senior care

Dementia Management: A Guide to Choosing Memory Care Services

A person with dementia will go through changes in behavior. They may become anxious, irritable, or withdrawn. Most will have difficulty with memory, concentration, and visuospatial skills. These changes will mean deep understanding on your part as you live with a loved one who is showing these symptoms.

Other than patience and extra love, people with dementia will need specialized services. Memory care facilities would be a good option because they provide programs that enable patients to manage their condition. But not all facilities offer the same services. For example, memory care services in Layton might come with spiritual services, entertainment programs, and fitness classes while a similar facility in Salt Lake City might offer digital programs, physical exercises, and social activities.

Your choice for memory care services will be crucial to the quality of life your loved one will have as they struggle with a cognitive condition.;So how do you choose?

Determine Their Needs

elderly

Whether you’re looking after your parent or spouse, you need to first figure out their needs. It may help you to go through a list of questions.

For example:

  • Does your parent or spouse need special medical care for a condition, e.g., diabetes, hypertension, colostomy care, etc.?
  • Does he or she need 24/7 care?
  • Does he or she exhibit aggression or any extreme behavior?
  • Does he or she have mobility issues?
  • Does he or she need assistance when eating?

When you have the answers to these concerns, then you’ll be able to narrow down your choice for a memory care facility.

Evaluate the Facility’s Services

The next step is to learn more about the memory care facility’s services. Ask about the daily activities and the typical routine for patients or residents. Some facilities may offer the following activities as a way to stimulate the mind, engage the senses, and restore movement.

  • Easy cleaning activities (e.g., sweeping, wiping the table, folding towels, and other light cleaning activities)
  • Looking at books (like picture books or old favorites of the patient)
  • Visiting the garden or planting flowers and herbs
  • Arts and Crafts projects, like basic painting and knitting
  • Cooking and baking simple recipes
  • Organizing a few office or household items
  • Watching funny videos
  • Reading the newspaper
  • Singing to the music
  • Solving easy puzzles

You may also want to look into facilities that include pet therapy. Dogs, cats, and other pets can be beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Time with pets can trigger pleasant memories;and potentially alleviate anxiety or depression.

Talk to the Staff

All facilities rely on the training and professionalism of its staff. Where seniors with dementia are concerned, it is especially crucial to consider personnel who are passionate about their work and care for their patients. You’ll want to make sure that your parent or spouse is in good hands. ; In addition, check if the facility has sufficient staffing for its patients. How many patients or residents does one employee take care? What is the staffing like during the day and at night? You can spend some time with the staff as you take a tour of the memory care place. You can also observe how they handle the residents. Overall, be finicky about the people who will manage your loved one’s condition. Dementia is a difficult condition. Its effects can extend to the family. But with the right support, you and your loved one can get through this challenging time in your lives.

handcraft gift boxes gift box with pinecone and pine branch

Unique Gifts to Give People Who Have Everything

Deciding what perfect gift to give is already difficult in itself, but this could prove more challenging if you are giving to someone who seems to have everything from the top of the line gadgets to prized jewellery.

While it might seem that you won’t find any decent gift ideas for people who already have everything, there are still gifts that could surely bring delight to your intended recipient.

Something Personalized

Items that seem ordinary become special when they are given a personal touch. Try to give something personalized to a friend or family member to make the gift more meaningful.

When you give something embroidered or engraved with the recipient’s name or designed particularly for that person, you show that you put an extra effort and thought into giving the perfect gift.

Personalised items need not expensive too. You can give drink sets as gifts. Alcohol is always a classy choice — with an engraved box or glasses, or a leather journal embossed with the recipient’s name or initials.

Experience

If you’re giving a gift to someone who appears to have enough material things, think beyond tangible items and consider giving experience instead. You can prepay for an event, class or experience that you think could give the person memory and even skills. These are more valuable compared with expensive devices or clothes he or she likely already have.

Depending on the interest of the person, you can prepay for a cooking class if he or she is interested in learning new cuisines, tickets for a new movie, photography class so your recipient learns how to take better pictures with his new camera, a meditation class, a hot air balloon ride, or a much-needed vacation to some exotic destination.

