There are nearly 100,000 emergency hospitalizations each year for adverse drug events that involve U.S. senior citizens, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of the thousands of medications available to patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused two-thirds of the emergency hospitalizations, the report said.

Four medications, used alone or together, accounted for two-thirds of the emergency hospitalizations:

33 percent, or 33,171 emergency hospitalizations, involved warfarin, a medication used to prevent blood clots.

14 percent involved insulins. Insulin injections are used to control blood sugar in people who have diabetes.

13 percent involved antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin or clopidogrel, which prevent platelets, or pieces of blood cells from clumping together to start a clot.

11 percent involved diabetes medications that are taken by mouth, called oral hypoglycemic agents.

Our CAREGivers at Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga ON can serve as a second set of eyes and ears for your senior loved one(s) while providing non-medical services that can help track medications and doctors’ appointments. Contact us at 905- 276-2273.

For more information about how to prepare for an emergency – refer to www.SeniorEmergencyKit.com.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Holidays are a great time to encourage family caregivers to check their senior loved ones for the signs of poor nutrition. Consider the top signs:

Loss of appetite: If a senior has always been a hearty eater but no longer eats as he or she used to, it’s time to find out why. Underlying illness could be the root cause.

Little to no interest in eating out: If a loved one has always enjoyed a favorite restaurant, but no longer shows interest, dig deeper to determine the problem.

Sudden weight fluctuation: A weight change – losing or gaining 10 pounds in six months – is another sign that something could be amiss.

You’ll learn more about nutrition from the educational video series on CaregiverStress.com. And remember, holiday meals don’t need to be boring.

To learn about other challenges senior loved ones could be facing, go to CaregiverStress.com website.

Many of the issues of aging can be solved by providing parents with the support they need to continue to maintain their independence. For more information and additional resources, please contact our office at 905- 276-2273.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Even with the best of intentions and planning, seniors who are without companionship and assistance at home may jeopardize their own good health or recovery from an illness or surgery.

Research by University of Maryland nutrition expert Dr. Nadine Sahyoun revealed that 80 percent of hospital-discharged older adults recruited for the study who qualified for home-delivered meals had food in their kitchens, but they were unable to shop or utilize that food for cooking.

Cooking is an art, it’s been said, and dining both at home and out makes all the effort worthwhile, not only for seniors but their loved ones as well.

Make eating a happy event, Dr. Sahyoun said. We focus too much on what people can’t eat and don’t give enough attention to what food represents to us. Food is at the core of our lives–it’s the smell, color, feel, texture and social context. All of this is what makes a meal enjoyable. We have to pay attention to those things, she added.

To keep their daily menus interesting, and healthy, seniors will want to mix up their food choices—particularly within each food group—every day.

We know that we really are what we eat, said Elisabetta Politi, dietician director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. But each senior’s diet plan is individual, she noted. If Dad has reached age 75 and has not developed heart disease or cancer, you need not recommend any different food intervention than what he is already doing. Dad has found a meal plan that works.

Perhaps a senior’s dietary plan leaves room for improvement. Research shows that change is best done gradually. Encourage seniors to look at how they’re doing and focus on one thing to change.

Watch Senior Nutrition and Mealtime Videos.

Try these tasty recipes when cooking for your senior loved one.

Check out these delectable and nutritious recipes from the Duke Diet and Fitness Center made with the 12 Staples that Seniors Shouldn’t Live Without.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Dawn van Engelen, RD has been a registered dietitian for the past 17 years. The last 16 of those years, Dawn has devoted her time to helping the many patients at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Ontario. While her opportunities to share her knowledge with athletic departments, church groups, day cares, and school children keep her busy, the long term care facility at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital has provided Dawn with immense experience in the nutritional challenges of the aging.

HISC: What is your background and why did you decide to get into this field?
DvE: I decided to get into the field of dietetics due to a keen interest in healthy eating and disease management with diet.

