Family Halloween Safety Tips Seniors, Parents and Children

Family Halloween Safety Tips

Seniors, Parents and Children.

Here at myhomecare we love to celebrate Halloween and that is why we want you to have the best Halloween possible this year. It can however be a chaotic and stressful time of year for many with people dressed in costumes, trick – or – treaters, parties, fireworks among other things. That’s why we have put together a list of top tips to make sure you and your family get the most out of your Halloween without having to worry.

Below is details of our ‘Family Halloween safety tips Seniors, Parents and Children.’

Seniors

The brighter the better:

Keep you home well lit during the night, with both interior and exterior lights. Although a dark home will discourage trick- or-treaters from knocking on your door, it can also attract other unwanted company. Vandals may see a dark home and presume it’s empty.

Trick-or-Treaters:

When entertaining trick- or- treaters avoid individuals entering your home if alone. If someone asks to use the bathroom or for a glass of water, don’t feel pressured, you can say ‘NO’. It is your home, you decide who is invited inside.

Friends and family:

If you are living alone and feeling anxious about Halloween, invite family or friends to drop by and visit for a couple of hours. If possible, stay overnight with a friend or relative.

Pet safety:

keep pets indoors if possible on Halloween night, fireworks and noise can scare pets, especially dogs. They also provide another level of security if you are home alone.

Safety while driving :

If you plan to drive on Halloween, be extra mindful of children crossing the road. Children get very excited on Halloween and pay less attention when crossing roads. Drive slow through busy streets, roads and housing estates, be on the lookout for children in dark costumes.

Parents

Children supervision:

Younger Children trick- or – treating should be accompanied by adults at all times.

Children’s costumes:

If possible avoid dark coloured costumes on younger children. Prevent accidents by making sure costumes are fitted correctly and not too long. Add reflective tape to costumes and bags to help drivers see children.

Trick – or –Treat Route:

If you are not accompanying your child trick – or – treating, plan out their route with them, what time they will start and what time you expect them back.

Halloween Party:

If you want to avoid your younger children from trick – or –treating throw a Halloween party. Invite friends and neighbours to come in costumes and get them involved in Halloween party games, in no time they will forget all about trick – or – treating.

Good Meal:

Give your children a nutritious meal before trick – or – treating. This will help reduce the amount of snacking and sweets they will eat later.

Fireworks:

If you are holding a fireworks display at your home or visiting a friends, make sure you know where children are at all times. Under no circumstance should children be allowed to play with fireworks. Light fireworks in an open outdoor area, avoid lighting near dry grass or foliage.

Children

Road safety :

Look both ways before crossing the roads.

Brightly lit houses :

Only go to homes that are well lit and carry a flash light.

Sweets and Treats:

Do not eat opened sweets or treats, be aware if you have food allergies. If you are unsure about a treat, don’t eat it!

Be aware of strangers:

Only accept sweets and treats from the front door of someone’s home.
DO NOT ENTER A STRANGERS HOME!

Contact details:

Attach your parents contact number and address to inside of costumes and treat bags. If you don’t have a mobile carry some spare change for emergency phone call.

Conscious of elderly:

Be conscious of the elderly at home alone, Halloween can make seniors anxious and nervous. If you know elderly people live in a house nearby, keep noise levels to a minimum.

Respect for others:

If you knock at a door and nobody answers then leave peacefully, not everyone celebrates Halloween. Happy Halloween pic

Further information can be found at the following links:

Senior Strategies: Halloween safety tips for seniors:

http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20121031/senior-strategies-halloween-safety-tips-for-seniors

Ten Halloween Safety Tips:

https://canadasafetycouncil.org/child-safety/ten-halloween-safety-tips

Halloween safety tips for senior citizens:

http://www.examiner.com/article/halloween-safety-tips-for-senior-citizens

Fireworks Safety Keeps Celebrations Injury Free:

http://childcare.about.com/od/hottopicsinchildcare/a/fireworks.htm

Caregiver Advice

Care in the Community

There are many benefits of homecare both for the individuals themselves and also for their family members. The patient is able to remain in the familiarity of their own home with all the comfort and relaxation that this brings. Furthermore they get to maintain their own routine surrounded by their own possessions.For the family members they have the peace of mind of knowing that their loved one is being well cared for by fully qualified professionals in their own home. It allows them to spend quality time in a relaxed environment and cuts out the need of sometimes long and awkward to arrange visits to the hospital or other care facility. This is what care in the community is all about. myhomecareie.wpengine.com community image

Most people with advanced, progressive incurable diseases wish to spend their final days at home. Indeed 90% of the care of patients in the last 12 months of their life occurs at home, with the support of a general practitioner and community nurse team. Homecare is the preferred option for most people with terminal illness and it is well researched that people are happier and live longer in their own homes.

