The three key considerations when caring for seniors
Caring for your aging loved one can be a daunting task that carries a lot of responsibility. Whether or not your senior lives with you, it can be hard for you to think about what they actually need and how to take proper care of them. The following 3 tips will help you with their most important concerns.
1. Senior Nutrition: We all get tired of cooking and cleaning up after ourselves with meals. We also have a problem with our taste buds changing over time. It is no different for our seniors. They don’t want to cook neither care much to eat. What can be done? Make it easy! Make it easy for them to pop something into the microwave or oven. Make it good for their taste buds so that they will want to eat again. Make sure your loved one has one balanced meal per day. As they eat and make it easier for themselves, it will become a routine and you will see over time them changing their eating habits and become much better.
2. Hygiene care: As we age, it becomes harder and harder to do the personal care things that we have always done. And we really don’t see the need to do them to keep ourselves up. For what? What can we do to help our loved one maintain their personal hygiene? Encourage them with their personal hygiene, compliment them when little things are done, make sure that they feel safe getting in and out of the tub. Maybe assist with in and out of the tub but leave them to do their own personal care. And always remember to encourage them by complimenting them when they do something different that really should be done. A little bit of help and encouragement will see that their hygiene will improve over a short period of time.
3. Medication: Most of our seniors are on some if not large amounts of prescription medication. It is hard for them to remember when and what to take, what needs food, and what does not. Work out a system, an easy system, with a pill box and check that system everyday. It is very important for medication to be given at the proper time and the same time on a daily basis. You continue to do this and it will become a routine with most of the seniors. They will feel better and as they feel better they will remember more and more what they need to do to feel better. Check with your physician. When there is a change with medication, be aware of the side effects that could happen. Watch closely, don’t hesitate to call the physician if you see something that is unusual. Life becomes easier and can become happier for our seniors with just following a few easy steps and it also can become easier for caregivers. The job is not easy!
We take our responsibility to the senior population of New York’s Hudson Valley very seriously. Southwinds provides a great home for seniors who need some assistance with their day to day care, whether that need is full time care or just a fun place to socialize during the day. If you have questions about any aspect of senior care, please call Southwinds at 845.341-1888. We’d love to get your feedback about this post and your thoughts about how we might be of service. Feel free to leave a comment below, and we will respond quickly.
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