Are you looking for Home Care in Harrisburg?

Have you been caring for your loved one at home without assistance? Caregiving can wear you out and create anxiety about maintaining the individual’s quality of life. That’s where AmeriBest can help. If you are looking for top-quality home care in Harrisburg, PA we have a local office that can provide you with all the information you’ll need to move forward.

Why AmeriBest Home Care?

AmeriBest Home Care believes in high-quality, comprehensive service, both home health, and personal care. Each person we service receives a personalized assessment, coordinating with their primary physician and any current clinical staff. It’s a holistic approach that gives people peace of mind. 

If we had to summarize AmeriBest in three words, they would be comfort, safety, and dignity. 

  • Your loved one stays in their own home. There are no strangers wandering the halls of a facility. This gives them some peace of mind, and a sense of assurance. Our amazing home nursing services and in-home caregiver program strives daily to connect with both the individual and family, offering answers to any questions you may have.
  • A direct care worker looks at your home through a different lens; one focused on making sure everything’s in the best possible place for safety. That slippery rug or lack of handrail? You may not have thought about them before. We can help.
  • Having compassionate, trustworthy staff means your loved one never feels like a “number,” boosting morale and a deep sense of self-worth. 

Benefits of Having a Home Health Care Aide

Whether you live in Harrisburg, PA, or in the Philadelphia, PA area, AmeriBest is here. You may be new to the idea of having an aide, but there are many benefits to consider:

  • Extra eyes and hands. You are only one person. An experienced aid provides coverage during times when you cannot be “eyes-on.”
  • An home health aide can take care of transporting an individual to various medical appointments. 
  • The caregiver or direct care worker provides the individual with companionship and socialization
  • Home care often proves more affordable than a facility
  • Your personal assistant can help keep the home in order when the individual’s ability is limited
  • The nurse can watch for physical or emotional changes that may indicate an underlying problem. 

What you can Expect from AmeriBest Home Care

Dependability is one of the keynotes that makes AmeriBest one of the top-rated home health care agencies in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, PA. Our office lowers the risk of call-outs and no-shows by always having a backup plan. We seek only the best candidates in our hiring process. 

Our staff members provide essential support services. Your nurse or aide will familiarize themselves with existing medical practitioners and providers and coordinate with them for high-quality care. 

AmeriBest can also help you navigate insurance coverage, including Medicaid. The paperwork can become overwhelming and it helps to have a professional “interpreter” for all the jargon.

If you would like more information, there are several ways to contact us. Beyond the online form, you can email info@ameribest.org or call 1-800-HOMECARE.

Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month with the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America – Caregiving for Someone with MS 

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Month takes place in March of every year. During this time, many organizations including AmeriBest Home Care Agency in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA, shine a light on the struggles faced by people living with MS. In order to care for your loved one, you may find having a caregiver home health aid improves the individual’s quality of life. It also helps to learn as much as you can about how MS manifests and what you can do to make your life, or that of a loved one, better. 

An Invisible Disease

To look at a person with MS, you might never know there was anything wrong with them. The symptoms often remain invisible, and not everyone is vocal about their situation. Some days they may have a flare-up, and a week or month later the symptoms subside. It’s not a contagious condition. Researchers aren’t fully aware of the triggers for MS and continue seeking answers. 

MS A Closer Look

When a person’s immune reaction damages protective sheaths around nerves in the brain, Multiple Sclerosis begins. 

When MS appears it’s often in a young adult. Nonetheless, Multiple Sclerosis is age “blind”-it can be diagnosed at any time. There are various signs of MS, including

  • Visual changes or problems
  • Numbness
  • Bladder or digestive issues
  • Depression
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle or joint pain

Multiple Sclerosis is rarely fatal. While new medications exist to help control the frequency of MS symptoms, there is no known cure. 

Worsening Progression

For some with MS, their condition continues to progress with more severe symptoms. As Multiple Sclerosis advances, it severely impacts every aspect of a person’s life, often shortening it by up to 7 years. Some families find it hard to help such individuals alone. 

