Firstlight Resources

Home Health Care Versus Nursing Home Care: Pros and Cons

From our Care Blog

Many of our aging parents want to live on their own. According to AARP, more than 95% of seniors want to stay in their home as long as possible, even if they need help with day-to-day activities. After all, home is comfortable and familiar and they are surrounded by memories and circumstances that make them feel safe. There is no magical age when a senior may need help. There are many 90-year-olds who live at home and need very little help. On the other hand, there are 60 and 70-year olds who find their ability to live independently waning. It’s...

Learn More about Home Health Care Versus Nursing Home Care: Pros and Cons

Multiple Generations Under One Roof

From our Care Blog

When my dad was alive, he used to say “18 and out.” In his mind, he paid for our college and after that it was time to fly on our own. It was an expectation I never tested. In the 30+ years since I left college, I went home for visits but never to live. We took pride in being self-sufficient and “making it on our own.” Now, my 25-year-old son still lives with me. He has a part-time job making $9.25/hour and pays for his own car insurance, health insurance and gas. That’s about all he can afford. I...

Learn More about Multiple Generations Under One Roof

FirstLight Home Care Prevents Caregiver Burnout

From our Care Blog

If you are a family caregiver for a loved one, you know it can take an emotional, financial and physical toll on your own well being. Chances are you have a job, a family of your own, and are trying to juggle it all. You become your last priority. The end result? Caregiver burnout and exhaustion. Don’t people realize you are only one person and you can only accomplish so much? No. What Are Some Symptoms of Caregiver Burnout? Although caring for a loved one can be rewarding, it can also be extremely stressful. You may not see any light...

Learn More about FirstLight Home Care Prevents Caregiver Burnout

Seniors: Walk Your Way to Health

From our Care Blog

We all know we should exercise, but we have a million excuses why we don’t. There’s not enough time. Your aches and pains prevent it. The weather outside doesn’t permit it. It’s important to get moving and stay moving no matter how old you are. However, did you know that to burn off one plain M&M candy, a person would need to walk the entire length of a football field? That inactivity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., second only to tobacco use? Walking is the most popular form of exercise in the United States....

Learn More about Seniors: Walk Your Way to Health

FirstLight Home Care Celebrates Parkinson Awareness Month

From our Care Blog

Muhammed Ali who floated like a butterfly in the boxing ring gave a face to the disease. Did he give up? No. He lit the Olympic Torch in 1996. Michael J Fox battles it too, yet he has his own successful sitcom and has raised more than $450 million in research to bring about a cure. These are just two people among the 1.5 million Americans who battle Parkinson’s disease yet lead rich and fulfilling lives. April Is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, a time to educate people about this illness and the many misconceptions that surround it. It’s also time to...

Learn More about FirstLight Home Care Celebrates Parkinson Awareness Month

Want To Feel Older Instead of Younger?

From our Care Blog

Without a doubt, our society is obsessed with being younger. More than $114 billion will be spent on anti-aging products by 2015. We’re always after the “fountain of youth”, a way to turn back the clock and eradicate the wrinkles on our face and maintain our youthful vigor. I remember when I was young and my Mom was 50. I thought that was ancient! Now that I am in my 50s, even 80 seems young. Your perspective totally changes. When my kids call me an “old lady”, I am offended by the reference. Wonder why our aging parents are always...

Learn More about Want To Feel Older Instead of Younger?

Be Optimistic Even In The Face of Grim News

From our Care Blog

There are those who see the glass half full and others who see the glass half empty. At FirstLight Home Care, we always see the glass half full with hope. Did you recently receive a cancer diagnosis? Have a chronic debilitating illness? March is National Optimism Month, and as hard as it is, you have to try and maintain a positive attitude. You have to take all your negative thoughts and stuff them under your mattress where you can’t see or reach them. My Mom was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus when she was 20-years-old and had a colostomy...

Learn More about Be Optimistic Even In The Face of Grim News

Are You A Heart Attack Waiting to Happen?

From our Care Blog

Too often we ignore the warning signs of a heart attack, thinking it might be indigestion or the strain of a muscle. That’s why heart attacks are nicknamed “the silent killer”, because rarely do they just happen suddenly. Usually there are a number of warning signs that should never be ignored. More than a million Americans have a heart attack every year, and chronic heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States. A heart attack, or a myocardial infarction (MI) causes permanent damage to the heart muscle. Oxygen rich blood stops flowing to...

Learn More about Are You A Heart Attack Waiting to Happen?

Seniors and Alzheimer's

From our Care Blog

Improving Quality of Life for Seniors with Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s is a particularly cruel disease, as it wipes away a human’s personality one day at a time until they become unrecognizable to us. And though it happens relatively frequently in seniors, almost to the point of expecting it, it still isn’t any easier to both cope or live with. How Alzheimer’s Starts Progresses, and Ends Over 100 years ago, in 1906, the disease now known as Alzheimer’s was first discussed by Alois Alzheimer. And today, a century after it was first described, almost 30 million people worldwide suffer from it, with the...

Learn More about Seniors and Alzheimer's

Plan Ahead With Advanced Directives

From our Care Blog

None of us can predict when we are going to be suddenly incapacitated. You’re driving down the road, minding your own business and bam! Before you know it, you are in a car accident! Or maybe you find yourself in an unexpected coma. Although we hope it never happens, you have to be prepared. You want to be in control of your own healthcare options if you are too ill to express your own wishes. Advanced directives are legal documents that allow you to express your end-of-life wishes should the situation arise. In most states, these consist of two documents:...

Learn More about Plan Ahead With Advanced Directives