Why Seniors Should Get a Shingles Vaccine

Varicella Zoster: it’s the name of the virus that causes chickenpox as well as the shingles virus.Most adults and seniors have had chicken pox, though with the new chicken pox vaccine, it’s unlikely children and teens will have to worry about this virus in the future. It’s believed that one out of three American adults will develop shingles in their lifetime, and it can prove to be excruciatingly painful and debilitating.

After a chickenpox outbreak the virus that causes shingles stays inside the body, and basically goes into “hiding” until a later date, if at all. If it does reactivate, shingles appear which amounts to blisters and a painful, itchy, tingling rash all over the body. Once the rash clears, it’s still possible for people to develop postherpetic neuralgia, which is a severely painful condition in place of the rash. This painful condition can last anywhere from weeks on up to years.

Seniors need to be especially aware of the risk of shingles because over half of shingles cases are people over the age of 60. If shingles appear on the face or even near the eyes, the condition and the rash aftermath can cause permanent hearing or vision problems. Plus, if the individual’s immune system has been previously compromised in some way, whether it’s due to chemotherapy, radiation, a previous transplant, or the existence of HIV, it makes the risk for shingles and the debilitating and painful skin condition even greater.

Get the Vaccine

It is recommended by the Center for Disease Control for anyone over the age of 60 to get the shingles vaccine. Some insurance companies will even cover it for people over the age of 50. In trials, the vaccine proved to cut the risk of developing the disease in half in people over the age of 60, and reduced the risk of developing the painful rash afterwards by nearly 70%.

Always Best Care Senior Services has been in the industry of caregiving for the past 20 years. With locations all over the United States and Canada, they are proud to provide their senior clients with compassionate and dedicated care. If you live in the Upper Chesapeake area and are interested in learning about in-home care in Cecil County, or assisted living in Harford County, call the Always Best Care Upper Chesapeake location at 410-877-3787 today.

Let Always Best Care Senior Services Exceed Your Expectations

Always Best Care has been exceeding their senior clients’ expectations for the past 20 years.With locations all over the United States and Canada, Always Best Care continues to be North America’s preferred provider of compassionate and quality in-home care. If you live in the Upper Chesapeake area and are interested in learning about in-home care, or assisted living homes in Harford County, you can call the Always Best Care Upper Chesapeake location at (410) 877-3787 to schedule a free consultation.

During your free consultation, a Care Coordinator from Always Best Care will sit down with you to discuss issues such as your care needs, together you will create a highly personalized Care Plan, determine how best to meet your requirements, and billing will be coordinated with insurance providers. All of your social, physical, emotional, and intellectual needs are outlined in your customized Care Plan, and your plan is updated on a regular basis to reflect your changing needs.

Always Best Care caregivers are among the very best in the industry, and are licensed, insured, bonded, and undergo a thorough criminal background check to ensure that senior clients are receiving the very best care possible. Over the past 20 years that Always Best Care has been providing compassionate care, their caregivers have logged over three million hours in service to their senior clients.

Some of the services that these exceptional and compassionate caregivers provide include cooking and serving meals (for you and your spouse), daily living activities such as bathing, personal care, incontinence care, etc., domestic services such as laundry, housecleaning, etc., transporting to shopping centers, medical appointments, etc., and facilitating social excursions to help seniors preserve their personal freedom.

Seniors living in the Upper Chesapeake area can count on Always Best Care to provide them with superb in-home senior care services provided by exceptional caregivers. If you are interested in learning about assisted living in Aberdeen, they are knowledgeable and experienced on this as well, and can make suitable recommendations to you. For more information, call the Upper Chesapeake location at 410-877-3787 today.

The Pros & Cons of Alzheimer’s Testing

Alzheimer’s disease strikes one in nine people over the age of 65. This is a current and terrifying statistic that makes many people shiver with dread over the prospect of growing older. With more than 5.4 million people in American currently suffering from Alzheimer’s, it’s natural to consider the idea of testing for Alzheimer’s disease.

While there are plenty of medical tests that one can have done to determine risk factors of a certain disease, many people are against medical tests on healthy people for Alzheimer’s disease. The real question is – is the information worth knowing ahead of time?

Here are some reasons why Alzheimer’s testing might not be feasible for healthy people:

• Most health insurance companies won’t even cover brain scans or genetic testing involved to determine an Alzheimer’s disease risk. Plus, it’s possible that life insurance companies, along with long-term care insurance companies could deny coverage if they know about the individual’s risk. 
• Most people who develop Alzheimer’s disease don’t display any genetic markers, so, although genetic testing can reveal the risk, it isn’t definitive. Environmental and lifestyle factors also play a role in developing the disease, so probability and predictions cannot be made on genetic testing alone.
• Once a person is tested, the knowledge can cause undue stress on that individual. Likewise, if a person tests negative for increased risk, they may still develop it because other factors are involved.

On the other hand, an individual who finds out that they are at a greater risk of developing the disease may want to take the time to learn more about it, talk to their families about it and, as they say, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. It isn’t a life sentence, but some people might feel better armed with the knowledge.

Always Best Care has been in the caregiver industry since 1996. During the past two decades they have assisted over 25,000 seniors maintain their independence and improve their quality of life. If you live in the Upper Chesapeake area and are interested in finding out more information about in-home senior care in Bel Air, or senior veteran’s care in Baltimore County, you can call the Always Best Care Fallston location at 410-877-3787 and set up a free consultation.