That’s where caregiving for someone with MS can use helping hands, namely by seeking a top home care agency in their area. AmeriBest ranks highly among Home Health Aide Services in Harrisburg, PA, for our dedication, the quality of our care, and our compassionate aids. 

Consider the difficulty of attending to the safety and well-being of an individual who

  • Cannot talk or walk
  • Struggles with breathing
  • Experiences spasms or tremors
  • Has balance problems, creating a fall risk
  • Develops paralysis or partial immobility
  • Illustrates difficulty with swallowing
  • Show signs of memory loss

While not all people with severe MS develop all of the symptoms, these represent the range of potential problems ahead. 

Coping & Helping

There’s no question that people with MS and their families experience ongoing stress, worry, fear, and sometimes guilt. As you understand what a person is experiencing, you can find the best possible course of care, one where you’re supported too. From providing transportation to medical appointments and medication reminders to helping with everyday chores, a home caregiver aid is a support unit. 

You don’t have to try to do everything by yourself. Reach out to the professionals at
AmeriBest Home Care by filling out our contact form or by email: info@ameribest.org. You can also call one of our two offices: 

Philadelphia, PA 215-925-3313 

Harrisburg, PA 717-545-2920

or 1-800-HOMECARE

American Heart Month: What is it and How to Observe it?

Every February, AmeriBest Home Care of Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA, joins with many other organizations, physicians, nurses, in-home care workers, and families alike to observe American Heart Month every February. Why? Because over 600,000 people die annually from heart disease in the United States alone. Heart disease shows no preference for age, gender, or ethnicity. However, the following factors impact your risk:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Inactivity 
  • Poor diet
  • Smoking

If you have been thinking about caring for your loved one at home due to their heart health (combined with other matters), there are ways to give them heart-healthy habits and choices. In addition, you and your family can become advocates for raising awareness about heart disease by first learning about it. This is part of what American Heart Month is all about. 

Heart Disease 101

The term “cardiovascular disease” (CVD) is often used synonymously with “heart disease.” Both are umbrella terms covering everything from congenital heart defects and heart rhythm problems to the most common form of heart disease, coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is a hardening and narrowing of the arteries going to the heart, leading to stroke and heart attack. And while all that sounds frightening, the good news is that many deaths can be prevented with proper care. The earlier, the better. 

Signs of Heart Disease

CVD often goes hand in hand with old age. At AmeriBest, we work with seniors, giving them ways of strengthening their circulatory system. The first step is teaching families and individuals the signs of heart disease so prompt medical treatment occurs:

  • Chest pain (or pressure in the chest)
  • Feeling constantly tired or exhausted
  • Nausea and vomiting regularly
  • Palpitations
  • Shortness of breath
  • Weakness

Preventing Heart Disease

Home health aid services like those AmeriBest Home Care provides help you monitor heart health, but that’s only one part of the equation. There are great ways to keep a person’s heart in shape. Think of healthy habits like a daily vitamin supporting wellness. 

By making minor changes, you can get on the road to improved heart health. Start with increasing activity levels. Don’t go from zero to one hundred—small, progressive steps matter. About two and a half hours of moderate activity a week is all it takes. If your loved one has physical limitations, AmeriBest’s outstanding caregivers can help develop a safe routine.  

Next, think about diet. Limit saturated fats, salt, and meats with high-fat content. Stress fruits, whole grain, nuts, and vegetables. Look into the Mediterranean diet for ideas.

Monitor yourself or your loved one. When you go for a check-up, talk with the physician about blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol. There are medications specifically designed to target these two risk factors. And, people may not have to take them forever if they make suitable lifestyle choices. 

Finally, get more rest and avoid stress factors. Both support your immune system and improve both mental and emotional well-being.

Need Help?

If you’re in the Philadelphia or Harrisburg, PA area and have a loved one who needs more support than you can provide, reach out to us, asking about home care services. As a professional home health care agency, our staff provides compassionate and insightful assistance. Feel free to contact us HERE any time with your questions. 

