Daily care education content for the elderly includes

The content of daily care education for the elderly includes four core modules: basic health maintenance, accident risk prevention, maintenance of physical and cognitive functions, and psychological and emotional adjustment. All contents are practical guidelines summarized by front-line medical and nursing care practitioners based on clinical experience and the actual needs of the elderly. There are no vague requirements that are divorced from reality.

I have been working in community elderly care for almost 8 years, and I have seen too many family members follow the standardized strategies on the Internet, which in turn made the elderly suffer. Take the most basic medication management as an example. Last week I saw Aunt Zhang mixing her own antihypertensive medicine and her grandson’s cold medicine in a medicine box. She took the wrong amount and felt dizzy and sent her to the emergency room. Many family members asked afterwards how to manage the old man’s medicine. In fact, there have been two different practical ideas here: one group advocates that elderly people with cognitive decline should completely let their family members take care of their medicines, and distribute them into their hands before each meal; the other group believes that as long as the elderly people's cognition is normal, they should be allowed to manage their own commonly used medicines, and at most they can help put them into medicine-separated boxes in advance, which can not only exercise memory, but also give the elderly a sense of autonomy. There is no absolute right or wrong between the two approaches. The core is to adjust according to the cognitive status of the elderly. There has never been a unified standard.

As easy to get into trouble as medication is daily diet, which is something we talk about in detail every time we preach. There was an old man who couldn't bear to throw away the leftovers. He heated up the food three times and ended up suffering from acute gastroenteritis and was hospitalized for a week. Only then did his children realize that they couldn't be careless about eating. Many family members always think that the elderly who have bad teeth should drink plain porridge and eat overcooked vegetables. In fact, the new view of the nutrition department is that as long as the elderly can chew normally, try to let them eat food close to normal hardness. This can not only exercise their bite ability, but also reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia caused by food being aspirated into the lungs. As an aside, we have encountered a family member who strictly followed the nutritional menu to cook for the elderly. As a result, the elderly couldn't get used to it and secretly hid peach cakes and candies in the closet. However, the blood sugar fluctuations were even greater than before. It is really better to make small adjustments to the elderly's eating habits, which is much more reliable than making forced changes.

After talking about the daily meals and medicines, the most frightening thing for family members is the risk of accidents. Downstairs, Uncle Li got up in the middle of the night last month because he felt the lights were on. He went to the bathroom in the dark and broke his hip bone. He had to lie down for three months before he could get off the floor. His children wrapped all the table corners in the house with anti-collision strips and installed handrails all over the bathroom. They even prevented the old man from going downstairs to walk alone. There are actually different nursing ideas here: one group advocates adequate aging-friendly modifications to reduce all risks as much as possible; the other group believes that there is no need for excessive protection. The more inactive the elderly are, the faster their muscle strength will degrade, making them more likely to fall. We usually advise family members to choose a middle value. Armrests and non-slip mats should be installed as they should. Freedom should still be given for daily walks and grocery shopping. It is enough to wear an anti-fall airbag belt when going out. There is no need to "enclose" the elderly at home.

Many people think that nursing is about taking care of the body. In fact, mental and emotional care is no less important than physical care. There used to be an Aunt Wang who had nothing to do at home after she retired. She always felt that she was a burden to the family and was getting angry with her children every day. Later, we taught her children and made her responsible for picking up her grandson from school every day. Occasionally, we asked her to cook her famous braised pork for the whole family. Within half a month, the old woman's condition was much better, and she told everyone she could help the family. There are two different directions regarding psychological adjustment: some schools advocate that the elderly should go to senior universities and community activity centers to make new friends and develop more hobbies; others advocate that the elderly should be more involved in family affairs and find their own value. The specific choice depends on the personality of the elderly. If he likes liveliness, go to social activities. If he likes to worry about the family, let him take care of more things. It is much better than forcing the elderly to participate in activities that he does not want to go to.

In fact, these missionary contents are never strict rules and regulations. They are all based on the experience gained from the real situations of each elderly person over the years. You don’t need to follow the guide exactly. What is suitable for your elderly family is the most useful.