In-Home Care Available For Your Elderly Diabetic Loved One
As your loved one ages, it can be difficult to see their struggles with handling their normal day-to-day activities and responsibilities. When they are also managing diabetes, the process can be even harder for them while they try to keep up with their health. Here are some services in-home care can help your elderly loved one with to manage their diabetes and to improve their quality of life.
Blood Glucose Management
As a diabetic, your elderly loved one should be constantly monitoring their blood glucose levels to make sure they stay within healthy levels. Having a home health care worker meet with your relative once or several times each day to help them check and monitor their blood sugar levels can help maintain their body's health. It is recommended to check a diabetic's blood glucose A1C every few months, and an in-home care professional can complete this every few months with your loved one.
When your elderly loved one's daily blood glucose levels rise too high, this can put excess stress on their organs and can cause additional health problems. For example, high blood glucose levels cause retinal detachment and eyesight problems and numbness and tingling in their extremities. When your diabetic loved one's blood glucose drops too low, they can fall into a diabetic coma and need immediate medical attention to restore glucose to their body. In these circumstances, it can be helpful to have someone stay with your loved one and take action when blood glucose levels fall.
Grocery Shopping and Meal Preparation
Grocery shopping and meal preparation can be difficult for your elderly loved one, so this service is also helpful to you and them. You'll know they will have a variety of healthy foods available to them on a regular basis.
An in-home care professional can also prepare the foods to fit within their dietary needs. For example, many diabetics take subcutaneous insulin based upon how many carbohydrates they are going to eat in their meal or snack. With an in-home care professional preparing meals, they can prepare the portion sizes for your diabetic loved one so they will know exactly the number of carbs in the meal and the amount of insulin to take. This helps prevent high blood glucose levels after the meal and also avoids low blood sugar, which can lead to hospitalization.
Handling Diabetes-Related Issues
As diabetes can lengthen wound healing and recovery from illnesses, your diabetic loved one will also need extra care during these circumstances to help their body heal. An in-home care professional can visit them daily to clean and dress any healing wounds to make sure they avoid infection and help them during illness recovery.
Hiring an in-home health care for your diabetic loved one can help relieve you from worrying about their well being and knowing their health is being taken care of. For more information, contact local professionals like AT HOME WITH YOU.