Family caregivers and senior care professionals may notice changes in their loved ones, which send up a red flag that an otherwise healthy older adult needs more assistance to remain safely and independently at home. These signs are an indication it might be time to call for help:

1. Household bills piling up. Seniors can feel overwhelmed by the simple task of opening and responding to daily mail.

2. Reluctance to leave the house. Rather than ask for help, seniors who are having trouble with such functions as walking, remembering and hearing will pull away from their community and isolate themselves.

3. Losing interest in meals. Seniors who suddenly find themselves alone, perhaps after the death of a spouse, can be easily discouraged by such tasks as cooking and tend not to eat properly.

4. Declining personal hygiene. Changes in appearance, such as unkempt hair and body odor, failing to change clothes for days on end or clothes inappropriate for the weather, are among the obvious signs that a senior needs.

5. Declining driving skills. Look for evidence of parking or speeding tickets, fender-benders, dents and scratches on the car.

6. Scorched pots and pans. Cooking ware left forgotten on top of an open flame may be a sign of short-term memory loss or even Alzheimer’s disease.

7. Signs of depression. Feelings of hopelessness and despair, listlessness, fewer visits with friends and family, a change of sleeping patterns and lack of interest in the usual hobbies and activities are indicators of depression.

8. Missed doctors’ appointments and social engagements. These can be signs of depression or forgetfulness. But they can also be the result of no longer having a driver’s license and not knowing how to get alternative transportation.

9. Unkempt house. Changes in housekeeping may come about because the senior is physically tired. They could also result from depression.

10. Losing track of medications. Seniors often take multiple prescriptions for various health conditions. Keeping track without reminders and assistance can be confusing.

SOURCE: Home Instead Senior Care

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

Mom’s getting older and needs help. Where do I go from here?

The time has come to consider how you will care for your aging loved one. It’s a time that not only involves a very personal choice that will affect you and someone close to you, but unfortunately, it’s also a decision that comes with a certain degree of urgency.

We recognize this challenge and want to share our knowledge and experience to help guide you through every step of this crucial process. Panic and distress have no place here. There is no need to feel rushed, confused or uninformed. You should be confident that you are making the right choice not only for your parent, relative or friend, but for you and your family as well.

The Home Instead Senior Care network has a long history of quality care and personal experience that we would love to share with you. A quick phone call to 905- 276-2273 can get you started on the right path as you begin considering your options.

Setting up a free one-on-one consultation is the perfect opportunity to discuss service options, learn about Home Instead CAREGivers and start moving toward a solution that works for you. The journey starts here, so let’s take the first step together. Call Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga at 905- 276-2273.

Whether you are looking for someone to help an aging parent a few hours a week, or need more comprehensive 24-hour assistance, a professionally trained, bonded, and insured and thoroughly screened Home Instead CAREGiver can help. Our network’s flexible companionship and home helper services range from meal preparation to providing an escort for errands, but our customized care doesn’t stop
there. Home Instead CAREGivers are committed to understanding you on an individual and personal level, to learn about your current needs and anticipate future ones so they may be addressed ahead of time.

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

Need Help Temporarily? We Have the Answer.

Our short-term recovery services are an outstanding solution that allows seniors to recover at home following surgery, an illness or an accident. Home Instead Senior Care’s services can mean a shorter stay in a rehabilitation facility, and it’s proven that people rebound more quickly in the comfort of their own home.

Non-Medical Care and Home Helper Services

Sometimes a little extra help can make a difference in how soon patients can return home, and Home Instead Senior Care is ready to assist with companionship and home helper services. Our non-medical services include things like grocery shopping, meal preparation, running errands, caring for a pet, getting your loved one to medical appointments, and even assistance with household tasks like dusting, making beds and doing laundry. And some Home Instead Senior Care offices provide personal services such as:

Medication reminders

Dressing

Bathing

Grooming

Eating

For personal home care in the Mississauga ON area, please check with your local office by calling 905- 276-2273.

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

Help us honour a senior in your life through the Salute to Senior Service program at SalutetoSeniorService.com. Nominees have a chance to win $5,000 for their favorite volunteer organization. Join us March 30th from 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Mississauga Senior Center located at 1389 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, ON to celebrate a senior hero in our community. Click here is read details of the event.

Many older adults that volunteer feel a greater sense of purpose and well-being. Seniors can experience huge health benefits simply by getting involved. For a vast majority of seniors who volunteer, their community service helps define who they are. According to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network, nearly 100 percent of North American senior volunteers say that, when compared to other things they do in their lives, volunteering is important. One in five senior volunteers says it is the most important thing they do.

“Older volunteers are finding ways to use their lifetime of skills and experience to make an impact on issues they care about,” said Dr. Erwin Tan, director of Senior Corps, who serves as the expert U.S. source for the Salute to Senior Service program. “Whether they serve every day or a few times a year, older volunteers contribute to the health and vitality of their communities by tutoring at–risk students, providing job training to veterans, supporting independent living, or responding to natural disasters.”