Should You Become an Organ Donor? Pros & Cons

As a leading home care health provider in Pennsylvania, we at AmeriBest field many questions from families with aging clients. Among them is whether or not your loved one (or yourself, for that matter) should become an organ donor. It’s a complex decision and one in which reliable data is essential. 

Organ Donor Myths

In considering the pros and cons of organ donation, there are a lot of myths floating around that you need to circumnavigate. Misinformation taints your ability to make an informed choice. For example, some feel that physicians don’t work as hard to save organ donors. That goes against the Hippocratic Oath in every way. In fact, your health care team before a transplant is usually different than the one doing it.

Age and Health

You do not have to be young or in pristine health to be an organ donor. Before any transplant occurs, doctors evaluate all the conditions involved. There are a few exceptions, of course, like active cancer. Basically, the organ’s health is more important than your age group.

Living Organ Donors

Many people do not know about living donors. Tissues from certain parts of the body including the kidney, liver, and lungs, all qualify for living donations. By participating in this kind of organ donorship, you save the recipient’s life and that of someone who needs a full-fledged transplant. 

Religious Beliefs

AmeriBest works with families to get a familiar person into at-home care. Said individual typically knows the personal beliefs of someone before getting them involved in living or after-death donations. Most major religions have no taboo against organ donations; it is an act of kindness. 

Closed Casket Funerals

While you might think otherwise, unless there is serious disfiguration from the cause of death, there is no reason families cannot have an open-casket funeral. Donors get respectful, dignified care. Also, there is no cost for the procedure to the donor or their family. 

Organ Donation by the Numbers

One of the things that may figure into your discussions of organ donation is the sheer volume of need. Twenty-two people die daily while waiting for a transplant. There are over 120,000 people currently on the waiting list for organs in the U.S. alone. That number grows by 10 every 10 minutes.

The impact of organ donation is substantial. Just one person can save up to 8 lives, and a tissue donor can improve the lives of 50.

Organ Donation Cons:

  • Uncertainty: You, your loved one, or your family may find the idea uncomfortable or troubling. Allaying those feelings is often simply a matter of education and discussion.
  • Risk & Recovery: As a living donor, be aware that the process is major surgery, and it has risks that your physician will outline. Recovery can take time, and it is not always pain-free.
  • Scaring: Living donor procedures may leave lasting scars.
  • Insurance Woes: Some insurance companies do not cover any resulting problems ensuing from the donation.
  • Emotional Discomfort: If your loved one is a donor, their body will be kept on life support to protect the organs. For many, the “waiting game” is highly distressing.

Organ Donation Pros:

  • Knowing you Helped Others: Organ donation saves one, if not many, lives. 
  • Comfort upon Death: Knowing your loved one’s organs went forward to save others provides consolation and closure in the midst of tragedy. 
  • Comfort in Life: As a living donor, you’ll learn about some of the lives you’re helping (no specific names, of course, but situational information).
  • Full Body Donation: Should someone choose to become a full-body donor for medical research, the studies can lead to solutions for diseases in the future. Medical students can learn through working on cadavers, and in most cases, the organization accepting the donation provides a free return of the individual’s ashes.

Becoming an Organ Donor

If you want to learn more about becoming an Organ Donor, your caregiver, home health aid can become a bridge for learning more. It’s essential that an individual, or their power of attorney, can speak about personal wishes after death. The process includes:

  1. Signing up as a donor
  2. Register as a donor
  3. Add your status to your state identification
  4. Sign and carry your donor card (or let people know where to find it with other vital documents)
  5. Tell your medical care providers about your choice
  6. Include your directives in a living will

No matter what, AmeriBest is here for you. We have offices in Harrisburg (717-545-2920) and Philadelphia (215-925-3313). Or you can call any time: 1-800-HOMECARE.

Interested in working as an in-home care assistant? Start HERE.

What is Respiratory Care and why Seniors and Caregivers Should Know About It?

