures is all anyone can ever ask for. To achieve this, we usually need a bit of help along the way. Thankfully, some services can be as convenient as outside your front door!
CaringEdge is here to help patients achieve good health, mobility, and comfort. From home health to therapy to hospice, our purpose is always our patients! Here’s how we’re helping people achieve their best lives:
Home Health
Home health happens at home, but not because a patient can’t leave home. Patients may go out very little because of their overall health condition/diagnosis. For Medicare to pay for home health, a physician must attest that their patient is primarily homebound, leaving only for short periods when they feel up to it.
Services at home are intended to offer the convenience people need to feel better. Driving or even finding transportation services to receive care can add stress and sometimes prevent people from receiving the care they so critically need.
Here’s what can be included in home health services:
Skilled Nursing Services
Medication teaching and management
Patient and family education
Rehab nursing
Wound care
A Medical Social Worker
Emotional support for patients and families
Coordination of counseling & other community resources
Long-term care planning
Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy
Skilled physical, occupational, and speech therapies enhance strength, safety, and independence. Therapies can be offered after an injury or hospitalization or as a preventative measure to reduce the risks of worsening a condition.
Available in a clinic, hospital, or at home, these therapies can help patients regain or maintain their abilities. Whether activities of daily living are becoming confusing, painful, or even impossible, therapy can help pave the way to independence.
Hospice
For those facing the end of life due to an incurable illness or complex health conditions, hospice can offer some peace. While each patient’s time left is limited and varied, hospice aims to help make their remaining time both comfortable and meaningful. Patients can create a care plan that allows them to be alert and pain-free, support their families, and receive services right where they call home.
Hospice provides a team that includes a medical director, RN, social worker, chaplain, aide, and volunteers. Patients can also choose family members, caregivers, and healthcare decision-makers to join their team.
The entire purpose of hospice is to help patients live how they want during their final days, weeks, or months. Families of those in hospice can also receive support after their loved one passes away.
Home health, therapies, and hospice are available in private residences, skilled nursing facilities, and senior living communities. Myths about hospice make it an underutilized service. In reality, hospice can help patients live with dignity, comfort, and peace of mind when they need it the most.
If you or a loved one could benefit from home health, therapies, or hospice, contact us at info@caringedge.com. We can help guide you through the eligibility process to make receiving care easier.
Daily activities like taking a shower, running errands, and doing everything we need to do to live well are often abilities we take for granted. Think about how quickly running errands can be when feeling our very best and the weather is nice. Getting cleaned up, hopping in the car, and driving around to cross things off the to-do list can go fast.
However, if we’re recovering from an illness or injury or experiencing diminished strength because of leading a sedentary life, consider how daunting those basic tasks can be. Proactive, preventative measures like home health physical or occupational therapy services can help prevent injuries—especially during the height of the slip-and-fall season!
Home Health Therapy Helps You Stay Strong
You don’t have to be injured to receive home health therapy. Speak with your doctor if you’re feeling weak, having balance issues, or relying on walls or furniture to help you get out of your chair. Therapists do much more than stretch and strengthen weak muscles or joints after an injury or surgery.
Home health therapists are skilled at evaluating and diagnosing potential problems before they lead to more severe injuries or conditions. They proactively offer solutions to help reduce future life-changing events like falls. CaringEdge aims to significantly improve our patients’ lives by providing exceptional therapeutic services and care while promoting optimal health, wellness, safety, and function.
Physical therapy helps patients maintain mobility and improve their overall quality of life. Physical therapists can get you moving again using scientifically based treatment techniques focusing on restoring function, reducing pain, and correcting or preventing injury. Staying active can help manage your overall long-term health.
Occupational therapy practitioners use research and scientific evidence to ensure effective interventions. With a strong knowledge of a person’s psychological, physical, emotional, and social makeup, occupational therapists can evaluate how a condition affects the body and mind. An occupational therapist will assess your abilities and, with input from you, family, friends, and care providers, develop individualized goals that will allow you to resume or improve valued daily activities.
