Trusted, Reliable In-Home Care

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Lauderhill

Experience the Affinity Difference

Unrivaled Expertise in Parkinson’s Home Care

  • Unparalleled Quality Care
  • Best Client Reviews in the Industry
  • Experts in 24 Hour and Live-In Care
  • Experts in Geriatric Home Care
  • Experts in Alzheimer’s & Dementia Care
  • Ongoing 24/7 Quality Monitoring
  • No Contracts, No Obligations

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Are You Caring For a Loved One Who
Is Suffering from Parkinson’s Disease?

It’s common for family caregivers to feel confused and frustrated when caring for a loved one with Parkinson’s Disease.
Parkinson’s Disease is a very “individualistic” illness – triggering a combination of symptoms.
The symptoms are different for each person and may vary from day to day.

A Committed and Reliable Care Team
to support your loved one around the clock is essential.

We Offer Our Clients and Their Families

Five Elements of Effective Parkinson’s Home Care

The Affinity Care Method for Parkinson’s Disease

AffinityHomeCare

Maximum Comfort

Reducing symptoms and the negative effects of Parkinson’s Disease medications (which can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration) requires both a strict dosing schedule and detailed notes for your doctor. Our caregivers will ensure your loved one has the maximum comfort possible.

AffinityHomeCare

Healthy Diet

In most cases, treating Parkinson’s Disease also involves a change in diet and eating habits – due either to swallowing problems caused by the disease or to the side effects of Parkinson’s Disease medications. Our caregivers can ensure your loved one eats a balanced diet of energy-rich foods while reducing the occurrence of nausea, constipation, and malnutrition.

AffinityHomeCare

Physical Activity

Studies have shown the best way to maintain balance, posture, mobility – and overall independence – is through daily exercise. Whichever form of physical activity your loved one prefers – we can match you with a caregiver who will accompany your loved one and keep them safe.

AffinityHomeCare

Sleep Hygiene

Fatigue is another common symptom of Parkinson’s Disease. Even brief tasks like taking a shower can be exhausting – and lead to excessive naps, which disrupt the sleep cycle and cause insomnia. To avoid this problem, our caregivers can take care of daily tasks like laundry and ensure your loved one develops healthy sleep habits.

AffinityHomeCare

Social Engagement

Many Parkinson’s patients experience some form of depression, necessitating additional medication. But equally helpful can be the friendly companionship of a caregiver, who can facilitate visits to support groups, art classes, volunteer activities or cultural events that suit your loved one’s interests and offer a change of scenery.

Our Caregivers and Office Staff Also Help With:

  • Meal preparation
  • Bathing and toileting
  • Dressing and grooming
  • Errands and shopping trips
  • Laundry and light housekeeping
  • Transport to doctor’s appointments
  • Dedicated staffing
  • Flexible scheduling
  • Competitive pricing
  • No long-term contracts
  • On-call service, day or night
  • 100% satisfaction guarantee

The 5 Stages of Parkinson’s Disease

Medical experts typically divide the progression of Parkinson’s Disease (and other forms of parkinsonism) into 5 stages – with differing degrees of severity, requiring different levels of care.

  • Stage 1: At this early stage, symptoms are limited to tremor (involuntary shakiness) and changes in posture, facial expression and walking gait on one side of the body. For the most part, these symptoms can be treated with medication and don’t interfere with daily life.
  • Stage 2: The disease begins to affect both sides of the brain and body, causing stiffness and other movement problems. Living alone is still feasible, but daily tasks like preparing meals are time-consuming and more difficult to perform.
  • Stage 3: Hallmark symptoms of this stage include loss of balance and slowed reflexes –which greatly increase the risk of injury due to falls. Daily activities like dressing or eating become extremely difficult.
  • Stage 4: At this stage, mobility decreases to the point where the patient is no longer able to stand up or walk without assistance. As a result, living alone is no longer feasible and potentially dangerous.
  • Stage 5: The patient is confined to a bed or wheelchair due to extreme stiffness in the legs. Hallucinations, delusions, and dementia are common, and round-the-clock care becomes necessary.

In our effort to provide the highest-quality in-home care, we also guarantee to provide you with
a service that is flexible, comprehensive, and fully tailored for individual needs.