The final week of October is Respiratory Care Week. Respiratory care becomes increasingly important throughout the aging process. If you have a senior in your life or are a senior yourself, you will greatly benefit from respiratory care knowledge and strategies. However, most people are understandably unaware as to what this unique type of care is really all about. Here’s a quick look at the basics of respiratory care for seniors.

Recognize the Importance of Respiratory Health for Seniors

Senior caretakers and seniors themselves tend to focus on the loss of bone strength throughout the aging process for good reason. Bone loss prevention is certainly important yet respiratory health is also essential to maintaining a high quality of life through the golden years. A senior with a chronic respiratory problem such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will struggle to perform self-care and complete the activities necessary for daily living. 

If you are a caretaker for a parent or grandparent, be sure to wash your hands before interacting with him or her to help prevent the transmission of germs that might cause an infection that leads to breathing difficulties. Even the common cold has the potential to cause breathing problems. 

It also makes sense for the senior in your life to minimize interactions with Philadelphia community members during flu season. Ideally, one or two primary caregivers will provide assistance to your elderly loved one during the winter months to minimize the potential transmission of germs and viruses.

Respiratory Care for Philadelphia Seniors

A respiratory problem makes it difficult to perform daily tasks, especially when you reach your 60s, 70s, and 80s. A senior diagnosed with such a condition will require ongoing assistance to do everything from bathing and grooming to meal preparation and even household tasks such as vacuuming. 

Respiratory problems have the potential to make it challenging to walk from the house to the car or even from the bedroom to the kitchen. Hold onto your parent’s arm when walking for additional support. The use of a walker or cane will also facilitate safe walking inside and outside of the home.

Mind the Indoor Air Quality

Most senior citizens spend the vast majority of their time indoors. Unfortunately, indoor air isn’t as clean as outdoor air. Though heating and cooling system filters remove some toxins and other particles from indoor air, they don’t remove every potential threat. Change these filters once every month or two to ensure they can trap as many nasty particles as possible. If you vacuum for the senior in your life, use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to eliminate as many allergens, pollen, dust, and other diminutive particles from the living space.

Help the Senior Citizen in Your Life Choose the Right Clothing

An elderly individual who struggles to breathe will find tight clothing makes it that much more difficult to breathe without impediment. In particular, overly-tight clothing around the abdominal region, the chest, and the neck can constrain breathing. Go clothes shopping with your elderly loved one, choose nonrestrictive garments including those with elastic bands for additional flexibility, and he or she will have that much more freedom to expand the chest and diaphragm for easy breathing.

AmeriBest Home Care is Here to Help

Our home care providers have helped seniors throughout the greater Philadelphia area enjoy a better quality of life. Whether you or your loved one has a respiratory ailment, mobility limitations, or simply struggles completing daily living tasks, our Philadelphia care providers are here to lend invaluable assistance. Contact us today at 215-925-3313 or by email at info@ameribest.org to coordinate service at your Philadelphia-area home.

10 Ways to Help Seniors Avoid Flu Season

10 Ways to Help Seniors Avoid Flu Season - AmeriBest Home Care

Keep the house warm.

This is one of the most basic things on the list, but one of the most vital. Seniors, like all of us, catch viruses more easily when they get chilled. For that reason, it’s important to keep the house warm. Turn up the heat at night, and always keep throw blankets on hand.

Exercise regularly.

Though it may seem counterintuitive to go outside, fresh air and sunlight are necessary for a healthy body. Not only does the sun give off crucial vitamins, it also increases serotonin levels in the body, which helps with a good night’s sleep. And, you can’t have a healthy body without deep restorative sleep.

Eat superfoods.

Super foods are nature’s gift to us. Foods like ginger, spinach, kale, turmeric, and garlic are natural immunity boosters. They’re easy to add to almost any meal, and taste good too.

Don’t skimp out on your super foods.

Drink lots of liquids.

As always, water is the best option. However, as long as your senior is getting in enough fluids- coffee, tea, and seltzer are good choices too.

Wash your hands.

