Assisting Hands Home Care Celebrates Healthy Aging Month with Educational Webinars
TINTON FALLS, NJ–Sept. 2, 2020–Assisting Hands® Home Care, a Tinton Falls-based business that provides professional in-home care services to patients in Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, allowing them to remain safely and comfortably in their own homes, is hosting webinars throughout September in celebration of Healthy Aging Month.
The webinars will focus on the aging process and how it impacts expression and behavior, senior mental health and the impact of loneliness, and how long-term care insurance can be a catalyst to plan healthy aging.
“We care for clients in every step of the aging process and all experience these issues in some way,” said Gerry Patrizio, president and owner of Assisting Hands Home Care Monmouth. “Education helps clients and their families understand what they are going through, helps them set realistic expectations and goals so they can build a comprehensive care plan. We are proud to offer this programming with our local partners to help them navigate aging for themselves or their loved ones.”
Isolation and Loneliness Impact Mental and Physical Health
Both isolation and loneliness carry risks for older adults. Anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, heart disease, obesity and a weakened immune system are all issues that can be brought on by isolation and loneliness, according to the National Institute on Aging, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. It can promote inflammation in the brain leading to Alzheimer’s, accelerate plaque buildup in arteries, and help cancer cells grow and spread.
“Loneliness and isolation can exist separately or together,” said Randi Goldberg, a senior resource specialist at Archer Law Office, a central Jersey elder law boutique. “A grandparent can live with their children and grandchildren, yet feel lonely because they are going about their lives and not giving as much attention to the elder in the home. Isolation is an even bigger issue when elders live apart from their loved ones in their own homes or a facility. Isolation is a major catalyst for loneliness.”
Loneliness and isolation are becoming even bigger concerns, as families have cut back, or were not permitted, the visitation of loved ones during the pandemic.
Goldberg will address the issue and strategies to combat it during a September 17 webinar at noon. Register now.
Don’t Fall for Fall
The first day of fall, September 22, is National Fall Prevention Day to highlight the risk of falls for seniors.
“Falls account for broken bones, head injuries or even death for one in four adults in the U.S.,” says Stephen Hoelle, RN-BC, director of nursing at Assisting Hands Home Care. “In New Jersey more than 21% of older adults fall, which is a large percent of the population that is at risk for serious injury.”
Hoelle will discuss the clinical implications of falls during a special noon webinar. Ed McCarthy and Claire Davids of Caring Transitions, senior transition and relocation specialists, will discuss improvements that can be made to a home to improve safety, such as de-cluttering, identifying areas for better flow and increasing spaces for medical equipment. Lynn Knight, PT and author of Don’t Fall, will discuss the aging issues related to falls and simple things that seniors can do to prevent in-home falls. Register now.
Change is Difficult, Needs to be Understood
Understanding the changing expressions and behaviors as our loved ones age is difficult for the person aging, their loved ones and caregivers. Changes can be brought on by diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, chronic conditions, lengthy illnesses or medications.
“We have a goal to change the way society views these expressions, also known as behaviors, and how to redirect and get ahead of these expressions by proactively managing your loved one’s needs, rather than reacting to them,” says Sheli Monacchio, CDP, CADDCT, CMDCP, director of life care resources at Princeton-based estate-planning firm Van Dyck Law and founder of Caring Connections of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, a network of healthcare professionals that serve the aging community. “It is necessary to understand how to manage them to keep our loved ones safe and out of harm’s way.”
The webinar will take place at 10 a.m. on September 30. Register now.
No cost registration for the educational webinars can be done online or by emailing vschubert@assistinghandsjerseyshore.com.
About Assisting Hands® Home Care
Assisting Hands Home Care serves clients in Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, providing professional in-home health care services, allowing patients to remain safely and comfortably in their own homes. Services range from hourly respite care to 24-hour live-in care for post-surgical or illness patients to individuals and families with memory impairments and age-related limitations. To learn more call 732-272-0222 or visit assistinghandsjerseyshore.com.
