Four Practical Ways to Help Your Senior to Manage Diabetes
A diabetes diagnosis might feel scary to your senior at first, but it really doesn’t have to be. You can help her to manage her diabetes effectively so that she’s able to live as normal a lifestyle as possible.
Get Educated about Diabetes
Diabetes is simple enough to understand on the surface. It’s a condition that makes it difficult for your senior to maintain a consistent and level blood sugar measurement. She may or may not require insulin, and that makes things more complicated for her. The more that you understand about diabetes and how it affects the body, the more help you’re going to be able to offer.
Look into the Lifestyle Changes She Might Need to Make
If your elderly family member doesn’t immediately require insulin, she may not need any medications. Lifestyle changes are typically the first recommendation from doctors and that’s because they can be very effective. Exercising more, eating different types of healthy foods, and getting sleep are usually the items on your senior’s to do list. Those are things she may already be trying to do in order to stay as healthy as possible.
Stress Relief Is Also Crucial
Stress is another important factor, though. Stress hormones can affect blood sugar levels because the body dumps more glucose into your senior’s blood when it detects that she may need to fight or flee. The problem is that modern life offers very few true situations in which people need to flee or fight. Most stress simply needs to be managed in different ways to reduce those chemical shifts that can create blood sugar anomalies.
Starting a Self-monitoring Habit Is Important
Many people aren’t excited about testing their blood sugar levels, but this is vital if your elderly family member is diabetic. She needs to know where her levels are so that she can see what is working and what isn’t. Some people are still squeamish, though. Working with elder care providers may be a good idea. They can help with taking blood sugar levels accurately and they can also remind your senior when it’s time to test again.
Talk to your elderly family member about what she’s finding difficult about her diagnosis. It’s possible that just talking about diabetes and how she’s feeling is all that she needs. But it’s also possible that she needs to be able to lean on you for solid help at times.
If you or an aging loved one is considering elderly care in Princeton, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care today. Call (732) 607-8870.
The Care Street mission is straightforward and compelling: to provide a comprehensive range of the highest quality home health services in a professional and efficient manner that will enhance our clients' quality of life and empower families to keep their loved one at home.
Care Street has earned a reputation of excellence among hundreds of families, and is recommended by medical professionals and hospital discharge planners throughout the State.
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