Helpful Articles

Supporting Seniors After a Stroke 0

A stroke can be a life-changing event for seniors and their loved ones. After a stroke, seniors may require significant support to regain their independence and adjust to any physical or cognitive changes they may experience. This blog post provides tips and guidance on how to support seniors after a stroke, from the early days of recovery to the ongoing journey towards rehabilitation and long-term care.

The Benefits of Swimming for Seniors 0

Swimming is a fun and effective way for seniors to stay active and improve their overall health. Not only is it a low-impact exercise that is gentle on joints, but it also provides a full-body workout that can help improve cardiovascular health, strength, and flexibility. Whether you're a senior looking for a new form of exercise or a caregiver looking to encourage your loved one to stay active, read on to learn why swimming might be the perfect choice.

Managing Diabetes for Seniors 0

Managing diabetes can be especially challenging for seniors, as they may have mobility issues or other health conditions that make it more difficult to take care of themselves. But with the right approach, seniors with diabetes can maintain good health and prevent complications.

How Do You Maintain Blood Sugar Levels?

One of the key components of managing diabetes is keeping blood sugar levels within a healthy range. This can be achieved through a combination of lifestyle changes, such as eating a balanced diet and engaging in regular physical activity, and medication, such as insulin or oral diabetes drugs.

What Does a Healthy Diet Look Like?

A healthy diet for seniors with diabetes should focus on whole, unprocessed foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. It is also important to limit foods that are high in sugar and refined carbohydrates, as these can cause spikes in blood sugar levels. In some cases, meal planning and preparation can be a challenge for seniors with diabetes, especially if they have mobility issues or difficulty shopping and cooking. In-home care can play an important role in helping seniors with diabetes to plan and prepare healthy meals.

What are Some Examples of Exercises?

Physical activity is also crucial for managing diabetes, as it helps to lower blood sugar levels and improve overall health. For seniors who may have mobility issues, chair exercises or water aerobics may be good options. And for those who find it difficult to exercise alone, having a caregiver to assist can provide seniors with the support they need to stay active.

In addition to lifestyle changes, diabetes management also involves regular monitoring of blood sugar levels and other health markers, such as blood pressure and cholesterol. This may include self-monitoring of blood sugar levels at home, as well as regular visits to a healthcare provider to track progress and make adjustments to treatment as needed. Caregivers can also assist with monitoring blood sugar levels and remind seniors to take their medication on time. 

How Can Assisted Living Help?

Assisted living communities and memory care facilities can also provide support for seniors with diabetes. These places have trained staff that can help seniors manage their diabetes, including monitoring blood sugar levels, giving insulin shots, and providing education on how to manage diabetes.

It's important to be aware of the potential complications of diabetes, such as heart disease, nerve damage, and eye problems, and take steps to prevent them. This may include monitoring blood pressure, cholesterol levels and getting regular eye exams.

Finally, it's important for seniors with diabetes to work closely with their healthcare provider to create an individualized diabetes management plan. This should take into account any other health conditions the senior may have, as well as their overall health and lifestyle. And it's important to consider the role of senior care, which can provide the support needed to help seniors successfully manage their diabetes. 

In conclusion, Managing diabetes can be challenging for seniors, but with the right approach, seniors can maintain good health and prevent complications. Senior care can play an important role in helping seniors to manage their diabetes on a day-to-day basis, from providing assistance with meal planning and preparation, to providing regular monitoring of blood sugar levels, and helping seniors to maintain an active lifestyle.

We offer a wide range of products, including wheelchairs, lifts, walking aids, and chairs, to help seniors maintain their independence and health. Don't hesitate, visit our main page today to learn more and take the first step towards a healthier, more active life.

Business Ownership for People With Disabilities 0

Photo by Marcus Aurelius from Pexels

Entrepreneurship is an effective means of tackling labor market and social exclusion among persons with impairment. Unfortunately, disabled people face specific barriers to starting and sustaining businesses in addition to general barriers. Some of these barriers include difficulties in accessing start-up capital, limited business skills, consumer discrimination, absence of appropriate business support, and benefits trap. 

In this article, Dansons Medical will walk you through what to look out for if you are considering taking the plunge into entrepreneurship.    

Why you should consider entrepreneurship

Although persons with disabilities are willing and able to work, they experience higher rates of unemployment and employer discrimination. Limited labor market participation makes entrepreneurship a popular choice for them. In addition to financial autonomy, additional benefits of entrepreneurship for people with disabilities include: 

• Control over their business
• Work activities that suit their capabilities and personal interests
• Long-term employment with growth opportunities
• Workplace accommodations and support to meet individual needs and enhance success
• Networking opportunities with other community business members

Forming a Limited Liability Company

When starting a business, several options in the type of entity you can form are available. The Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a popular entity for the many benefits it offers. An LLC is easy to set up and maintain. It offers limited liability, flexibility of income distribution, no ownership restrictions, member involvement in the company, attractiveness to foreign investors, and tax benefits. 

Laws governing LLCs are still being fine-tuned and each state has its own statutes. So when considering an LLC, you consult a knowledgeable formation service.     

Which business is the right fit?

Persons with disabilities can start any type of business and run it successfully. Identifying entrepreneurship opportunities starts by recognizing individual strengths and interests. Individual strengths and capacity among persons with disability are not only influenced by their natural talents but also impairment. Impairments vary widely in terms of severity, type, duration, and time of onset.

Common business ideas options for persons with disabilities include: 

• Consultant
• Internet marketing
• Life coach
• Freelancing
• Pet sitting
• Motivational speaking
• Tech support
• Food truck vendor
• Event planning
• Home-based business

The beauty of self-employment is that it allows the entrepreneur to customize workplace accommodations to suit their special needs, as well as make use of available technology like the internet. This increases the range of business opportunities that a disabled person can engage in.     

How to get funding

Access to start-up capital is a challenge for many entrepreneurs but it is more pronounced among persons with disabilities. Fortunately, there are several financing options that specifically address this problem. These include: 

• Grants for the disabled: You can use federal government and corporate grants to fund your business and you will not have to pay them back.    
• Loans for the disabled: Several financiers like Accion offer small business loans to help fund accessible workplace, assistive technology, and adaptive work vehicles. Other loan types include SBA loans, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) business loans, Assistive technology loans, and StreetShares short-term business loans. 

How to find customers

Finding customers doesn’t have to be a challenge. Here’s how to do it efficiently: 

• Produce relevant content for your business: Create content that solves problems, provides value, creates connections, and builds relationships. 
• Create a mailing list: Your focus should be on providing help, solving problems, and delivering great content.
• Be social: Build a personal brand and sell by virtue of presence
• Focus on customer retention: Build relationships with current customers to retain them

Final Thoughts

The adventure of entrepreneurship is extremely rewarding and disability should not stop anyone from pursuing it. Disabled entrepreneurs possess great determination and a wealth of experiences that are assets in business. Of course, running a business is a challenging undertaking, especially for a person with infirmities. But through learning and taking advantage of available resources, the chances of success are high. 

Dansons Medical offers a number of high-quality products (wheelchairs, lifts, walking aids, chairs, and more) designed for those living with disabilities. Visit our main page to learn more!

Author: Lydia Chan

Lydia is the co-creator of Alzheimer’s Caregiver, a website that aims to provide tips and resources to help caregivers. Her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Lydia found herself struggling to balance the responsibilities of caregiving and her own life. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experiences with caregivers and seniors. In her spare time, Lydia finds joy in writing articles about a range of caregiving topics.