Something for Their Collection

If the recipient is a collector of anything, add something that can be added to this collection. If the person is a bibliophile who collects old or limited edition books, you might want to give a book that will likely stir his or her interest.

Charity Donation

volunteer at a charity

You can donate to a charity instead of giving a gift to your intended recipient. There are likely a number of charities and causes that are likely close to the recipient’s heart. A loved one who is passionate about cancer research will likely appreciate you giving a donation on their behalf to the American Cancer Society.

If your friend is passionate about the conservation of threatened species and habitats, you can donate money to the World Wildlife Fund. You may also want to check credible crowdfunding sites to see if there are individuals like patients battling with cancer who can benefit from this gift.

You do not have to give materials things if you are giving a gift to someone who has everything. Giving is not all about selecting the most expensive or even the perfect item.

It is showing how you love and appreciate the person in a way that you are willing to think of the things that he or she is passionate about. This can make your gift more meaningful.

Outdoor wedding

Things That You Need to Remember When Planning a Wedding

There are so many things that you need to plan out when it comes to a wedding, especially when it’s your own. Although hiring event planners in Denver can certainly make the job a lot easier, you still must be very hands-on in all the details.

To help you with your special event, we have listed a few of the top things that you need to prepare when planning a wedding. With enough luck and a ton of effort, this list might even help you with remembering all the fine details, too.

1. Always have a backup plan

It’s a must to have a contingency plan in case the weather changes. No one can predict the weather all the time. There are times when a hot and sunny day can turn to severe cold fronts or even hail. So, try your best not to get wrapped up with the aesthetics of the entire venue that you forget to create a contingency plan.

The website www.Brides.com suggests that brides should find out the historical weather as well as the temperature of the area. Doing so can help you build so you a more realistic expectation so you can prepare for it. You should also decide in case the weather changes to something less ideal.

2. Get the right number

You need to get the right number of guests that you’ll invite for your wedding before thinking of a venue. The Knot says that doing so will help ensure that you have enough space for everyone. You can allow at least 25 to 30 square feet for every guest. It may look like a lot of space, but the measurement has yet to include the tables, the band, as well as the dance area. However, if you feel like your budget won’t be enough, it’s best to limit your guest list to your closest family members and friends.

3. Assign the first point of contact

Bride with wedding planner

Having a person to act as the first point of contact for your wedding is crucial to organize everything, especially the wedding vendors. Things can get overwhelming during the entire event. You can choose a close friend or a loved one to be the first point of contact to help you manage everything. Doing so can be especially helpful when it comes to dealing with wedding vendors. Although you still must make a few decisions, you can have someone else take the call while you’re trying to arrange other things.

4. Check your finances

You can take advantage of the high expenses spent on the wedding and sign up for a credit card that offers excellent rewards programs. Whether they provide shopping deals or other promos, combining your costs in a single card can help you earn rewards points. Preparing for a wedding can be a tedious process. That’s why it’s best to hire someone to do all the things for you. Doing so can help you enjoy the entire event without any worries about things going wrong. If you’re not comfortable with it, then you can always check out a few magazine sites and articles for more wedding tips and ideas, too.

Gravestone with mold

Resurfacing Options for Damaged Gravestones

After the passing on of your loved one, there will be a few mementos left to remember them by. Most of these might get lost or eventually be given away, but one thing that will remain to commemorate the deceased’s life is their headstone.

As such, most people will take the time to choose the best inscriptions, designs, and materials for the tombstone. Few, however, bother with its maintenance after the funeral. Owing to the environmental conditions headstones in Salt Lake City are subjected to, the coatings and finishes on them deteriorate over time. The material used for the tombstone itself also wears out and starts breaking off.

The stone thus looks nothing like the beautiful memorial you want to remember your loved one by. Thankfully, funeral homes that design headstones can also offer a variety of resurfacing options to get your loved one’s back to its original design. Here are some of these alternatives.

Resetting

This is used for upright headstones which have shifted from their base. In most instances, the inscribed portion of the grave marker and the base have been separated.