Contact Always Best Care for Exceptional In-Home Care in Cecil County

Always Best Care has been providing exceptional in-home care to seniors in the United States and Canada since 1996. During that time, their caregivers have logged over three million caregiver hours to over 25,000 seniors. The Always Best Care caregivers are well-trained, highly-skilled, bonded and insured, and undergo thorough background checks. If you are a senior in the Upper Chesapeake area, and you’re interested in receiving information regarding in-home care in Cecil County, you can contact the Always Best Care Fallston location today at 410-877-3787 to set up a free care consultation. 

Another service that Always Best Care provides is referrals to assisted living communities. If you are curious about assisted living in Baltimore County, the Always Best Care Fallston location will be happy to sit down with you and discuss each of the facilities in the area and help you narrow down your choices to the ones that best fit your requirements. During this free consultation, the Care Coordinator will create a personalized Care Plan for you, outlining all of your requirements including medical, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual, etc.The Care Coordinator will also escort you and your family to your chosen assisted living facilities, helping you to choose the very best one.This is a free service and all of the costs are covered by the facility that is ultimately chosen.

Because they have been in the industry of helping seniors for the past 20 years, Always Best Care also offers a number of other services to their senior clients.Some of these include:

Always in Touch – a free daily telephone reassurance program for seniors who live in remote locations and for those that have limited mobility.

Always Safe – a 24/7 fall prevention and detection program that brings peace of mind to seniors and their families. 

Always on Call – 24/7 access to a physician which means less time spent in the hospital or emergency room, and more time spent on activities the senior loves.

If you live in the Upper Chesapeake area and are interested in finding out more information about assisted living in Baltimore County, or in-home care in Cecil County, call the Always Best Care Fallston location today at 410-877-3787 or email them at egill@abc-seniors.com.

How Practicing Mindfulness Can Benefit Seniors

No, it’s not a religion. Mindfulness is simply a way of looking at your life, of handling the daily stresses, chronic pain, or anything else that is going on in a way that restores your energy and enthusiasm. Studies have been done that show practicing mindfulness can have a positive effect on your health, it can improve cognitive functioning, create a positive way to manage stress, and it can also greatly improve quality of life.

How Mindfulness is Practiced

Mindfulness improves not just the mind, but the body as well. Through meditation, seniors can learn to relieve stress, maintain balance, create harmony in their lives, and they are better able to handle chronic pain and trauma. Through yoga, seniors can gain the physical benefits of mindfulness which ultimately reduce the risk of disease.

Physical Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness

• By practicing walking meditation, seniors can improve their physical fitness levels while also reducing depression and stress.
• By practicing yoga and meditation, immunity can actually be boosted. These mindfulness practices aid in reducing inflammation, which can decrease the risk of disease.
• Meditation can slow down aging. Could it be the fountain of youth? Almost. Meditation stops our chromosomes from being shortened, which is a marker for aging. They shorten through stress, disease, and aging.
• Meditation slows diseases from progressing, including HIV, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.
• By being present in the present (the definition of mindfulness) instead of the past or future, seniors can live in the now and not be anxious about the past or future. This reduces loneliness, which, in turn, leads to a decreased risk of depression and disease.

Ways Assisted Living Communities can Help Seniors Practice Mindfulness

• By offering yoga classes suitable for seniors
• By offering meditation classes
• By offering massage sessions
• By offering acupuncture sessions

Always Best Care Senior Services has been in the senior care giving industry since 1996. During that time, they have assisted over 25,000 seniors remain independent in their homes, and have logged over three million hours of care giving time. If you are interested in receiving information about in-home care in Harford County, or other types of home care assistance in Harford County, call the Always Best Care local office at 410-877-3787 or email them at egill@abc-seniors.com.

Searching for Quality In-Home Care in Baltimore County?

If you are looking for quality in-home care in Baltimore County, contact Always Best Care Senior Services. They have been in the senior care giving industry for the past 20 years, and have assisted over 25,000 seniors around the country and Canada with daily tasks, while also providing companionship. Their care givers are highly-skilled and trained in CPR and first-aid, they are also bonded and insured, and take great pride in their career choice.

What kind of services can you expect when you hire an Always Best Care caregiver? Some of these services include:

• Meal preparations
• Escorting to events
• Playing cards and board games
• Renting and playing movies
• Stimulating mental awareness
• Supervising home maintenance
• Much, much more

If you are interested in receiving senior veterans care in Harford County or in-home care in Baltimore County, contact the Always Best Care local office at 410-877-3787 or email them at egill@abc-seniors.com. They can provide you with a free consultation to discuss Care Plans, and the senior’s exact requirements. If you are interested in assisted living communities in the area, they can provide recommendations for those, as well.

Since 1996, Always Best Care has been providing seniors all over the United States and Canada with quality in-home care giving. In fact, they have logged over three million hours of caregiving time over the past 20 years. They also provide a number of other special services that are designed to improve seniors’ quality of life. Some of these include:

• Always in Touch: A telephone reassurance program providing daily calls to seniors who live alone and who rarely have contact with the outside world.
• Always Safe: A fall and detection program featuring LifeLine with AutoAlert, keeping seniors safe 24 hours a day.
• Always on Call: 24/7 access to a physician – get non-narcotic medical prescriptions renewed and eliminate late-night trips to the emergency room for non-emergency issues.

If you are interested in the quality in-home care in Baltimore County that Always Best Care can provide, or information regarding senior veterans care in Harford County, call the local Always Best Care office at 410-877-3787 today!