Daily care tips for the elderly

Adjust your habits according to the physiological degradation rhythm of the elderly, and hide "care" in daily details. Don't forcefully change the old rules that the elderly have adhered to for decades, and don't make the elderly feel that they are a "burden to be taken care of."

This is the real feeling I gained after spending 3 years in a community nursing home. When I first entered the industry, I followed the standard list on the Internet and encountered many pitfalls. Later, after talking to rehabilitation specialists from tertiary A hospitals and masters who have been working as live-in caregivers for more than ten years, I discovered that many of the "correct nursing methods" that everyone defaults to do not work well for different elderly people.

Take the anti-skid thing that everyone cares about the most. Many family members asked if they had thick-soled, fully-covered anti-skid shoes when they came over. They said that the Internet said this is the safest. Aunt Zhang's child at our inn previously bought two pairs, but she fell twice after wearing them for less than a week - she had an old ankle injury, and the thick soles were heavy, making it difficult to lift her feet, and they easily got stuck in the cracks of the floor tiles. Later, we discussed with the rehabilitation therapist and changed her to cloth shoes with soft cloth soles, wide toe boxes, and anti-slip patches only on the soles and heels. After wearing them for more than half a year, she never fell again. There are actually two schools of thought in the industry regarding shoes for the elderly. One school believes that the soles are thick and hard, with good support, and are suitable for the elderly with severe joint degeneration and poor balance. The other school believes that the soft soles are lightweight and more suitable for most ordinary elderly people with reasonably agile legs and feet. There is essentially no right or wrong. When choosing, the right thing is to let the elderly wear them for ten meters. The shoes are not heavy, do not squeeze the feet, and have a solid feeling when stepping on the ground.

When it comes to walking, you have to carry crutches. Many people buy crutches for the elderly and just adjust them to waist height. This is actually wrong. In the past, Uncle Li's crutches were adjusted by children. His arms were sore after taking only two steps. Later, we lowered it so that when he held it, the elbow could bend about 15 degrees. He said he was not tired after walking for a long time. Nowadays, there are different measurement standards for the height of crutches. Some say to align it with the horizontal lines of the wrist, and some say to align it with the protruding position of the hip bone. In fact, there is no need to stick to the standard. The elderly can hold it comfortably and walk without raising their arms.

There is also the matter of wiping the elderly's body in winter. I encountered a family member who insisted on giving the elderly a full bath every day. As a result, the elderly had a cold and was hospitalized for a week. Don't think it's because the elderly have poor immunity. In fact, the elderly's sebaceous glands have degenerated and their skin is thinner and drier than that of children. In winter, there is no need to take a full bath every day. Just wipe the key parts once every two or three days: the back of the neck, creaking pits, groin, and crevices of the feet, which are easy to hide sweat. Use a warm towel at about 37 degrees to wipe it. After wiping, apply some corn talcum powder without fragrance immediately. It is more effective than body lotion that costs dozens of dollars and is less likely to cause rashes. Oh, by the way, don’t rub too hard when you rub. Elderly people’s skin is fragile, and if it is rubbed, it will recover slowly and be easily infected. Just rub it gently and clean it.

Cutting nails is also an easy job. Most of the old people's nails are as thick as small tiles. Ordinary nail clippers cannot cut them at all, and they are easy to split with hard cuts. I usually fill half a basin of 40-degree warm water first, let the old man soak his nails for 10 minutes to soften them, and then trim them bit by bit with a slanted pedicure knife. Don’t cut too far to the side, especially toenails. Cutting too close and too close to the flesh can easily lead to ingrown toenails. There was an old man who cut his nails and didn’t take it seriously. In the end, the infection was so severe that he needed surgery and drainage. He suffered from it.

There are also many people asking about feeding the elderly with dysphagia. There are indeed two mainstream views in the rehabilitation department. One group recommends raising the upper body 30 degrees to reduce the reflux of food and choking the trachea. The other group recommends raising the upper body 45 degrees to make it easier to mobilize the swallowing muscles. We usually try 30 degrees for the elderly first, feed two mouthfuls of rice cereal to see if there is choking, and maintain it. If there is no choking, raise it a little higher. There is no need to stick to the guideline number, the feeling of the elderly comes first. By the way, don't talk to the old man when feeding, and don't rush him. Just swallow one mouthful before feeding him the next. It's normal for a meal to take 40 minutes, so don't be too slow.

Oh, there is also a small detail of psychological care that people tend to overlook. Don't always tell the elderly, "Just let me do it." Let the elderly help you if you can, such as folding towels or picking vegetables. It doesn't matter if you do it slowly or not so well. In the past, Grandma Wang from our inn always cried when she first came here, saying that she could not do anything and was a waste. Later, every time we cleaned the table, we would deliberately ask her to help pass a rag, and asked her to help cut a piece of tape when packing the package. Within half a month, she had more smiles on her face.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there is no unified standard answer for caring for the elderly. All the tips are essentially "treat the elderly as a living person, not an object that needs to be cared for according to standard procedures." Ask him more about his feelings and try different methods. It is much more useful to follow the online list one by one.