What is daily care for the elderly?

Essentially, it is a full-scenario daily care that focuses on the physical and psychological needs of the elderly. It is far from as simple as feeding, bathing, and cleaning in the common perception of the public.

There are actually different opinions on the core standards of care in the elderly care industry. One group insists on "physiological priority" and believes that as long as the elderly are well fed, clothed, and free from illness and disaster, the standards are met. The other group advocates the concept of "humanistic care". Even for the elderly who are disabled and mentally ill, their sense of dignity and emotional needs must be ranked first. There is no absolute right or wrong between the two ideas. Just adapt to the actual situation of the elderly.

In the past few years when I worked at a street nursing service station, I met too many families who were in trouble. Not long ago, there was a 76-year-old Grandma Li, who had diabetes and was in the middle stage of Alzheimer's disease. At first, the caregivers hired by her children only focused on giving medicines on time and cleaning. As a result, grandma always secretly threw the medicines into the flower pots, most of them. Ye still tried to turn on the gas valve, which frightened the whole family. Later, they found an experienced caregiver. After chatting several times, they found out that grandma was a pastry chef in the workplace canteen when she was young. He spent half an hour every morning kneading the steamed buns with her and then handed her the medicine. Grandma ate it without saying a word, and she never had any trouble again.

In fact, in actual daily life, the focus of care for the elderly with different physical conditions is very different. For a young elderly man with a strong body, the so-called care does not even require the term "care". It may mean that his children spend half a day every week to help him clear the junk software on his mobile phone, accompany him to the community hospital to measure his blood pressure and blood sugar, sit down and listen to him talk about the parents' shortcomings of his old colleagues for half an hour, and a few more reminders not to buy the "miracle medicine" in the live broadcast room are enough. If you are a semi-disabled elderly person, you need to pay attention to more details. Don’t always urge him to eat and drink. As he gets older, his swallowing function deteriorates, and he will easily choke when drinking plain water. Often choking in the lungs can easily lead to aspiration pneumonia. If you really can’t drink it, add some edible thickeners, and stew the dishes softer. Elderly people who have been bedridden for a long time should eat every two Help me turn over when I am young, otherwise pressure ulcers will easily develop on the waist and hips, which will be particularly painful when they develop. Remember to close the door and draw a curtain when changing diapers and wiping the body. Don’t think it doesn’t matter if the elderly are confused. Many semi-disabled elderly people know very well that hurting their self-esteem and getting angry will be worse for their health.

There is another topic that is discussed by many people now, which is whether to "over-protect" the living environment of the elderly. Many children are afraid that the elderly will fall and bump into them, so they wrap up all the angular furniture in the house, even hide the kitchen knives and fruit knives. The elderly have to call someone if they want to cut an apple, but they feel that they are a useless burden. I have met an 82-year-old man before. When he was young, he loved to carve seals. His son was afraid that he would scratch him with a knife, so he put away all the seal-carving knives. The old man did not say a word to his son for a whole week. Later, we discussed with his family members that every time the old man carved a seal, someone would be at home to watch and everything would be returned to the old man. The old man would take people to look at the seal he had carved on the same day, and he was as happy as a child.

I have been working in this field for almost 6 years, but I feel that there is no unified standard answer for the daily care of the elderly, and I cannot follow the online list one by one. To put it bluntly, just treat the elderly as ordinary people like you and me. They are afraid of pain, have a good face, and have small hobbies that they have been thinking about for their whole life. If you follow this idea in taking care of them, you will never make a big mistake.