Common Conditions Treated by Physical and Occupational Therapy:
• Spine Conditions: Low Back Pain, Stenosis, Sciatica, Etc
• Transfer/Gait Deficits
CaringEdge home health therapy services can be done wherever you call home to help you avoid walking on icy, risky walks during the winter. Your Medicare policy may even cover part of the cost!
Medicare Can Help Cover Home Health Therapy:
• Medicare Part A helps pay for medically necessary home health physical and occupational therapy services.
• Medicare regulations no longer limit how much Medicare pays for medically necessary outpatient therapy services in one calendar year.
• All people with Medicare Part A are covered if services are medically reasonable and necessary.
• We can check your eligibility!
Remember, you don’t have to be injured already to receive home health therapies to qualify. Begin your journey to a strong, healthy new year with a trip to your primary care provider’s office. Discuss whether or not you’d be a candidate for home health therapy services, or write to us at info@caringedge.com to learn more.
The winter landscape is beautiful and challenging. In addition to shoveling, de-icing, and warming vehicles, winter can also create extra work for our bodies.
The colder air can cause dry, chapped skin, and the frigid winter temperatures may also keep us more inactive. Sitting or lying down too long without repositioning could cause skin breakdown or pressure sores.
The color and texture of our skin and fingernails can sometimes indicate underlying health issues. See your doctor for answers if you’re experiencing changes or have concerns.
Here are Four Tips for Healthy Skin & Nails
1. Water to the Rescue
Staying hydrated can benefit your body both internally and externally. Drink eight glasses of water daily, and opt for water-rich foods, too. Cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries, celery, tomatoes, spinach, and cantaloupe are all great foods to eat to stay hydrated and healthy.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a diet full of proper nutrients and foods rich in vitamins A, E, and D is important. They also suggest that eating healthy fats, carbohydrates, protein, and iron is helpful for healthy hair, skin, and nails. If you are deficient in these vitamins, speak with your healthcare provider to discuss whether or not you could benefit from supplements.
The air can dry out your home and your skin during the winter. If you enjoy cooking or making tea, boiling liquids in your kitchen can help add humidity to the air. If your home is large, consider adding portable humidifiers to help.
2. Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Staying clean is important, but finding the right balance for your needs is also best practice. You may not need to shower as often if you’re not sweating or moving around.
It’s also important not to wait too long between showers, as this can cause skin to break down. Exfoliating and using skin-friendly products to clean and moisturize your skin are also important. Exercise extreme caution in the tub if you’re using products that have oils in them, as they can make the tub very slippery.
Be sure to keep plenty of high-quality moisturizing products around in the winter. Keeping an extra lip balm and lotion handy will help you keep your skin healthy.
Unscented and chemical-free products are best, especially in your laundry. Some detergents can cause skin rashes or irritation. If you develop a rash, try to get it under control by switching products or speaking to your doctor about your condition. Scratching skin rashes can lead to open sores and complications like wounds.
If you spend a lot of time sitting or lying down, use a mirror to do routine checks to ensure you’re not developing skin breakdown or small sores. If you cannot complete your own skin checks, ask a trusted loved one or caregiver who can help you.
Prevention of skin breakdown is key. Wound care can be painful, costly, and time-consuming, and complications like infections could lead to hospitalizations or frequent clinic visits.
3. Watch Out for Nails
Fingernails and toenails can also give us signs about our health. If your nails are turning colors or there’s a noticeable change in their texture, follow up with your healthcare provider to determine the cause.
Keeping your nails trimmed is also important so you don’t scratch your skin and develop open areas. Consider seeing a professional for your nails if you have certain health conditions or if using a clipper is too difficult. It’s important to use care and avoid over-trimming.
If you have diabetes, exercise extreme caution with your toenails. It is important to see a podiatrist or someone your doctor recommends for nail care. Foot and other wounds can take a significant amount of time to heal if you have diabetes.
4. Take the Pressure Off
According to the Mayo Clinic, constant pressure on the skin can reduce blood flow and create pressure or bed sores. The most common sites of these painful wounds are the tailbone, heels, shoulder blades, spine, buttocks, and the back of arms and legs.