With this in mind myhomecareie.wpengine.com have designed a number of different packages to assist the older person. They are all nurse led, are tailored to the individual needs of the patient and are delivered under the direction of the medical and palliative team.

Looking after an elderly relative can be very rewarding, but can be a challenge and at times stressful. Many people set out with good intentions; however for many they find that they cannot cope alone with the challenges and stresses that can follow and turn to a care giver or home help. Care giver provide practical day to day help with the care of the elderly person. An important aspect to consider is that it allows family to remain detached from certain areas that an elderly person feels uncomfortable with such as personal care.

However, homecare now not only provides services for the care of the elderly but a range of services for all ages. These includes pre/post natal home support, care of children with additional needs, and companionship for Alzheimer /dementia patients and many more.

Pre/Post Natal Home Support:

This package designed by myhomecareie.wpengine.com runs for a pre-post-natal-massage total of 14.5 hours and is spread over 3 days. Five hours on the first two days and four and a half hours on the third day. The services include ironing, mopping, hoovering, general tidy up, bed-making, meal preparation, dusting and so on. It is particularly attractive for mothers who had a difficult pregnancy/childbirth.

Caring for a Child with Additional Needs:

It is now possible to avail of support from a team of nurses who are highly qualified in the care of children.

The services include the following:

Tracheostomy Care under the directive of the Community Care Team. Respite Care which can provide around the clock care allowing the family to take a break or a holiday. Convalescent Care/Post-Hospital Care which provides a helping hand after bringing the little one home from hospital and lastly Palliative Care giving support to both the child and family.

Oncology Care:

myhomecare clinic enables chemotherapy and oncology services to move out of the hospital and into the home.

Disability Care:

Designed to support and promote independent living in the clients own home and the wider community. Services are available to all individuals who may suffer with a disability whether it is physical, mental, emotional, sensory development etc.

Vaccination Programmes:

Providing vaccinations in your own home.

IV Therapy:

Enabling individuals to receive ongoing intravenous antibiotics facilitating early discharge from hospital.

Assisted Living Services:

Assisting with activities of daily living such as personal hygiene, dressing,mobilising, meal preparation, companionship, running errands and medication reminders.

All of the above services do of course cost money. However there is some help available. There are home care packages available from the HSE. These packages vary depending on needs. The priority of the scheme is older people, aged over 65, living in the community or in-patients in acute hospitals who are at risk of admission to long term care. To apply for a home care package contact the public health nurse for a form.

For those who choose to pay privately income tax relief is available, subject to some conditions. It is possible to receive relief of up to 41% of the cost of the service. It is also possible to claim this relief as part of your tax credits and so receive the benefits as part of your wages and therefore receive the benefits immediately.

Caregiver Advice

Why Mindfulness can empower elderly people and those who care for the elderly

Why Mindfulness can empower Elderly People and those who care for the Elderly

Our minds….The element of a person that enables us to be aware of the world and our experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought, a person’s ability to think and reason; our intellect. One would think we should be mindful of this powerful tool..…shouldn’t we?

mindfulness4 Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, defines mindfulness as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). In slightly simpler terms, mindfulness is “the ability to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and actions—in the present moment—without judging or criticising yourself or your experience.” (McKay, Wood & Brantley, 2007).

Digging deep into the practice of Mindfulness, it simply explores a single sense: taste, sight, sound, feel, and hearing. It moves on to explore a form of the sense, focus on the experience and the reactions to the experience, and process with discussions of the thoughts and memories that the experience arouses. The eventual goal is to join mind and body in acceptance of the moment.

Often elderly people can live uncomfortable, lonely, quiet lives. Teaching them to pay attention moment by moment, on purpose but without judgement, to each of their experiences, can improve of the quality of their lives, based on the demonstrated effectiveness of mindfulness techniques in many forms of therapy.

Mindfulness practice has a definite positive impact on issues such as recurrent depression, stress, anxiety, chronic physical pain and loneliness. For the elderly, chronic health conditions, the loss of self-determination in their daily lives, isolation, and a lack of interaction with the outside world can understandably take much of the joy out of life.

