Columbia Aged Care

If your loved one has experienced a traumatic or painful event they can suffer from the side effects for a long time.

Traumatic events are usually a frightening or distressing experience that can leave the person feeling numb or disconnected.

As a carer, it’s natural to want to help your loved one feel better and to assist them through this difficult time. You can’t take their pain away but you can help them to accept what has happened by providing essential support and advice.

Better Health Channel has provided some tips on how you can support your loved one:

• Tell them you are sorry about what has happened and make it clear that you want to help them get through it.
• Spend time with your loved one and keep them company.
• Your loved one may experience emotional outbursts, which is a common side effect of a traumatic experience. Don’t take their outbursts to heart because they usually don’t mean what they say or do.
• Offer practical support such as cooking dinner or going grocery shopping for them.
• Help them return to their normal routine (when they are ready).
• Talk about what happened and listen to them.
• Try not to get upset.
• Be patient and don’t pressure them to talk about the event if they are not ready.
• Help them to relax and have fun again.
• Help your loved one participate in physical activity, such as walking in the park. Exercise can help take their mind off the experience and help them to get a better night’s sleep.
• Find appropriate ways to help them laugh.

Here are some reactions to avoid when helping your loved one through a traumatic experience:

• Don’t ignore the event and don’t avoid talking about it.
• Don’t judge their feelings or thoughts.
• Don’t be impatient and expect them to get over the event quickly.
• Don’t insist they need professional help straight away – not everyone who has experienced a traumatic event needs professional treatment. Give them time to deal with the trauma themselves but if you feel like things just aren’t getting better after a few days or weeks then consult a professional.

Your loved one may take a long time to recover from a traumatic event, but by supporting them and listening you can help them through the recovery process.

Read the full article here.

Contrary to popular belief asthma is not just a childhood disease. It has been known to develop for the first time later in life. It is believed that 30% of seniors have undiagnosed asthma as many elderly people tend to ignore the signs of breathing problems.

The Asthma Foundation has provided some tips about how to know if you have asthma and what to do if you are diagnosed.

How to know if you have asthma

Breathlessness, feeling like your chest is very tight, a dry continual cough and wheezing are the main symptoms of asthma. If you are experiencing any of these on a regular basis visit your doctor to be tested and diagnosed properly.

In Australia, 10% of adults are living with asthma. Some were diagnosed as children and others develop it later in life. Unfortunately, the older a person is, the higher the risk of asthma becoming fatal. It’s best to practice good asthma control.

Tips for seniors with asthma

• Make sure you are using your inhaler correctly – ask your doctor to show you how.
• Ask about your other medications as some, such as heart medication, may interfere with the way asthma medications or your lungs work.
• Be sure to get regular exercise.
• Visit your doctor regularly to maintain good asthma management.
• Have an Asthma Action Plan.
• Get you and your family to learn asthma first aid so if you need help they will be able to assist you. You will feel more comfortable knowing what to do as well.  

For more tips, click here.

As your loved one grows older it is important that they maintain contact with friends or make new ones to avoid them becoming lonely. Group activities can be a way to see and learn new things, laugh with people and stay happy and healthy.

Your loved one can easily join in with an existing group activity, or organise their own. Group activities can ease loneliness and depression, bringing physical and psychological benefits. Old Age Health Tips have provided some great ideas:

• Meeting friends. Your loved one will feel cheerful after even a short chat with a friend. Maintain old friendships by meeting regularly for a cup of tea or a walk.
• Explore the world – or just the city. Join an organised tour with a friend or by yourself. Your loved one might find pleasure in exploring a new country, or even just a nearby town or garden.
• Senior dancing. Your loved one may like to learn a few dance steps – and they will be sure to share many more laughs.
• Clubs. Encourage your loved one to join a hobby group that matches their interest. There are endless types, like golf, church, singing, exercise, craft and book clubs.

Group activities will help your loved one surround themself with old friends and new ones, and maybe even find a new interest or skill.

Read the full article HERE.

While information technology has become second nature to younger generations, it still remains a bewildering and scary concept to many elderly people.

Technological advances now allow elderly people to have access to new systems and programs designed to help them live independently.

To help them make the most of technology, and stay in contact with friends and family more easily why not set aside some time to help them understand the concept and how to use technology, such as computers, the internet, emailing and even mobile phones.

Chad Hunter has provided four helpful tips on how to teach technology to the elderly these include:

1. Be patient.
Take your time and slowly go through the whole process clearly and concisely. Making the person feel rushed, stupid or incompetent will not help the situation. Remember this is all new and difficult to understand.Take your time and take breaks if you get frustrated.

2. Use analogies.
Elderly people are used to learning new things and have learnt alot during their lives. Use analogies to describe different terminologies and instructions to help them not only understand but remember when you aren’t there.

3. Spoon-feed terms.
World wide web, email, hard drives and symbols like ‘@’ are all new to elderly people with no technological knowledge. Go through it slowly since most of these terms seem like a foreign language to younger learners, you can imagine what your elderly student might be feeling. It would be a good idea to put together a glossary and instructions that they can refer to and study.

4. Practice makes perfect.
Sit with your student and go over concepts and practice exercises with them. Give them tasks and things of their interest to do on the computer. Show them how email can connect them to family. Show them how digital cameras can capture hundreds of photos.

Once you find things of interest for them, have them practice these steps as much as possible.