When it comes to chronic illness, most people need health care services to improve their quality of life. Home care providers offer the best chronic illness support that allows independence and personalized care, and much more. Learn how chronic illness affects your body and how home care provides support for chronic illness in this article. Reach out today to learn more about how we can help you enhance your golden years.
Chronic illness and its effects
Chronic illnesses cause disease-specific symptoms, but they also cause invisible symptoms like pain, fatigue, and mood disorders. Pain and fatigue may become more persistent throughout the day. Along with illness, you need to take certain measures to manage your condition, like taking medicine or doing some exercises. Keeping up with your health management also causes stress. These changes also affect your appearance. These changes can even impact your positive self-image.
When you don’t feel good about yourself, you withdraw from friends and social activities. Mood disorders such as depression and anxiety are quite common in people with chronic conditions, but they are manageable and treatable. Chronic illness also affects your ability to work, the quality of your work, and how long you can work. You may experience morning stiffness, decreased range of motion, and other physical limitations. And if you’re not able to work, you may have financial difficulties as well.
If you’re a homemaker, your work might take much longer to complete. You might need help from your spouse, a relative, or a home healthcare provider. As life changes, you may feel a loss of control, anxiety, and uncertainty about the future. In some families, there might be a role reversal where people who stay at home must return to work. Stress can build and shape your feelings about life. Long periods of stress will lead to frustration, anger, hopelessness, and sometimes depression. This will not only affect you, but also your family members. They are also influenced by your chronic health problems.
How does home care provide Chronic Illness support
Home care offers many services that help people with chronic illnesses enhance their quality of life:
1. Personalized care:
Unlike larger care facilities where only standardized care is offered, home care offers a personalized approach that is based on the individual’s unique needs, symptoms, and routines. This ensures that the patients get the specific care they need, and their requirements are met.
2. Familiar Environment:
No one can deny that the comfort of your own house is the best, surrounded by your personal belongings and memories. This familiarity can lower stress and anxiety, which usually increases in unfamiliar settings. For those who have cognitive disorders like dementia, a familiar environment can be beneficial in managing the condition.
3. Flexibility:
Home care offers adaptability, as chronic conditions change over time, the care service should also be modified to meet your needs. This means adjusting the frequency of visits, introducing new therapies, or even just changing daily routines to better suit the patient.
4. Emotional well-being:
Staying close to your loved ones, in the comfort of your home, significantly improves mental health. The emotional support from family, combined with the ability to maintain some normal daily routine, lowers the feelings of isolation usually felt in institutional settings.
5. Cost-effectiveness:
In many cases, home care is more cost-effective than long-term stays in hospitals or other care settings. With options to hire caregivers for specific hours or tasks, families are able to manage healthcare expenses better while ensuring quality care.
6. Safety:
Personalized care also means more safety measures. The home can be tailored to suit your condition by installing grab bars in the bathroom for those who have mobility issues or specific alarms who need medication reminders.
7. Social connections:
At home, there’s no restriction on visiting people. Friends and family can visit them freely, ensuring individuals stay socially connected, which is crucial for emotional health and well-being.
8. Comprehensive health monitoring:
With a dedicated caregiver, you can get consistent monitoring of the condition. It means any changes can be noticed and addressed, leading to timely interventions, which lead to better health outcomes.
9. Maintaining independence:
One of the most significant advantages of home care is to offer a sense of autonomy. Even with limitations, you can make choices in your space that make you feel worthy and dignified.
The Impact of Regular Monitoring on Improving Quality of Life
Regular monitoring has a major impact on improving the quality of life because it detects any changes in the patient’s condition in real time. This proactive approach allows for making timely adjustments in treatment plans to avoid complications and lead to better health outcomes. Here are the major effects of regular monitoring of chronic illness patients’ lives:
• Early detection of health complications:
Chronic illness can cause sudden complications. With regular monitoring, home care professionals can detect those warning signs early. For instance, daily blood pressure monitoring can prevent hypertension crises in heart disease patients. It helps to intervene early to lower health risks and also gives peace of mind for patients and their families.
• Better management of symptoms:
Consistent monitoring helps to track symptoms and other health metrics, allowing healthcare providers to identify symptom patterns and their triggers. For example, in a patient with COPD who experiences shortness of breath, this helps to make the right adjustments in their care plan to offer comfort and a better quality of life.
• Personalized Lifestyle recommendations:
Chronic illness management usually needs lifestyle modification and regular monitoring to help check the patient’s progress and make necessary changes in lifestyle for better outcomes. For example, if blood sugar levels are not in the targeted range, dietary adjustments can help to manage diabetes more effectively.
• Psychological and emotional support:
Chronic illnesses can affect mental health and lead to anxiety, isolation, or depression. Regular monitoring by home care professionals offers companionship and emotional support, which helps to manage mental health. Additionally, they can offer treatments or therapies to improve their mental health.
5 ways you can live well with a chronic illness
These are the 5 ways to help you live well with a chronic illness:
1. Follow your doctor’s plan:
When you have a chronic illness, it is crucial to follow through with your doctor’s appointments and instructions. Having a chronic disease doesn’t mean your body doesn’t work as you want. You just need to work a little hard on yourself to manage your body, so treat it well by:
• Taking medications as prescribed.
• Avoiding alcohol or drugs that affect how your medications work.
• Learning all about your condition to find better ways to manage it or feel well.
• Quitting smoking
• Telling your healthcare provider about the side effects or signs of your condition that you notice.
• Staying open to new treatment options until you know what works for you.
2. Make small changes in your diet:
Making small changes to your diet may help you live longer. Research shows a healthy diet can slow the progression of chronic illness and improve your quality of life. Since the body’s ability to burn calories decreases as you age, you need to eat food that is packed with nutrients. Make small changes regularly to allow the body to adapt and adjust accordingly.
3. Keep moving:
As you age, your body loses muscle. That’s why it is important to regularly do physical activity to maintain flexibility, strength, and balance. Research shows exercise can help you prevent disability and lower symptoms of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Even if you haven’t done exercise in the past, you can still start now and get its benefits, even in your 60s and 70s. You can do any physical activity you like, from swimming to gardening to walking. You can consult a doctor to find the types of physical activity to find the ideal exercise program for you.
4. Drink more water:
Drinking enough water is important to prevent fluid retention and lower blood sugar levels. 70% of the body is made of fluids; any restrictions can create problems. So, don’t ignore drinking water.
5. Listen to your body:
Sometimes pushing your body out of its comfort zone is necessary to make progress. For example, it can be healthy to move even a little bit. But if you push it too hard, it can end up in an injury or flare-up. Your healthcare team can help to push yourself safely and guide you when to take it easy. You can keep an activity log that you can share with your healthcare provider so they can tell you how to make adjustments in treatment or lifestyle to manage your condition.
Chronic illness home care can manage your condition and improve your quality of life. You can enjoy all the above-mentioned benefits and services of home care that support your chronic illness management.
Need help with chronic illness? Call us to get a consultation with our senior care services to improve your loved one’s life. Consult with our home care services to get a reliable companion care provider for your loved one, who ensures they get the best quality of care and companionship to live a peaceful, happy life. If you want to know more about adult day care services, the professionals at HouseCalls Home Care offer excellent resources for learning more about how to care for your aging loved ones. Reach out today to learn more about how we can help you enhance your golden years. Feel free to call HouseCalls Home Care at 718-922-9200 if you or a loved one requires compassionate and competent in-home care services. Our goal is to help you find the best support for your needs. You can also send an email to us at info@housecallshc.org for more information.
