What are some common sense for daily care of the elderly?

I have been working as a door-to-door elderly care provider in the community for six years. I have seen too many families follow the "standard care list" on the Internet, which has caused problems for the elderly. When it comes to practical common sense, the first and core rule is not to be superstitious about universal standards. Put the comfort and actual physical condition of the elderly first, which is more important than anything else.

I just met a family last month, and my daughter works in a foreign company. I searched a lot of popular science and said that the elderly should exercise more to lower blood lipids. They forced the 70-year-old father with degenerative knee joint disease to take 10,000 steps a day. Within half a month, the old man's knees were so painful that he could not get out of bed due to fluid accumulation. In fact, for the elderly with old joint injuries and weak cardiopulmonary function, walking slowly two or three times a day for ten minutes each time, and finding a place to sit when tired, is much healthier than trying to count the steps.

It’s easy to go to extremes when it comes to exercise, and there are a lot of misunderstandings about eating and drinking. Many people always say that the elderly should eat light food, so they cook white porridge with stir-fried vegetables every day, and dare not add half a spoonful more salt. Last year, there was a 74-year-old man in our area who ate a bland liquid diet for three months. In the end, he fainted at home and was sent to the emergency room due to hyponatremia. In fact, the elderly man's sense of taste has deteriorated greatly. Appetite is also prone to nutritional deficiencies. As long as you do not have severe high blood pressure or kidney disease, the daily salt amount is 1/3 less than that of young people. You must ensure that you eat one egg, one or two lean meats, or fish and shrimp every day. Don’t blindly go vegetarian. If you lose muscles too quickly, the risk of falling and fractures can increase three to four times.

When buying things for the elderly, don’t just look at the label “for the elderly.” For example, many people buy non-slip shoes and only choose thick soles. In fact, thick-soled shoes can easily cause the elderly to lose their center of gravity and fall. Choose shoes with deep soles, heels no more than 2 cm, and loose toes that do not squeeze the feet. It is best to let the elderly wear new shoes at home for two or three days to get used to them. Don’t wear them for a walk just after receiving them. And when it comes to bathing, many family members are afraid that the elderly will freeze, so they adjust the bathroom temperature to extremely high, and urge them to take a longer bath. In fact, if the confined space is stuffy for a long time, the elderly's blood vessels are fragile and they will easily get dizzy. The water temperature should be controlled within 40 degrees, and a bath of about 10 minutes is enough. If possible, install handrails and bathing stools, which cost less than a few hundred yuan and can avoid 80% of the risk of falls in the bath. In our community, three accidents involving elderly people with fractures at home last year were all caused by slips and falls while taking a bath.

There is still a lot of controversy over whether elderly people with cognitive decline should wear anti-lost equipment. Some people think that wearing this is like labeling the elderly with "dementia", which hurts their self-esteem and makes the elderly prone to resistance. Others think that if they get lost, they can quickly locate them, which saves a lot of trouble. Our usual advice to family members is to choose a smart watch that looks similar to an ordinary smart watch. Tell the elderly in advance that it is used to measure heart rate and step count. Most elderly people can accept it. There is no need to bluntly say "I put it on you because I am afraid you will get lost", which may easily arouse resistance.

Speaking of which, many people tend to ignore it. Spending more time with the elderly chatting about useless household chores is more effective than buying expensive health care products. There used to be an 80-year-old grandma who always complained of headaches and general discomfort. She took her children to several hospitals to check for any organic problems. Later, her granddaughter came over two days a week to accompany her to the vegetable market and dance in the square for half an hour. Within two months, the old woman said that most of her headaches were inexplicably better. In fact, many old people said that their bodies ached, and they felt a little lonely.