HISC: Who is your typical client/patient?
DvE: My typical patient is an 80 year old male with a number of co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. They want to know what to eat and not eat and are usually looking for a meal plan to be developed for a typical day with meal timing and portion sizes.

HISC: What are some of the most common nutritional deficiencies among seniors and are these different from the rest of the population?
DvE: Seniors are at risk for a number of deficiencies but most importantly calcium, vitamin D, and iron. This may not be any different than the rest of the population but the side effects of these deficiencies are more pronounced in seniors. Fluid intake is also low in the senior population.

HISC: What do you see as the biggest challenge for seniors when it comes to nutrition?
DvE: Meal preparation of 3 meals a day, meal preparation for one, and preparing balanced meals.

HISC: Between 37 and 40% of seniors over age 75 live alone. What effect does isolation have on nutrition?
DvE: Seniors do not feel like eating when they are alone. Eating is a social activity and if you don’t have anyone to share a meal with it becomes too much of a task. A daily task that many seniors may chose not to do.

HISC: What tips can you give to families and caregivers to help increase their senior’s nutrition?
DvE: Bring them food that they love. Invite them out often for a meal. Set up or get seniors involved in a dining club.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Nearly 90 percent of seniors say they want to stay in their home. Doing so gives them a wonderful sense of continued independence. But having mom or dad live alone can be a source of worry for their adult children. The, “What if?” scenarios can often overwhelm the mind. “What if she falls down?” “What if he forgets something on the stove?” “What if she doesn’t tell me it’s getting harder for her to get around?”

If you feel like this, you’re not alone. In 2007 the AARP surveyed boomer women and found that two-thirds are concerned about their parents’ ability to live independently. Most caregivers have other important and pressing responsibilities, so the added responsibility of caring for a senior loved one is likely to cause both emotional and physical stress on the caregiver. In fact, according to a survey by Home Instead Senior Care, 31% of family caregivers admit they’d like more help. Companionship Contributes to Healthy Aging and Better Nutrition for the Elderly. The Home Instead Senior Care® network is arming seniors and family caregivers with nutrition resources for healthy aging.

Healthy aging is a goal we all share and, for seniors, a well-balanced diet can be even more important. Good nutrition is the first line of defense for older adults who are striving to maintain their independence as they age, helping to protect them from illness and disease.

To learn more about Healthy Aging and Better Nutrition for the Elderly.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

The Canada Food Guide provides essential guidelines that seniors should follow with regards to their nutrition, and so often this is a resource that is overlooked in adulthood. Seniors and caregivers need to follow the nutrition guidelines of the Canada Food Guide and also follow these tips to ensure that while they’re getting their recommended daily values of fruits and vegetables, they also prepared them in the right way.

1. Choose vegetables by colour – when seniors are picking out their vegetable servings for everyday, they need to ensure that at least one green vegetable and one orange vegetable is included

2. Look for the rich colours – for green, seniors should look for the dark coloured ones like romaine lettuce, broccoli and spinach. Great orange vegetables are winter squash, sweet potato, and carrots

3. Pay attention to how you cook and prepare fruits and vegetables – avoid adding fat and sugar in preparation of fruits and vegetables, otherwise the benefits can be counteracted. For vegetables, steam them, back them and stir fry them

4. Skip the juices – even fruit or vegetable juice with added sugar or sodium doesn’t have quite the same positive benefits as the natural thing, so try to incorporate raw or cooked fruits or vegetables over juices

Via: Health Canada

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Please call 905- 276-2273.

In Canada approximately 37% of the population age 75 and older – nearly 1.8 million people – lives alone, according to Statistics Canada. These seniors face significant socialization challenges, particularly related to lack of shared mealtime experiences, often taken for granted by most Canadians.

Home Instead Senior Care launched a program, geared to promoting healthy aging by helping seniors eat nutritiously and stay connected socially.  The study that the program is based on, revealed that 59 percent of seniors say they eat more nutritiously when family and friends are around. Families who provide mealtime companionship, whether it’s a family caregiver or a professional caregiving service, are contributing to their senior’s health and well-being in a big way.

