Home Care Services: Did you know that the third week of January is Sugar Awareness Week?

In 2022, that puts this important week from January 17th through the 22nd. Thinking about how much sugar your senior is getting might be a new detail for you and your home care services provider to calculate for her, so these tips can help.

Sugar Is in a Lot of Foods, Even if They’re Not Sweet

It can be really surprising how much sugar is in foods that your elderly family member eats every day, even when those foods aren’t super sweet themselves. Sugar content really does add up, and your senior might be eating a lot more than she even realizes. Figuring out what’s in your senior’s foods is the first step toward making a change.

Too Much Sugar Can Have a Big Impact

If your elderly family member already has diabetes, heart disease, or other health issues, then her doctor might have already cautioned her about sugar intake worsening those health conditions. But too much sugar over a long period of time can also contribute to those health issues in the first place. Talk to your senior’s doctor about how sugar may impact her individual health conditions.

Consider a Food Diary for a Little While

Another way to get a good handle on how much sugar your senior takes in is for her to keep a food diary. Reading food labels is definitely eye-opening, but it’s also good to see what your senior is eating in a day. Home care providers can help her to keep up with tracking her food intake when you’re not around. This isn’t something that she necessarily has to do for a long time. Just a few weeks of data can help.

Home Care Services: Help Your Senior with Meal Preparation

Meal preparation and the difficulties around preparing meals can be one big reason your senior might be leaning on foods that are higher in sugar content. Having help from elder care providers with cooking and other aspects of getting a meal on the table can make a huge difference. Home care providers can relieve your senior of other tasks that are getting a big complicated for her, too.

Once you and your home care services providers know what your senior is bringing into her body in terms of sugar on a daily basis, you can start to make small changes that reduce that sugar intake. Most of the time it’s easy to reduce sugar intake without really noticing much difference in terms of taste, which is really helpful.

The staff at Home Care Matters is available to talk with you and your family about all of your needs. Home Care Matters is a home care agency providing quality and affordable Home Care Services in Johns Creek, GA, and surrounding areas.
Call (770) 965.4004 for more information.

We provide home care in  Braselton, Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Flowery Branch, Gainesville, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Oakwood, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Barrow County, Forsyth County, Gwinnett County, Hall County, Jackson County, North Fulton County.

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Valerie Darling

Founder, Owner at Home Care Matters

Valerie was born in Miami, FL and after a few family moves, grew up locally in the Marietta, GA area.Valerie is the oldest of 4 (3 younger brothers).She is married and has one child.Valerie is the Founder, Owner and CEO of Home Care Matters.Valerie’s mom, Dee, is the inspiration and primary driver as the how and why the business was born.Valerie says, “My mom is never far from our thoughts.Mom was an integral part of developing and starting HCM before she passed away.Our goal is to stay true to her memory and continue to honor her with the love, values, and ethics she taught us.”

Valerie has the unique experience with home care as she has experienced it from both ends of the spectrum, as a caregiver and as needing care herself as a cancer survivor. Valerie says, “Taking care of someone you love is a physically, mentally and demanding labor of love.Taking care of my mom was the hardest thing I have ever done. It has given me an insight and perspective not many people understand unless you are doing it or have done it.I loved taking care of my mom.I love helping others take care of their love ones too.And now that I’ve been sick, it’s given me a whole new level of empathy and understanding for those who are sick and need help.”

Valerie’s schedule varies daily, but she loves visiting with our clients, families, caregivers, our network partners and being in the office.Says Valerie, “Every day is different, but I wake up excited about what we do, inspired by our team, clients and caregivers.I strive to be a resource to the community.I love my team and I love what we do every day. I like to think my mom would be proud.”

You can reach Valerie by email (Valerie@homecarematters.com) or in our office (770.965.4004).

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