The FirstLight Care Corner

How your midnight snacking could be killing you

From our Care Blog

We admit, there are many days where we are not going to bed at a reasonable time due to the distractions of our favorite late night television shows (darn you Jimmy Fallon), work, and just surfing the web on our tablet and smartphone. Too often, before we head off to slumber, we get something to eat. We know this is directly correlated to our feelings of not getting enough sleep and the extra pounds showing up on our scale. Unfortunately it’s been confirmed. A new study by researchers at the Salk Institute cautions against an extended period of snacking, suggesting...

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Top 10 Holiday Songs

From our Care Blog

It’s funny how the traditional Christmas songs from way-back-when are still the core of music being sung today. There are not a lot of new Christmas songs being written and published (thankfully). These classic songs can stir up memories of some of our favorite times during the holiday season. We love to hear them, but sung by the voices from our past – Perry Como, Doris Day, Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mercer. Although we can appreciate artists like Lady Gaga, Michel Buble, and even Justin Bieber creating their own versions of these classics, it’s just not the same....

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Holidays and Elderly Loneliness

From our Care Blog

Isolation, regardless of your age, can kill. But for the elderly this seems to be bigger problem that many do not address. If family lives out-of-state and it is hard for them to visit frequently, the person may be alone for long periods of time. Loneliness can cause health problems. Clinical depression can develop – a genuine illness which is much more serious than just feeling low.  In many, loneliness can lead to drinking problems and often causes reduced levels of activity and exercise as well as poor diet. Prolonged isolation can damage the immune system, leaving people more vulnerable...

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Best Senior Gifts

From our Care Blog

Best Gifts for Elderly Parents or Neighbors If you have aging parents or are neighbors to an elderly couple and you are going to give them something for the holidays, maybe you’re not sure. May we suggest the following gift ideas? Create a coupon book. Make a fun, personalized coupon book with services to help them care for them home. For example: One Free Snow Removal of Driveway, Walkway, and Sidewalk. Or, a coupon for a free ride to the grocery store. Or, free raking of their leaves. Handmade is all the rage. If you have creative, sewing, or cooking...

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Get Ready for 2015

From our Care Blog

Where did this year go? We cannot believe in just a few weeks we’ll be counting down to midnight to bring in 2015. As we start to reminisce of the events of this year (and read every year-in-review piece of information we can), we also start to get a little excited for January and the renewed optimism for change, for a better life, for a better you that comes with the arrival of a new year. This fresh start gives us a chance to reinvent our lives, ourselves, our homes, and our outlook. It allows us to reinvigorate ourselves, to...

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Respite Care Over The Holidays

From our Care Blog

The holidays can be stressful. We have more things to do, family obligations, events, activities, shopping, and more. If you are a family caregiver – there doesn’t seem to be enough time for it all. It can all become too much. It’s tough and for many caregivers we become overwhelmed, exhausted, even depressed when the quality of a Caregiver’s daily life is out of balance. Many caregivers have no lunch hours, no coffee breaks, and no vacation. We all need breaks. It is why we are always emphasizing the importance of respite care. You will be a better caregiver when...

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Five great holiday movies to curl up and watch this weekend

From our Care Blog

It’s the crazy holiday season and there is so much to do with so little time but may we suggest, even recommend, that you block out a few hours this coming weekend and take a well deserved break? One of our favorite holiday traditions is to find a Saturday afternoon where we turn everything off (minus our Christmas lights), start a fire in the fireplace, grab a warm beverage, find the coziest blanket in the house and watch our favorite holiday movies. We have found this to be a great way to get re-energized and excited about the holiday season....

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It Takes a Village

From our Care Blog

Molly Rowe – Owner, FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA Guilt, I’m discovering, is a huge part of this aging thing. Our parent feels guilt for putting us out, frets about being a burden, worries about picking up the phone to ask for help. We the adult children question our decisions, second-guess our actions, and feel guilt for all we can’t do. I feel similar guilt with my preschool-aged children—worrying about their school, wondering if I’m reading enough books, stressing because they like only one vegetable. But with young children, it’s ok—even expected—to ask for help. You hire a babysitter...

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Opening The Conversation on Care

From our Care Blog

Molly Rowe owns FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA with her husband, Steve, and lives in Swampscott with their two sons. A few weeks ago, I wrote about our regrets related to my father-in-law in the last few years of his life. Since then, I’ve heard many stories from people who’ve shared similar experiences caring for an aging parent or loved one. Every story is different of course, but there’s one sentence I keep hearing over and over: “Looking back, we should have had help.” It’s mind-boggling to me, really, that we are all in this “caring for our parent”...

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Give the Gift of Caring

From our Care Blog

As Thanksgiving is around the corner and the holidays approach, the question always arises: “What should I get my parents and grandparents for the holidays?” They are hard to buy for. They have reached the point in their life where they don’t need things. Dust collectors. Things to trip over and create a fall. If you ask them what they want, they will undoubtedly answer: “nothing, I have what I need.” That’s not much of a help! Consider this: your parents and grandparents are getting older and may have trouble doing the things they used to do. Cleaning the house...

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