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When your parents get much older and they start turning to you for help, you may be inclined to help them in every way you can. However, elderly people have a lot of special needs that may go beyond what you are willing and capable of providing. Here are some of those needs to consider when you are determining how to take care of an aging parent.
Arthritis and Dressing
Arthritis strikes almost everyone over the age of 70. It can effect many people even younger than that. As your parent ages, more and more of their joints are not going to flex or move quite so easily, and it will be quite the struggle to get dressed. Anything that has to be pulled over the head, buttoned, tied, hooked or zipped in the back, and require arms bending backward a bit to pull something on over the arms (e.g., a cardigan sweater) is going to be painful and difficult to do with arthritis. It will also require a lot more time to get dressed; not just the five minutes it normally takes to throw on some clothes. Plan at least twenty minutes for helping your elderly parent get dressed every day and undress at night for bed.
Alzheimer's/Dementia and Elopement
If your elderly parent has been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's or dementia, you have another big concern to consider. Most elderly people elope, wandering off in search of something they think they have lost, need to find, or places they need to return to. When this happens, they are often not aware of where they are going or the temperatures outside. Elopement risks have resulted in elderly people getting into life threatening situations.
If you are moving your parent into your home and they have either Alzheimer's or dementia, you will need someone to be at home with them at all times. As such, you may have to look at having elderly care nurses come to your home and prevent an elopement if you have to be at work or run errands. You will also need to figure out how to manage insomnia and elopement, since more Alzheimer's patients suffer from insomnia and elope late at night or early in the morning.
Incontinence and Personal Cares
Incontinence of bladder can result in poor hygiene and unpleasant odors. Most elderly people suffer some level of urinary incontinence because their pelvic floor muscles can no longer control the stopping and starting of urine. Some older people also suffer incontinence of the bowels as well. If you are not comfortable with keeping your elderly parent's personal private parts clean and odor-free, you will need to hire a nurse to come in and help with personal care on a daily basis.
Share28 December 2019
