Home Care: Are you caring for your elderly loved one on a regular basis?

If so, one of the aspects of their health that you may need to deal with is their feet. Many family caregivers tend to look over foot health in their elderly loved ones. They are more focused on brain and heart health. While those aspects of health are vital, too, so is foot care. There are some foot care recommendations for senior citizens that you and your home care provider may want to use with your elderly loved one.

Podiatrist Appointments

Is your elderly loved one seeing a podiatrist yet? If not, but they experience dry or cracked feet, foot pain, or other foot health problems, you should schedule an appointment with a podiatrist. There are many health problems that can occur with the feet. It is very important that these issues get treated as promptly as possible. The doctor may even have some at-home recommendations for your elderly loved one that you and home care providers need to help with.

Inspections of the Feet

Since so many foot health issues are overlooked, it would be a good idea to get into the habit of looking at your elderly loved one’s feet. Some of the things that you or the elder care providers should look for include:

• Dry or cracked skin
• Spots or sores on the feet
• Signs of infection
• Spots that are painful when touched
• Discoloration or moles on the feet

If you or the home care providers notice anything that seems odd or just not right, you should call to ask the podiatrist that your elderly loved one sees. They may want to get them in for an appointment.

Don’t Walk Barefoot

Does your elderly loved one like to walk barefoot? Maybe when they are in public areas, they often take their shoes off just to get their feet free for a bit. It is okay for them to do this in some areas. However, if they are taking their shoes and socks off and putting their feet on a floor that other people touch, there will be a higher risk of getting a fungal infection. You should encourage your elderly loved ones not to walk barefoot in these areas.

Home Care: Conclusion

Foot health and foot care are crucial for senior citizens. Now that you know this, it is one area of your elderly loved one’s health that you and the home care providers can start paying closer attention to. If there are any issues noticed, make sure you or an elderly care provider take your elderly loved one to their podiatrist.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in San Francisco, CA, contact the friendly staff at Home Care Professionals today. Call (866)-940-4855

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6339366/

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andy@hcprosonline.com

CEO at HomeCare Professionals

Andy Howardis a Bay Area Native who holds a BA in Political Science (University of Colorado at Boulder, ’97). After college Andy worked in the surging tech industry.His Grandmother however, would suffer a significant decline in health and ultimately needed in-home care. The experience of a loved one depending on outside help to age in place proved to be pivotal for Andy as he left the tech industry in 2002 for an opportunity in the home care world with a large provider. After having success in home care, but being frustrated by corporate constraints Andy founded HomeCare Professionals in 2005.He methodically built the company one client at a time by focusing on hiring quality caregivers to ensure positive outcomes. Currently Andy serves as the CEO of HomeCare Professionals and is also highly active in the non-profit organization California Association of Health Services at Home (CAHSAH) which advocates for a higher standard of in-home care for those who wish to remain living at home in California.

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