Elder Care Tips for Managing Congestive Heart Failure

Home Care in Carrollton, TX – Get the Facts on CHF and How You Can Help Your Senior Loved One Suffering From It

As a family caregiver for your elderly loved ones, you are likely to encounter many situations that are frightening and can even make you feel as though you are not capable of handling the responsibilities. One of these situations is if your parent is diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Congestive heart failure is a serious disease that impacts many aspects of your parent’s life, but that does not mean she cannot live an active and fulfilling life. By making meaningful changes in your elder care plan you can ensure your aging loved one is properly cared-for and take much of the fear out of this diagnosis.

The first step in building an elder care plan around caring for your senior after a diagnosis of congestive heart failure is to understand what exactly this disease is. The term “congestive heart failure” is intimidating and seem like your loved one’s heart has just ceased to work. This is not the case. Instead, CHF simply refers to a condition in which a person’s heart is not pumping blood efficiently enough to keep with the demands of the body. This inefficiency can lead to a variety of symptoms, including:

• Sudden weight gain

• Abdominal pain

• Swelling in the abdomen, ankles, or legs

• Dizziness and fainting

• Excessive fatigue

• Shortness of breath even while at rest

• Wheezing or hacking

These symptoms occur because the system of the body is not getting the fresh supplies of nutrients they need and fluid is not processing effectively through the body, causing buildup in the lungs and extremities. CHF is a progressive disease, but the rate of progression varies widely depending on the level of care the person receives after diagnosis.

If your parent has been diagnosed with CHF, use these tips to modify your elder care plan:

• Keep your senior compliant with doctor’s orders. Patients with heart failure often have a fairly extensive medication regimen. The average patient takes up to eight drugs, including aspirin, blood thinners, water pills, potassium, beta-blockers, and ACE inhibitors. These are on top of any other medications your parent is already taking, which could equal a large number of pills on a daily basis. Make sure you understand each of these medications and keep your senior compliant

• Maintain activity. It may be tempting after hearing such a diagnosis to keep your parent calm and “resting”. In reality, this can make the condition worse more quickly. Activity helps to strengthen the heart and encourage it to work more efficiently. Get your parents into a rehabilitative aerobic

program or just make a point to get them more active during your regular routine, such as taking walks, walking up and down the stairs, or dancing to favorite music

• Live a healthy lifestyle. Help your elderly parent give up habits that put extra strain on her heart. Encourage her to quit all forms of smoking, limit alcohol consumption to no more than one drink per day, and use only medications she specifically needs

• Monitor her diet. Dietary restrictions are an important part of CHF management. Limit sodium and replace the additional salt in your parent’s food with herbs, spices, vinegar, and other healthy flavors. Ask her doctor about any limitations to place on fluid intake. Some patients need to restrict their liquids to help ease fluid retention throughout the body

• Focus on emotional health. Emotional concerns also place strain on the heart. Depression, stress, and anxiety strain the heart, leading to worsening heart failure. Help your parent acknowledge these emotional challenges and work with her to adopt coping skills to ease these difficulties

• Get help. Adjusting to a new lifestyle after a diagnosis with CHF can be difficult. Help your parent, and you, deal with the stress of this transition by getting in touch with your local home care agency to hire an elder care provider who can supplement the care you give your parents and offer ongoing support and assistance to keep your parent living a healthy, active, and well-managed lifestyle.

If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in Carrollton, TX and the surrounding areas, contact Approved Home Care at 972-658-4001 today.