Elderly care is the fulfilments, of the needs, necessities, and requirements of the older adults. It is the common term used in places such as nursing homes, adult day care, residential care or long term care where the senior citizens live, and there better health and living facilities are provided to them. All sorts of requirements of the senior citizens which may be social or personal are given much attention there and along with the health care their daily activities too are considered and much importance is given to them.
There are certain steps which prove to be very helpful in providing better elderly care. These steps which the family members or the loved ones must follow to provide better care are:
1- Encourage Exercise
Exercise is vital for living a healthy life. Regular exercise is essential for every individual but if we talk, about the senior citizens then it has even more utmost importance. Physical activities help in controlling the blood pressure and other serious diseases such as heart problems, bone and joint problems and osteoporosis. Aging space encourages the senior citizens to exercise on a regular basis and especially when the doctor recommends so.
2- Proper Diet
Proper diet is the most important element of living a healthy life. Elderly face many health problems such as heart diseases, blood pressure, diabetes, deficiency of Vitamins especially vitamin D and minerals, etc. these problems are very common yet not even of that type which cannot be overcome. These deficiencies can be improved by taking adequate dietwhich fulfils them. Senior citizens may not stand on one meal for a longer period. They require food more frequently than a middle aged person, and in such, circumstances they may opt to take frozen food which is not good for their health. This not only affects their bones but their immune system too is badly affected by the intake of frozen food. Therefore proper and healthy food must be given to them, and a high portion of fruits and vegetables should be added in their diet as they fulfil most of the vitamin and mineral requirement while meat specifically red meat should be avoided at this age. It would develop their immune system and would help them stay healthy for a longer time.
3- Places which may be dangerous at home
The bathroom may prove to be one of the most dangerous places for the elderly. As people of this age have less strength and may face problem in balancing their body, therefore, getting out of the bath tub or the use of shower can become very difficult for them. One can overcome this difficulty by installing grab bars in the bathroom. These grab bars will help them in balancing and even from falling at times. The instalment of these grab bars in the bathroom will not only give them physical stability but comfort too.
4- Eldercare provider
The elder care provider hired must be professional and experienced. The elderly rely on the care provider. Therefore it is necessary that the care provider must be experienced and should have a vast knowledge of handling such people in different situations and conditions. The situation at times may become worse, but the care provider must be smart enough to work on this situation wisely.
5- Proper Routine
One of the biggest steps which must be included in the care of elderly is their proper and timely schedule. There might come a time in the day when the family members or the care provider is not around in such circumstances they may panic, and this can affect their health both mentally as well as physically. Therefore in such situations, the pre-planned schedule proves to be very beneficial. Some people on reaching this age may suffer Dementia, in which their judgment and decision-making ability are affected. Along with that, they face numerous other problems such as they are unaware of reminding the dates and seasons, feel difficulty in having or further building a conversation and the major thing is that they forget the place where things are kept and feel difficulty in finding them again. In such cases, the schedule and labelling of things can help them recognize the proper place. Hence they do not face any problem.
6- Physical challenges of the senior citizens must be focussed.
Physical challenges are faced by the people of all age but with growing age as the strength lessens they face much more difficulty in fulfilling those tasks. It becomes much easier to figure out the mental state and the condition of such people by just focussing on their challenges. With the help of this, we can grasp their problems, and their problems and challenges can be analysed.
Author’s biography:
This post is written by Chris Palmer who is a comedian and a public speaker. He has got a lot of valuable information about dementia and elderly care. He regularly blogs at https://www.agespace.org/