In the meantime, your loved ones might benefit from the assistance of a Home Instead CAREGiver to keep up with the activities they love. To learn more, contact Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga.  If you have questions about the Salute to Senior Services event in Mississauga or would like help maintaining your volunteer efforts – please contact us at 905-276-2273.

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

To recognize seniors for the impact they make in their communities by volunteering their time and talents, the Home Instead Senior Care^® network conducted a contest search for the most outstanding senior volunteer in Canada (excluding Quebec).

Three in five Canadian senior volunteers say they plan on volunteering “forever” or they have no end in sight to their community service activities, according to the research. Actually, seniors can make a mark well into their elderly years by following a few simple guidelines designed to keep volunteering from becoming a grind or, even worse, more like a job:

1. Find a passion

2. Look for a need

3. Laugh it off

4. Avoid perfectionism

5. Strive for joy

6. Deflect criticism

7. Steer clear of conflict

8. Don’t overdo

9. Shun negativity

10. Get help

Read the full article on 10 Ways a Senior Can Volunteer.

If you’re a senior or have a loved one who is yearning to volunteer, but needs help to make it happen, contact your Mississauga Home Instead Senior Care office which employs CAREGivers, many of whom are seniors themselves, who are screened, trained, bonded and insured. CAREGivers can help around the house with meal preparation and light housekeeping so their clients can volunteer. They can, perhaps, participate with their client in volunteer projects, or help provide transportation to and from special events.

Help us honour a senior in your life through the Salute to Senior Service program at SalutetoSeniorService.com. In the meantime, your loved ones might benefit from the assistance of a Home Instead CAREGiver to keep up with the activities they love. To learn more, contact Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga. Join us March 30th from 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Mississauga Senior Center located at 1389 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, ON to celebrate a senior hero in our community. Click here is read details of the event.

If you have questions about the Salute to Senior Services event in Mississauga or would like help maintaining your volunteer efforts – please contact us at 905-276-2273.

Recent research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network details the varied benefits of volunteering. The truth is, volunteering benefits the economy as much as it does the individuals who give and receive.

The survey—Volunteers and the Economic Downturn—revealed that 80 percent of responding organizations experienced some level of fiscal stress between September 2008 and March 2009. Nearly 40 percent of those organizations said the stress was severe or very severe. Three in five senior volunteers in the Home Instead Senior Care network survey say they are volunteering more now because the need is greater as result of the poor economy.

“If anything, the recession has pointed to the increased need for volunteer support,” said Dr. Erwin Tan, director of Senior Corps whose organization is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

“The biggest motivation for volunteering, particularly for seniors, is to make a difference. And it’s easier to make a difference when seniors know so many are in need, including their own neighbors. Research tells us that, even in good times, people of modest financial means often give more than people with greater wealth. This is especially true when they are already committed to a cause.”

Help us honour a senior in your life through the Salute to Senior Service program at SalutetoSeniorService.com. In the meantime, your loved ones might benefit from the assistance of a Home Instead CAREGiver to keep up with the activities they love. To learn more, contact Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga. Join us March 30th from 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Mississauga Senior Center located at 1389 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, ON to celebrate a senior hero in our community. Click here is read details of the event.

If you have questions about the Salute to Senior Services event in Mississauga or would like help maintaining your volunteer efforts – please contact us at 905-276-2273.

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

Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga supports the Alzheimer Society of Peel in a number of ways through fundraising, education and support of staff and clients. When Home Instead Senior Care launched their Facebook page last fall, they thought what better way to introduce this new resource to Seniors and their families than to donate $5 for every “like” they receive. On January 18th, Home Instead presented a cheque for $500 to the Alzheimer Society (60 Briarwood Avenue, Port Credit), to support their ongoing programs.

Please “like” their Home Instead Facebook page and help support the Alzheimer Society!

Today, Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, affects close to six million people in the U.S. and Canada. Learn more about the Impact of Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Despite its prevalence, Alzheimer’s and related dementias are not a normal part of aging. Alzheimer’s causes irreversible changes to the brain that result in problems communicating, thinking, and taking care of basic needs. Symptoms vary as the disease affects each person differently, but individuals with Alzheimer’s inevitably advance through increasingly debilitating stages, requiring progressively more intense levels of care.

Knowing some of Alzheimer’s warning signs can help you identify when changes taking place in your loved one go beyond typical age-related changes and may signify the effects of brain disease. Signs that point to Alzheimer’s may be similar but more severe, including:

• Memory loss that disrupts daily life
• Changes in planning or solving problems
• Difficulty completing familiar tasks
• Confusion with time or place
• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
• New problems with words in speaking or writing
• Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
• Decreased or poor judgment
• Withdrawal from work or social activities
• Changes in mood and personality

If you observe one or more of these 10 warning signs of Alzheimer’s in your loved one, please talk to a medical professional.

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

It appears that volunteering may pay special dividends for seniors who have chronic health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Eighty-six per cent say that staying active through volunteering helps them manage these conditions, according to research conducted by the Home Instead Senior Care® network.