For elderly people, loneliness is a major risk factor for health problems-such as elderly meditation cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s. Mindfulness meditation training can be used as a novel approach for reducing loneliness and the risk of disease. Research suggests that mindfulness meditation training is a promising intervention for improving the health of older adults………so why not give it a try?

And let’s not forget our care-givers and practising mindful self-care for them. Many carers experience isolation and high levels of stress as a result of their caring responsibilities. Isolation is one of the prime factors in depression. Stress can also impact directly on both the physical and mental well-being of carers. Carers can become overwhelmed trying to balance work, family and care giving demands, often resulting in the neglect of their own well-being.

For carers, practising mindfulness works in equipping them with skills to use during their caring responsibilities which can lead to a wonderful partnership between both the person being cared for and the carer themselves helping them both foster relaxation, support and friendship.

So how can we introduce or reinforce the techniques of mindfulness with the elderly and those caring for them?

Here are some quick exercises to cultivate mindfulness in your life and support mindfulness practice in the life of a loved one such as a parent or grandparent.

Deep Breathing: As we age, our respiratory system can begin to break down. As our lives become more sedentary, we don’t use our lungs as much to expand and contract and the muscles that support our diaphragm get weaker. Deep breathing is critical for the elderly to keep their muscles strong, their lungs elastic and to keep things moving through their respiratory system. Try this for 3 minute each day and see how that feels. Just notice your breathing. Just notice that you are breathing in and out. Notice the in-breath and the out-breath. When thoughts come into your mind just return to your breathing. Do not get involved with them. Simply go back to noticing your breathing in and out.
Meditation: As we age, our focus shifts. We can start to worry about our death, illness, leaving our family and our finances. This can create tremendous anxiety. There is no better time to start or continue with a meditation practice. This can be done sitting in a chair, closing the eyes and simply bringing the attention to the breath. Incorporating meditation into every day can help you release theses anxieties.
Seated stretches: Yoga for anyone with limited mobility can be modified so that the person is seated in a chair. Moving the arms up and stretching towards the ceiling, placing hands on the sides and twisting from side to side and squeezing and releasing the hands are all simple movements that can relieve muscle tension and soothe stiff joints.
Being in the learning mode: Mindfulness comes from increasing your focus on one thing. This can be experienced in more than just meditation and yoga; you’ll find its part of simply learning something new. When we try new things, we feel alive, engaged and energised. These are all mindful qualities. For older people who have never tried yoga or meditation, an introduction to these techniques can reinforce to the elderly that learning always happens, regardless of age. It helps to create mindfulness triggers. Pick some everyday things that you do routinely. Decide that whenever you do them you will be mindful and will be aware that you are doing them. Examples are: using the telephone, going up or down stairs or steps, arranging your desk or other workspace, tidying, washing up, taking a shower.
Connection: Often, as people age, they lose control over different aspects of their lives. They may move into a nursing home. They may be on many medications. They may have to use a cane, walker or supplemental oxygen. They may feel like their body is not their own. Mindful techniques can help older adults feel a sense of connection to their body. This can be critical for creating optimal health, even as they manage the ongoing changes in their body.

So finally from me, one message I would like to give to you at this present moment is that life is most certainly a gift… so mind yourself, enjoy each moment and take your time unwrapping it.

gift_guide_photo

Le gach dea-ghuí

Bláthnait Ní Mhurchú

National Homecare Manager – Myhomecare.ie

Caregiver Advice

Providing Paediatric Care to the Community

Mission Statement

The philosophies which guide us in our approach to the paediatric care of sick children may be summarised as follows.

To provide the highest possible standards of care to the children for whom we are responsible and to achieve this in a reliable and consistent manner.
To recognise that the child is part of a family and that we have a duty to meet the needs of the whole family and to address their worries and concerns at all times.
To recognise that families come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and therefore to take into account and to respect the varying cultural attitudes which we may encounter.
To acknowledge that there are no problem families or difficult families, there are simply families with problems or with difficulties which are part of our remit to address.
To recognise that we are part of a multi-disciplinary team and to maintain excellent levels of communication with other health professionals and social services at all times.
To maintain accurate record keeping at each attendance with the child and family involved.
To respect the needs and wishes of the family and to recognise that in allowing us to care for their child and to invite us into their home to do so, we are being granted a privilege which we will respect at all times.