Care for the Elderly: Tips, Advice and Recommendations for 2018

Caring for the elderly is not an easy procedure, it takes a lot of time and patience. It is necessary to take into account many psychological and social factors, since caring for the elderly should not be limited only to taking care of their physical condition. It is very important to provide psychological support, to develop the social ties of the elderly person with the family and the society in which he lives.

Care for the Elderly

Duration of sleep of elderly people should be 7-8 hours a day and even more if the old person is sick and his body is exhausted. At the same time, close ones should remember that the nervous system of the elderly is very vulnerable and a quality sleep is the key to its recovery. Even one sleepless night leaves negative consequences in the form of a bad mood and physical weakness.

Unfortunately, most elderly people have problems with sleeping in the form of night insomnia. In this case, old people can doze off intermittently during the day, but the total duration of sleep does not increase, since at night they sleep less. Some specialists prescribe the use of sleeping pills for the treatment of sleep disorders, but this, as a rule, can only bring temporary relief. Against the background of a permanent intake of such drugs, addiction to them develops. In turn, this leads to the appearance of apathy, hypodynamia, and so on.

Therefore, caring for the elderly includes the creation of optimal conditions for their sleep. For this, it is necessary to observe only a few tips:

• ·         The bed should be comfortable and not soft;
• ·         The room should be quiet;
• ·         The rooms must be regularly ventilated, the optimum room temperature is 18-22 ° C;
• ·         The blanket should be warm and light;
• ·         The last meal is desirable no later than 4 hours before bedtime. Also in the evening it is not recommended to eat sweets, drink coffee or strong tea;
• ·         A beneficial effect on sleep is influenced by a small walk in the fresh air. If an elderly person does not have the opportunity to go out into the street, then it is advisable to at least walk through the corridor or room;
• ·         It is not advisable that the elderly person sleep during the day, so, if possible, it is necessary to organize his leisure, choosing interesting daytime activities.

Personal hygiene of the elderly

In the care of elderly people, of course, should be included and the observance of personal hygiene, not much different from the hygiene of any of us. However, it is worth paying attention to the fact that with age, the skin becomes drier. Therefore, when caring for the sick and elderly people should use moisturizing soap and nourishing creams to prevent dryness of the skin and itching.

Accident prevention

In the elderly, the likelihood of accidents increases significantly, which is associated with a deterioration in the general physical condition of older people. In this case, the consequences of an accident in the form of fractures, dislocations, bruises, etc., again due to age, are transferred by older people much more difficultly. Therefore, in the care of sick and elderly people it is desirable to reduce the possibility of an accident to a minimum.

Tips and Advice for 2018

• ·         It is necessary to remove excess furniture from the room. And also not to change it without warning the elderly people;
• ·         The floor must be covered with a non-slip material, such as a carpet;
• ·         The bathroom must be equipped with handrails, a rubber mat.
• ·         If possible, allocate a separate room for the elderly person;
• ·         The accommodation of the elderly person must be bright, ventilated, the temperature in it should not fall below 18.0 ° C;
• ·         The bed must be at least 60 cm. To sit on it, the elderly person touches the floor with his feet;
• ·         It is undesirable to place a deep armchair in the room of an elderly person, since it will be difficult for him to rise independently from him.

As can be seen from the above, proper care for the elderly requires not only a sincere desire to help, but also special knowledge and a lot of free time. Unfortunately, not always at home, you can achieve quality and proper care for the elderly. Therefore, it is better to consider the option of living an elderly person in a comfortable private nursing home, in which all the necessary conditions for such a category of people are created.