Volunteering past the traditional retirement age of 65 has the following benefits beyond good vibes for Canadian volunteer seniors surveyed:

1. Improved Physical Health – 99 per cent stay active and feel better physically. Ruth MacKenzie, President and CEO of Volunteer Canada, said: “You get more physically active and intellectually active, and connect in a meaningful way to your community, and that’s the big one. The health benefits associated with volunteering are a means to combat isolation and loneliness.”

2. Stronger Emotional Foundation – 98 per cent feel better emotionally. Perhaps it’s the idea of putting others’ needs before one’s own, but older volunteers almost always feel better emotionally.

3. Renewed Spiritual Purpose – 98 per cent gain a sense of purpose. Along with a need to make a difference, senior volunteers overwhelming want to gain a sense of purpose.

4. Strengthened Mission – 97 per cent want to make a difference. Whether it’s passing out lunches to the homeless or building a home for a family in need, nearly all senior volunteers want to make a difference.

5. Shared Wisdom – 87 per cent want to share their talents, skills and experience. Many older adults have spent a lifetime in careers or honing domestic and creative skills that they are more than happy to share with others.

Learn more about how to honour a senior in your life through the Salute to Senior Service program at SalutetoSeniorService.com. In the meantime, your loved ones might benefit from the assistance of a Home Instead CAREGiver to keep up with the activities they love. To learn more, contact Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga. Join us March 30th from 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Mississauga Senior Center located at 1389 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, ON to celebrate a senior hero in our community. Click here is read details of the event.

If you have questions about the Salute to Senior Services event in Mississauga or would like help maintaining your volunteer efforts – please contact us at 905-276-2273.

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

Seniors have always gone above and beyond the call of duty. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga  has been taking nominations of seniors in the community and are recognizing one senior nationally with a $5000 donation to a charity of his/her choice. Join us March 30th from 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Mississauga Senior Center located at 1389 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, ON to celebrate a senior hero in our community. Click here is read details of the event.

Home Instead Senior Care Mississauga would also like to take some time out to recognize some of the local seniors who have been nominated. Lunch and snacks will be provided and anyone from the community is welcome to come attend and support the seniors in our area who have gone above and beyond.

It’s our special way to recognize seniors for the impact they make in the Mississauga area – volunteering their time and talents, the Home Instead Senior Care® network is conducting a contest search for the most outstanding senior volunteer in the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec).

Be  part of our efforts to recognize a senior hero by nominating them for a chance to become a national Salute to Senior Service℠ winner. Home Instead, Inc. will make a $5,000 donation to each of the national Salute to Senior Service winners’ designated non-profit favorite charity of choice. Submit a nomination.

If you have questions about the Salute to Senior Services event in Mississauga or would like help maintaining your volunteer efforts – please contact us at 905-276-2273.

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

The benefits of volunteerism are wide and varied in Toronto for seniors. The need to help others and make a positive difference on the volunteers themselves. 97% of senior volunteers feel that they are happier than those who do not volunteer, and volunteers have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life.

When you volunteer you choose to work for another person or organization without pay or other compensation.  Organizations and individuals throughout Canada rely on volunteers to provide direct and in-direct services to their communities. There are a million different ways to volunteer.  You or someone you know may already volunteer without having recognized it.

Senior Volunteers help out at:

Prime Mentors Of Canada – Be a PMC volunteer mentor, guiding children for one hour a week for 10 to 12 weeks. Work on an exciting project selected by the protege. Enrich the life of a child with your knowledge and experience. PMC offers training and support for mentors so that getting involved is a rewarding experience. For more information contact Lisa Maloney at (905) 882-5482 or primementors@oise.utoronto.ca.

The Dorothy Ley Hospice – Here at the Dorothy Ley Hospice, we have volunteers who are trained and supported by professionals to deliver palliative and hospice care to those in need and to provide quality end of life care that simply cannot be given through traditional health care.

Shakespeare In Action – Shakespeare in Action is a dynamic professional theatre company and registered charity. We have been entertaining and inspiring audiences – 7 to 75 – for over 23 years! We are seeking volunteers to usher our upcoming productions of The Diary of Anne Frank (March 14-31), Romeo & Juliet (April 16-28), and Macbeth (April 16-28). Please contact us if you’re interested!

The Wexford Residence Inc. – A vibrant and caring community of seniors, families and dedicated service providers championing the uniqueness and potential of each and every senior. We are positively prepared to help our clients maintain independence, preserve dignity and to experience life to the fullest.

Mustard Seed/Fontbonne Ministries – We offer a welcoming environment and sacred space for participants and volunteers to develop life skills, creativity, care for the environment and spiritual growth. Located in South Riverdale, we serve and collaborate with the local community and non-profit agencies.

If your loved one needs help and assistance in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and continuing their senior service, call Mississauga Home Instead Senior Care at 905- 276-2273. Our CAREGivers are available to help your senior stay healthy.

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