What Can You Do to Help a Senior Battling Mental Illness?
Mental health issues are startlingly common for older adults. According to the World Health Organization, about 15 percent of adults over the age of 60 battle mental health issues.
Homecare in Avon IN: Seniors Battling Mental Illness
Keep a Current List of All Medications and Other Important Information
It’s always a good idea to have a list of current medications and other pertinent health information, but it’s especially important with mental health concerns. If your senior is taking medications for mental health conditions, it can take a while to tweak those dosages. Those medications can sometimes also interfere with the ones she’s already taking.
Learn about Mental Health Medications and Side Effects
Speaking of those side effects, you need to know what they might be. Different medications have different impacts on everyone. Sometimes it can take more than a few dose changes to get the medication working properly for your senior, too. The more you know and understand about this process, the more you can help your senior.
Consolidate All Prescriptions at One Pharmacy
You might have already done this but consider making sure all your senior’s prescriptions are at one pharmacy. The different pharmacies all “talk” to each other electronically, but when all of your senior’s prescriptions are in one place it’s easier to spot possible contraindications and interactions that are wise to avoid.
Look into Lifestyle Changes that Can Support Good Mental Health
Even with medication, there are lifestyle changes that can help to support your senior’s mental health. Things like eating healthy foods, getting better quality sleep, and exercising within her doctor’s guidelines are all important things to try. Some of them add more steps into your senior’s day than she might be willing or able to cope with just yet, though. That’s when bringing in-home care providers can take some of that load off your senior’s shoulders.
Do All that You Can to Alleviate Stress
Reducing stress for your senior is also helpful in keeping her mentally healthy. If there are tasks or chores that you can take over for her, that might be a way to help her to experience less stress and frustration. As much as you want to, you’re not going to be able to take all your senior’s stress away, but you can reduce it by a lot.
Talk to your senior about what else she would find helpful from you when managing her mental health. It’s far more important that you’re meeting her actual needs at the moment if you can.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Homecare in Avon, IN, please call the caring staff at Home Services Unlimited. Serving Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: (317) 471-0760
As a practicing Registered Nurse, Etelka was keenly aware of a void in quality patient care that could be provided in the home. She embarked upon a journey to develop a home health care agency that would exceed all expectations and become a trusted partner to physicians and patients.
A Distinguished Career From Nurse to Director of Nursing to President of Home Services Unlimited
Etelka’s distinguished career followed a logical progression to her position as President of Home Services Unlimited. She graduated as a nurse practitioner with a Bachelor of Nursing (RN) in 1972 from Meshgorya University in the Ukraine, close to where she lived with her family. She married her husband Phil in 1973 and decided in 1977 that they would relocate to the United States to be closer to family and to come to this land of opportunity. With an eagerness to continue her budding career, Etelka sat for and passed her Boards in the U.S. in 1979.
A Love and Talent for Working with the Elderly
Etelka began her nursing career in the U.S. at Colonial Crest, now part of Golden Living, where she was the In-service Coordinator, the Director of Training and Education and Director of Nursing, a position she occupied for several years.
With a group of partners, she co-founded Adept Corporation, which operated group homes for the mentally challenged. The business was successful and in 1996, Etelka sold her share to return to her roots, caring for the elderly.
In January of 1997, Etelka opened Home Services Unlimited as a fully licensed business to provide home health care. In her quest to learn to do better for her patients, she had already obtained a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) in May of 1990 from the College of St. Francis. As President of Home Services Unlimited, Inc., Etelka guides the trusted, experienced care model Home Services Unlimited uses to continue providing excellent home health care.
Giving Back to the Community of Indianapolis
Volunteering for community services is a high priority for Etelka. Her memberships include the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Executive Women in Health Care and the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care, where she is a member of the Board of Directors.
Etelka has also served on the Board of Directors with Hooverwood Home, a highly regarded geriatric facility, since 1997 and as the President for 2005-2006. Through her community work, she has received several awards and accolades, including the Nora McFarland award in 2002, from the Indiana Association of Home and Hospice Care.
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