Flexible Service

Parkinson’s is a progressive disease with symptoms that can seem to “flare up” unpredictably. These factors make it tough on family caregivers, especially in later stages of the disease when round-the-clock supervision and assistance are necessary. With our flexible service options: hourly, and live-in, you will get only as much help as you need, any time you need it.

Comprehensive Care

Focusing on daily exercise, adequate sleep, proper nutrition, and emotional well-being is of paramount importance. To that end, we ensure that our caregivers are thoroughly trained and experienced in appropriate comprehensive home care for individual patients.

Personally Tailored

Each Parkinson’s patient is different – not only in terms of their symptoms and treatment choices, but also in terms of their personality and preferences. That’s why our care specialists make every effort to fit our services to the needs of your family, the advice of your neurologist or movement disorder specialist, and the unique challenges of caring for an individual with Parkinson’s.

Helping your Loved One Sufferring from Parkinson’s Disease at Home

Any diagnosis of a degenerative neurological disease is heart breaking, and
Parkinson’s is no exception. When your loved one is facing the long term facts of Parkinson’s, it falls to you as the primary care provider to make them as
comfortable as possible. However, it is necessary to remember that Parkinson’s patients can live fairly normal lives for years after diagnosis. Your first concern after the diagnosis should be finding ways to maximize the patient’s independence for as long as possible. Sit down with your loved one and their doctor to discuss treatments, projected decline and a long-term treatment plan.

Setting Up a Safe Home Environment

In the early stages of Parkinson’s, there is no need to take any drastic action, but as it progresses, patients will experience increasing physical weakness. They can develop tremors, loss of balance, difficulty speaking, and many other complications from the disease. In order to create a safe home environment, there may be changes required in the home. Not all homes can be safely transformed to accommodate someone with Parkinson’s. Evaluate their current living situation to ensure that the needed changes are possible within the space allowed.

Patients with Parkinson’s will need spacious rooms all on a single level.

  • Remove as much clutter as possible to maximize space.
  • Eventually, remove unnecessary furniture and other clutter that may become hazardous as your loved one will need to use a walker or wheelchair to get around the house.
  • You will need to install hand rails throughout the home.
  • Make handicap accessible modifications to the bathroom.
  • Have ramps installed at each entryway.
  • There are also changes that you can make to reduce frustration. It is a good idea to keep all of the necessary medical supplies in one convenient location, so that you can keep things under control and easily accessible.
  • These changes should be completed before they become a necessity. As soon as your loved one is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, it is essential to begin drawing up plans to prepare their home situation to accommodate their changing needs. Do not forget to include environmental improvements, as well. Since your loved one will spend much of their time in one or two rooms, it is essential that they be comfortable.
  • Decorate with warm colors and display meaningful items like pictures and other items that generate happy memories. House plants are another excellent way to make the space lively and give it a feeling of comfort and peace.

Helping your Loved One with Daily Life

The best thing you can do for your loved one is become informed. Parkinson’s has many different symptoms and expresses differently in everyone.

Take the time to learn about all the potential effects of the disease, and what you can do to make life easier for the patient.

Some common examples include:

  • Moving furniture to create easy handholds throughout the home can encourage them to do as much as they can for themselves for as long as they can.
  • Cooking healthy, well-balanced meals that are easy for Parkinson’s patients to eat is essential. Parkinson’s patients may have difficulty cutting up food, chewing or swallowing. It is crucial to provide them with foods that are not tough or dry, so they can easily swallow and digest culinary offerings.
  • Participating in Physical Therapy so that you can help them practice at home is a terrific way to keep them active. Some basic exercise techniques you can try include games of catch, or balloon volleyball. The action of throwing and catching the ball or batting the balloon around can help them maintain control of bodily functions for as long as possible.
  • Learning about techniques for handling tremors and freezing. Freezing is when the muscles in the body freeze for a moment, often resulting in falls. One technique for breaking out of a freeze is to focus on a visual target and move toward that target. Help your loved one practice the theory, so that it becomes instinctive and the danger of a fall is reduced.

The more involved you are with the treatment process the more helpful you can be during your at home hours where you are the primary care provider.

How do you care for an elderly, disabled or sick parent, spouse or sibling and still have time for yourself as well?

Do Not Forget or Ignore Your Needs

Primary care providers can be so caught up with trying to take care of their loved one that they become depressed, withdrawn, stressed, and unhealthy. This will ultimately harm both you and your loved ones.