Patients should move around at least once every two hours to avoid the risk of developing sores. Those with circulation problems, fragile skin, or limited mobility may need to move around more frequently or be repositioned by caregivers.
While activity and movement can help prevent sores, sometimes they are caused by moving while wearing tight or ill-fitting shoes or socks. It’s best to complete regular head-to-toe skin checks and proper hygiene care, which can help stop sores from occurring.
If you have an open area or sore that hurts, is red, or is warm to the touch, be sure to see your doctor as soon as possible (especially if you are diagnosed with diabetes or cannot reposition independently). Depending on the severity of your condition, your doctor may prescribe wound dressing supplies, specialty equipment such as gel cushions or alternating air-pressure mattresses, and home health services to help you.
Home health nurses can be a godsend for those suffering from or at risk of developing open sores. In addition to wound care, they can educate patients and their caregivers on appropriate repositioning schedules, proper nutrition to aid wound healing, and the best practices to help avoid future issues.
Are you living at home with a chronic condition or recovering from a serious illness or injury that’s compromising your quality of life? CaringEdge can help!
Our home health services include skilled nursing care, physical and occupational therapies, dietary education, and social work services. Best of all, you don’t have to wait for major complications to arise before you qualify for home health. Contact us at info@caringedge.com today if you’re interested in home health services to feel your best.
The season of giving and delicious goodies is upon us! Seeing the smiling faces of loved ones gathered around the festively decorated dinner tables is something most of us envision all year.
To get the most out of every holiday occasion, it’s best to balance health and fun. Time away from our typical routines can sometimes cause our healthy habits to fall by the wayside. When that happens, we risk developing illnesses that can lead us to miss the events we’ve anticipated for so long.
With a little prep in advance, you can make it all work and feel your best, too. Here are some tips to stay healthy while you celebrate:
Make Your Meals Merry but Mindful
There’s no need to skip your favorites. Enjoy your holiday meals by being thoughtful about what’s on your plate. Try smaller portions of higher-calorie foods or sugary goodies to savor the season without sacrificing health.
Add some green veggies when you can and keep water handy to stay hydrated, choosing it over sugary or alcoholic drinks when possible. If you have a drink, make sure it’s safe with any medications you take. If you’re unsure whether or not it’s safe to drink alcohol with your medications, it’s best to verify with your doctor or pharmacist.
Stick to Your Medication Routine
Amidst the holiday hustle, it’s easy to forget medications. Keep them handy (yet out of the reach of kiddos), set reminders on your phone, or use a kitchen timer to stay on track. If you have diabetes, make sure to stick to your schedule for blood sugar checks. Staying consistent helps avoid unexpected ER trips and keeps you feeling your best.
Prioritize Rest & Relaxation
The holidays can be energetic, but quality rest is essential. Whether hosting family or visiting loved ones, getting enough downtime is important.
If the little ones wake you up early, offer to read them a bedtime story a little earlier at night so everyone can get a few more winks. Even sneaking in a nap now and again can help you recharge.
Leave some time each day to unwind. Watching your favorite movie or reading a book can refresh your spirit and reduce stress.
Make Time to Move
While taking a breather is great, try to avoid prolonged inactivity. If the weather’s nice, go for a walk or enjoy the fresh air with the family. Movement can also ease digestion, especially when holiday treats are on the menu!
If the weather is poor and you need to move around, consider doing range-of-motion exercises or light workouts indoors. YouTube has many great free options if you need ideas or take a group approach and bring your family to a local yoga class.
Live Well All Year
If you’re struggling to remain healthy at home, CaringEdge may be able to help. Home health services can support those who wish to maintain their health, safety, and independence at home.
Our nursing services can offer IV fluids, medication checks, and even education to you and your family about successfully managing chronic and temporary conditions. If you or a loved one could benefit from home health services, contact us at info@caringedge.com to learn more. A visit to your doctor’s office can be a great first step in getting a home health referral so you can feel your best all year!
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