When seniors were asked what’s important to you when sharing a home-cooked meal with family or friends?

98% – Good tasting food

97% – A hot meal

94% – A nutritious meal

72% – The entire meal process

38% – A set decorated table

Seniors want good-tasting, nutritious food and stimulating conversation when they share home-cooked meals with family and friends. Having a set, decorated table is not as important; this is even less important for men than women.

Seniors attribute many positive benefits to sharing meals with their family and friends. These include:

• I take longer to eat 84%
• I feel happier than eating alone 81%
• The food tastes better than eating alone 71%
• I eat more nutritious meals 68%

Download the Canadian research results as a PDF (3.3 MB)

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Home Instead Senior Care developed a website to help family caregivers make sure their aging loved one are eating nutritiously. These tips and more are on the www.mealsandcompanionship.com website. Please check it out. This site is designed for anyone who is caring for an elderly person be it a parent, other relative or friend. You will learn why proper nutrition is important and what can happen if your senior loved one doesn’t have good eating habits; simple ways to help your senior loved one shop for good food and eat right; as well as ideas for specific dietary and health concerns.

Nutritious meals are important, but many seniors want to relive a time around the dinner table when they are sharing their lives with the people they love most. Maintaining good nutrition for older adults can be a challenge because many seniors no longer can cook for themselves. What’s more, illnesses and medications can affect their appetites. Companionship is one way to help keep seniors interested in good nutrition.

Senior Challenges to Eating Healthy Meals:

1. Grocery shopping for one
2. Lack of mealtime companionship
3. Cooking for one
4. Eating nutritious meals
5. Eating three meals a day
6. High expense of cooking for one
7. Loss of appetite
8. Relying too much on convenience food
9. Eating too little food
10. Eating too much food

Seniors Need Good Nutrition

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Nutritious meals are important, but many seniors want to relive a time around the dinner table when they are sharing their lives with the people they love most. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga has developed the Craving Companionship program to help older adults who live alone. About 37 per cent of the population 75+ lives alone* according to a Canadian study.

The study reveals:

• An overwhelming majority of seniors (88%) say that having someone to share their meals makes those times more satisfying.
• More than one-half (53%) say their mealtimes are more satisfying if they have someone prepare their meals for them.

Nearly one-half of seniors who live alone have at least four warning signs of poor nutritional health, according to Home Instead Senior Care® network research. The signs and their incidence rates:

• Eating alone most of the time (76%)
• Taking three or more different medications a day (67%)
• Having an illness/condition that prompted a diet change (39%)
• Eating few fruits, vegetables or milk products (36%)
• Having a tooth or mouth problems that make it hard to eat (29%)
• Having lost of gained 10 pounds in the last 6 months without wanting to (28%)

Lack of companionship is the biggest mealtime challenge for seniors and the Craving Companionship program offers tips and practical advice to encourage companionship and easy, healthy meals. The program also encourages family caregivers to revive mealtimes for isolated and lonely seniors.

*2006 Canadian Census

It’s dinnertime. Do you know what’s on the menu at your mom or dad’s house? If a senior is home alone, chances are he or she might not be eating a healthy meal at all.

According to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care^® network, lack of companionship is the biggest mealtime challenge for seniors.*

That’s why the local Home Instead Senior Care office in Mississauga has launched the Craving Companionship ^SM program. The program offers family caregivers tips and practical advice to encourage companionship and easy healthy meals.

Craving Companionship also features a recipe contest promote if speech is given during contest entry period of July 15 to September 15, 2011 that encourages family caregivers to dig into the family recipe box to find that favourite dish, and prepare and share a meal with their senior loved one.

Selected contest recipes and stories will be posted online as well as in the Homemade Memories^SM Cookbook, which will be available for purchase in time for the 2011 holiday season. Proceeds will go to the non-profit Home Instead Senior Care Foundation to benefit North American seniors.

For more details about the program including recipe contest guidelines and prizes, visit www.mealsandcompanionship.com.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.