Caring for diabetes is an ongoing, daily process. Ignoring your diabetes care plan can lead to complications such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetic coma, blindness, kidney disease or amputation. The home care professionals at Visiting Angels of Sunnyvale and Fremont understand that constant health management can be overwhelming and stressful, and it can be difficult to manage your diabetes on your own. If you or a loved one needs help keeping up with diabetes care, hire an in-home caregiver to assist. Here are a few ways our caregivers can help:

• Foot sores are common issues for people with diabetes, and if they aren’t cared for quickly, they can develop into major problems. A senior with reduced vision may not notice a small foot sore, but an in-home caregiver can inspect the diabetic’s feet daily, provide proper wound care and coordinate care with the physician to ensure that proper treatment is followed in order to help the senior heal.
• Maintaining a healthy diet is a major part of diabetes management. An in-home caregiver can plan and prepare tasty, diabetic-appropriate meals to help diabetics keep up with proper nutrition.
• Exercise is another important part of diabetes management. Caregivers can assist with a physician-approved exercise program and help them stay motivated.
• An in-home caregiver can provide reminders for glucose testing and can schedule regular physician checkups.

Coping with diabetes requires a reasonably high level of cognitive or mental function, given the need to follow a treatment plan that includes diet, exercise, and medication components as well as blood sugar testing and other self-care measures. Additionally, those with diabetes have a higher incidence of both dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, making it even harder for them to perform multiple, complex tasks. Even normal memory loss associated with aging can impact how well a person deals with diabetes.

If you have a loved one who is struggling to manage his or her diabetes, contact the caregivers at Visiting Angels in Fremont and Sunnyvale. We can help get you on the track to better health.