Briefing on geriatric disease prevention publicity activities

The 2024 Geriatric Disease Prevention Awareness Week event in Gonghe Road Community, Wangjiang Road Subdistrict, officially ended on June 18, covering a total of 327 elderly residents over 60 years old in the jurisdiction, and 219 people completed free on-site blood pressure, blood sugar, and bone density screenings. It has corrected the misconceptions held by nearly 70% of the elderly people surveyed that "health products can replace prescription drugs" and "the more exercise you do, the healthier you are." For the 32 elderly people screened with abnormal blood pressure and blood sugar, an exclusive follow-up tracking service was launched simultaneously on June 19.

The reason for this event sounds very real. Last month, the Community Health Service Center compiled the first quarter follow-up data on chronic diseases of the elderly and found that 62% of patients with hypertension and diabetes in the jurisdiction had the experience of stopping taking prescription drugs and switching to Internet celebrity health products. There were also four elderly people who caused effusion in their knee joints due to excessive square dancing. Instead, they classified the problem as "not enough exercise" and simply danced more until they were in pain and couldn't walk before seeking medical treatment.

What impressed me the most at the event was the 70-year-old Aunt Zhang Guilan. She took the "Natto Thrombolytic Capsules" she had just bought for 3,680 yuan and went to see Dr. Li from the Department of Western Medicine. Dr. Li flipped through the product ingredient list for a long time and told her that this was an ordinary product. Dietary fiber supplements don’t even have the blue hat logo of health products. Aunt Zhang’s face turned pale at the time. She said that the girl selling the product told her that taking this can help her stop antihypertensive medicine. She has stopped for almost half a month, and her systolic blood pressure measured that day has reached 158. Don't think this is an exception. The "problematic health care products" collected from the elderly's homes that day were filled with two storage boxes.

Interestingly, we deliberately did not invite doctors from a single system to give lectures this time, because we were afraid of instilling the so-called "universal standard answers to health care" to the elderly - after all, there is no one-size-fits-all plan for the prevention of geriatric diseases. For example, in response to the most frequently asked question "Should the elderly eat a vegetarian diet?", Dr. Li of Western Medicine recommends that elderly people with high blood lipids and high uric acid should indeed control their intake of red meat and animal offal, but they must not completely cut off animal protein. Otherwise, muscle mass will be lost too quickly, which will easily induce sarcopenia, which will increase the risk of falls and fractures. ； Dr. Wang, the attending doctor of traditional Chinese medicine at the clinic, added from the perspective of physical syndrome differentiation that if the elderly with yang deficiency usually have cold hands and feet and have diarrhea when eating something cold, there is no need to force themselves to drink chrysanthemum tea and eat cold vegetables every day. Adding more ginger and pepper to the meals to warm them is much more effective than eating a lot of multivitamins. Given the two explanations, the elderly can choose according to their own physical conditions, which will make them remember better than forcing them to have "what they must do" rules.

This time we did not follow the old routine of "reading PPT on stage and handing out leaflets in the audience". We set up several experience areas specifically. For example, in the anti-fall experience area, the elderly wear glasses that simulate presbyopia and cataracts and walk through a simulated passage paved with simulated pebbles and sliding mats. Many elderly people who usually say that they have "very nimble legs and feet" stagger after taking only two steps, and immediately say that they should replace the floor mat at the bathroom door with non-slip ones when they return home. This is much more effective than saying "prevent falls" ten times. There is also a medication safety area, where commonly used antihypertensive and hypoglycemic drugs are placed together with similar health products and vitamins, allowing the elderly to divide them by themselves. Many people realize after making mistakes that when taking medicines, you must look at the medicine box and not take them blindly based on color or size.

Of course, there were many omissions in this event. For example, in the early stage of the survey, the statistics were not in place. There were 12 disabled elderly households in the area who lived alone and did not come to the site because of inconveniences. There were also 8 elderly people with severely degraded hearing. The on-site explanations were basically not understood clearly. We realized later when we were sorting out the sign-in list that just setting up a stall in the community square was not enough. Many elderly people who needed services most could not come at all.

We have now arranged the schedule for follow-up visits. Next week we will go to her mother-in-law Wang Xiuqing, who lives on the 6th floor without an elevator, to measure her blood sugar. At the same time, we will post a large-print medication guide on the refrigerator door for her. In fact, the prevention of geriatric diseases is not something that can be solved with just one publicity campaign. We have to slowly go to the homes of the elderly and get into their daily habits to really make a difference.