Make sure to take proper care of yourself. Get as much rest as possible, because if you are not rested, you will not be able to take proper care of your family member.

Make time to enjoy social activities and spend time with friends and family in a relaxed environment, so that you are refreshed.

Be prepared for the changes that can happen in your family dynamic. Your children may act out in response to the time you spend caring for your ailing relative.

However, it is necessary to make time for you, to reduce the burdens you experience as a primary care giver.

Tips and Support Information to Help You Find a Balance

Balancing the needs of the patient against your own and the rest of your family can be difficult, but do not get trapped in a mentality that says you must do everything yourself. There are a variety of programs out there to help you provide the needed care without driving yourself into the ground. Talk with the doctor in charge of the overall care plan and discuss needed levels of care.

When the patient can no longer reliably perform daily tasks, your responsibilities increase dramatically. Many people have the beleaguered family member move in, so they are better able to help. This can put additional strain on a family, but it is often the best solution for the ailing patient.

Below are some things you can implement to help reduce the stress on your family:

  • Contract Homemaker/Companion services for your relative to provide companionship during the day and take them to social activities when you are not able to do so. A homemaker can perform tasks like laundry, fixing a mid-day meal and socializing with your loved one during the hours when you must be away from home.
  • Schedule family time, and stick to it. There are many changes that come with providing round the clock care to a loved one. These changes are necessary, but they can put incredible strain on a family, particularly children. Make sure to take time out just for family time, so that no one feels ignored.
  • Bring in a Home Health Aide to help with tasks like bathing, dressing and medication management. If you work full time, or even part time, outside of the home, providing full time care is not a possibility. Contract a Home Health Aide to reduce the burden and provide help with daily tasks when you are not available.
  • Obtain Private Duty Nursing when needed. Eventually, it is likely that your loved one will require constant access to health care services. Private Duty Nursing enables you to keep the patient at home, while still offering the health care they need.

These services are offered to help you balance your needs, the needs of your family and the needs of the patient. They are particularly helpful when you must go to work each day. It may not be safe for the patient to stay at home without observation. These services give you the needed peace of mind to leave the home secure in the knowledge that your loved one is in capable hands. They also allow you to schedule much needed personal time for errands and relaxation.

Affinity Home Care offers the finest quality cost-effective home health services
to patients and families. Caregivers and support teams work closely
with patients, their families, and physicians to ensure:

Personalized Care in Various Aspects of Daily Living

  • Domestic Duties

    • Meal Preparation
    • Light Housekeeping
    • Laundry & Linen Changes
    • Shopping & Errands
    • Driving to Appointments
  • Personal Care

    • Bathing & Dressing
    • Personal Grooming
    • Bathroom Assistance
    • Incontinent Care
  • Safety & Security

    • Ambulating Assistance
    • Wheelchair Transfers
    • Medication Supervision
    • Range of Motion Exercises

Affinity Brings Unrivaled Expertise in Senior Home Care
Enabling Your Loved Ones to Remain Independent and Happy in their Homes

ADL

Activities of Daily Living (ADL):

are fundamental and routine functions and activities that people tend to do every day without needing assistance.

  • Eating: Assistance with feeding of daily meals and snacks
  • Bathing: Washing and bathing assistance in a tub or shower
  • Toileting: Assistance to and from the toilet, and associated personal hygiene
  • Transferring: Assistance transferring to a bed, chair or wheelchair
  • Continence Care: Care for aging people with bowel and urinary incontinence
  • Dressing: Help with clothing, any necessary braces or artificial limbs
ADL

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL):

are activities that enable an individual to live
independently in a community.

  • Errands and Shopping: Regular grocery and clothing shopping
  • Medication Reminders: Making sure your loved one takes medications as prescribed
  • Doctors Visits: Scheduling and arranging transportation to medical appointments
  • Light Housekeeping: Ensuring your loved one is living in a clean and safe environment
  • Meal Preparation: A caregiver can prepare a healthy and nutritious meal.
  • Use of Communication Devices: Assisting with use of telephone or other form of communication.

To enable seniors, the homebound, and the chronically disabled to
live independently in the safety and security of their own homes for as long as possible,

we also provide Hospice Support, Custodial Care, Joyful Companionship, Respite for Family
Caregivers, and other In-Home services.

For more information or to schedule a FREE In-Home consultation Call Us: