What are the daily care skills for the elderly?

The core of the most practical daily care skills for the elderly is actually to find a balance between "helping the elderly avoid risks" and "preserving their ability to live autonomously", rather than completely doing everything for them. On the contrary, it will cause the elderly's physical functions and sense of self-worth to decline rapidly. This is the most common pitfall I have seen in my 8 years of home care for the elderly.

Don’t believe it. I worked for Aunt Zhang a while ago. She was 72 years old and had a cerebral infarction. Her left limb was weak. She had just taken leave to take care of her children for half a month. She was afraid that she would fall down due to fatigue. She would bring food and drink to the pillow and even help her sit up. As a result, Aunt Zhang became more and more wilted and was too lazy to talk. Later we adjusted the nursing method. She adjusted the movable dining table to a height that is just right next to her bed, and put a non-slip mat on her left hand side to place assistive devices, so that she can eat with her movable right hand, and use a gravity cup with a straw to drink water, so that she can drink it without lifting it. After only two weeks, she is willing to move to the balcony to bask in the sun with the help of a walker, and even her speech is much brighter.

When it comes to eating, many people think that the softer and rotten the food for the elderly, the better. This is actually quite controversial. If the elderly have severe swallowing disorders, they must make the food into a homogenate or soft food to avoid choking and coughing. However, for the elderly with bad teeth and no swallowing problems, eating soft and rotten food for a long time will cause the chewing function to deteriorate faster. Insufficient dietary fiber intake may also make constipation more likely. There used to be an old man with filial children who cooked porridge and cooked vegetable soup every day. He lost four kilograms in three months of eating. Later we suggested cutting lean meat and carrots into fine pieces and simmering them with grains to make a slightly soft meal. Adding a steamed soft apple with the skin to each meal, which can be chewed easily and strengthened the bite. Within two months, the old man gained back three kilograms of weight and his bowel movements became more regular.

In addition to eating, the most common thing in daily life that makes the elderly feel uncomfortable is taking a bath. Many families are either afraid that the elderly will slip and refuse to let them wash themselves, or they will stand nearby and watch the whole process. In fact, most elderly people are particularly concerned about privacy. They can lay out the non-slip mats in the bathroom in advance, wipe the handrails clean and free of water stains, adjust the water temperature to about 38 degrees and let it sit for a few minutes to warm the entire bathroom without freezing, and put a change of clothes in it. On the shelf within arm's reach of the bathroom door, tell the old man, "I'll be watching TV in the living room. Just call me if you need anything." This not only gives him enough space, but also allows him to rush over as soon as possible if something goes wrong. Many old people I've met said that washing like this is much more comfortable than having their children staring at them, and they won't feel like a burden.

In fact, compared with physical care, what many families tend to neglect most is emotional care. Just like many people have a headache because the elderly like to save old things. Some people think that they have to throw them all away to make the house clean. Others think that they can just follow the elderly and not touch anything. In fact, there is a compromise. You can deal with those useless waste paper and plastic bottles. You can discuss selling it with him, and the money from the sale will go directly to the old man as pocket money. For old clothes that have been stored for a long time, you can tell him, "How about we donate them to the children in the mountainous areas, they are short of thick clothes in winter?" There is also the controversy over whether to use smartphones for the elderly. If the elderly are conscious and have good learning abilities, they can be taught to watch short videos and make video calls. The 74-year-old Uncle Li downstairs in my house used to use smartphones for the elderly to stay at home in a daze all day long. Later, his granddaughter taught him to watch short videos. , now I practice Baduanjin every day following the video, and I have met several old friends from the same community to walk with, and my energy is much better than before. Of course, if you have Alzheimer's disease and are easy to forget things, it is safer to use a mobile phone for the elderly with simple functions, and you can also hang a positioning sign to avoid getting lost.

In fact, after all, there is no one-size-fits-all nursing technique. It is all about observing more and asking more questions, and treating the elderly as adults with independent consciousness, rather than children who need to be fully supervised. All fancy techniques are more effective than any other.