In resetting, the failed concrete or shifted soil is removed from under the base and replaced with a stable aggregate which is then tamped down. The base is then installed and the stone replaced on the base using lime and mortar, a setting compound or epoxy.

Epoxy Fillings

Gray marble gravestoneMarble headstones and those that are thin or comprise intricate parts are commonly damaged or broken by strong winds and temperature variations. Epoxy can be used to fit the broken pieces back to the central stone after the headstone is cleaned.

If the damaged or broken off pieces of the stone are lost, mortar is used to recreate the damaged parts to resemble the original closely. The pieces are then stuck onto the headstone.

Mechanical Resurfacing

In this technique, the headstone’s look is restored using water and diamond abrasives to produce a consistent and smooth finish. This method is used for thick headstones such as granite since the diamonds can damage other headstone materials.

During mechanical resurfacing, there might be tiny granules which flake off the stone and fade your inscriptions. This can be redone using epoxy filling.

Some cemeteries do not, however, allow this method of resurfacing because of the risk of fading inscription. You should, therefore, check before opting for this mechanical resurfacing.

Drilling and Pinning

In this technique, the broken pieces of a headstone are drilled, and then a pin is inserted through them to form one piece. Although commonly used in the past, drilling and pinning are not so common nowadays. This is because the technique might put more strain on an already compromised headstone and result in further damage.

You would not want to visit your loved one’s resting place and find the headstone in disarray or, even worse, completely crumbled. The above-resurfacing options ensure the headstone remains new and enhance its durability.

Moreover, some cemeteries require resurfacing of the tombstones in their plots periodically to keep their grounds looking pristine. Visit a funeral home today and get the best resurfacing alternative to restore the glory of your loved one’s headstone.

Woman doing a yoga exercise

6 Healthy Habits You Need to Start Doing Today

Having a 9-to-5 job while maintaining an active social life and keeping a healthy lifestyle is not easy. Some people reason out that they don’t have enough time in the week to even bother going to the gym, cooking their own food, and seeing some friends to catch up. However, it has always been proven that creating a healthy and balanced lifestyle has long-term benefits that you will be thankful for one day.

To help you kick-start the journey toward healthy living, here are some useful tips:

1. Adopt a certain workout that you can do every day

Whether it’s yoga, boxing, dancing, or running, the goal is to develop a kind of exercise routine that you can do every day. Some people hire a one-on-one personal trainer to get them started properly, and that helps them slowly get used to working out. Apart from keeping you fit, working out also releases endorphins, also called “happy hormones,” which help you start your day in a more positive way.

2. Keep a journal

With the various advancements in technology today, people have now relied on technology to journal. They use social media to post about how their day has gone. However, there is something special about sitting down and taking the time to write down your thoughts.

3. Consider going minimalistic

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to live in an almost emptied apartment. Going minimal means that you keep only the things that serve a purpose and dispose of clutter and things that you don’t really need. In doing so, you will realize how helpful this method is in clearing your mind and even reducing stress.

4. Schedule your day

Woman checking calendar

Sometimes, you reach the end of your day and realize that you haven’t accomplished anything productive. To help you with this, you can list down a couple of things that you need to do in the morning before you start your day. Enumerate what you should be doing at certain times of the day and keep track whether you are following through.

5. Prepack your meals

It only takes about an hour and a half every Sunday night to make sure that your lunches are set for the whole week. There are a lot of recipes out on the Internet that you can try, so there really is no excuse why you can’t start a habit of eating healthy. As an added bonus, you’ll be able to save up your lunch money.

6. Turn off your screen

People spend countless hours every day and every night staring at their phones, playing games, and being on social media. It’s important that you keep track of how much time you spend on your phone and make sure that you turn off your screen before you head to bed. You want your body and brain to go on relaxation mode to get a good night’s sleep.

They say that it takes a couple of months to develop a habit. Although it may seem like a long time, and the struggle to start can be quite tricky, the rewards of finally adopting a healthy lifestyle can really develop positive and lasting changes.