This is a super easy way to prevent outside germs from spreading inside your home. It’s a great habit to develop sooner rather than later.

Wash your hands whenever you come back into the house. Use soap. And, make sure your senior does too.

Get a flu shot.

It’s important to get your flu shots before the flu season starts. Or, at least at the very beginning of it. Don’t wait until peak contagion time, because by then you or your senior may have already caught the flu.

Explore natural remedies.

If you’re not one for flu shots, look into natural preventative measures. Consult with your doctor about which vitamins and minerals your senior’s body may be lacking. Then, look to fill those missing nutrients with supplements.

Think positively.

Sometimes, ill health stems from ill thoughts.
In other words- mind over matter.

Keep your senior thinking positively to keep your senior healthy. If you feel your loved one is having trouble with this, try playing happy music around the house and make sure he or she is getting enough sunshine.

Keep the house clean.

Germs tend to grow more easily in unclean areas.
Not untidy, but unclean. This means that it’s important to clean regularly, and not let the dirt pile up. Wipe down countertops, soak the dishes, sweep the floors, and dust around the windowsills and corners.

Your lungs will thank you for the cleaning.

Don’t touch your face.

A good tip when you’re outside of the house is to never touch your face. Specifically, your mouth, nose, and eyes. Getting germs on your hands is bad enough, but it’s even worse when you give those germs direct access to your insides.

So, always be weary of where you put your hands.

Provide Philadelphia Home Care to Your Loved One in the Comfort of Their Home

Ready to provide caring and capable Home Health to a loved one in the comfort of their very own home? Ameribest Home Care can help you!

Illness, injury, and hospital stays can leave many in need of assistance when completing activities of daily life. And while it’s most comfortable to receive that assistance at home and at the hands of someone you genuinely love and trust, no one wants to feel like they’ve become a burden to their children, relatives, or friends. That’s where AmeriBest Home Care comes in. We provide you with the appropriate training and skill set so that you can become a knowledgeable, capable, and caring personal caregiver to the friend or loved one who is in need. That means your mother, father, aunt or uncle, close friend or distant relative can receive quality and thoughtful care from you in the comfort of their very own home! Our home and community-based services (or Home Waiver Services) are available to those covered by MA (Medicaid/ medical assistance), and enable your loved one to remain in a community setting rather than being admitted to a nursing facility while they receive care from someone they love and trust the most: you!

Smiling elderly man in a wheelchair and friendly caregiver in a

 

Well-Paying Philadelphia Home Care That You Provide to Your Loved One… Tell Me More!

Once you’ve been thoroughly trained by the skilled and capable staff at Ameribest Home Care, you’ll be fully equipped and able to assist your close friend or loved one in all aspects of their regular daily living. The two of you can decide together what their plan of care will look like. Services can include:

  • Meal preparation
  • Light housekeeping – to meet individual health needs
  • Shopping
  • Laundry
  • Bathing
  • Dressing
  • Medication management
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Securing transportation
  • Supervised walks
  • And so much more…

With care in the comfort of their own home that’s provided by someone they genuinely love and trust, your loved one’s health care plan will truly cater to their individual needs. So, how does your loved one qualify? Eligibility requirements are minimal; all they need to qualify is:

  • A medically-verified long-term condition or disability (where long-term means a condition that will last for longer than 6 months)
  • A monthly income of less than $2,163
  • No more than $8,000 of countable resources (including savings, checking, stocks, bonds, and other liquid assets or investments)

Further, if your loved one owns their own home, please mention this fact to our staff: it may affect their application for the waiver program.

So, are you ready for the person you love the most to receive professional, thoughtful, and well-qualified home care from an utterly caring caregiver that they know and trust? Call Ameribest Home Care, or fill out an inquiry form at our website www.ameribesthomecare.com, to find out how you and a loved one can partner together in pursuit of their healthy, guided living. It’s time for health care that’s truly comfortable, provided in the familiar space of home, and at the hands of a trusted loved one. At Ameribest Home Care, we’re answering the call for the comfortable home health care your loved one deserves.