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| Improve night care for your elderly loved one. |
What are some things you can do to improve night care for your elderly loved ones? Because most accidents occur when an elderly person leaves their bed, the first step is to help them stay in bed. The second is to make their environment safer for night time movement. And the third is to provide them with a way to get help should the worst happen. Let’s take a closer look:
Keep the senior in bed:
The best thing you can do to keep seniors safe at night is to keep them in bed. This is accomplished by eliminating the need to get up. The top reasons seniors leave their beds at night are to use the bathroom and to get a drink.
Providing senior loved ones with nighttime bathroom assistance such as absorbent products, bed pads, bed pans, and help them to the bathroom just before bed. Keep a drink near the bed, and consider buying bedside organizers to hold the items they may need during the night. This can include pain medication, the remote, a good book and reading light, or other things to keep them occupied in bed if they can’t sleep. Remind them to remain in their beds whenever possible.
Make it safer and easier to get out of bed and navigate at night:
Although the goal should be to keep seniors in their beds at night, there will be times when the senior wants to get up. This means that you should do whatever you can to make it safe to get out of bed and navigate at night.
Getting in and out of bed- The first obstacle to consider is getting in and out of bed. This can be made safer by investing in bedrails. They not only provide sleep safety, but provide a stable form of support for seniors to hold on to as they get in and out of bed.
Moving through the home- The next obstacle is making it safe to move through the home. Start by clearing a path. Make sure there are clear routes for getting from one place to another without tripping hazards such as throw rugs, or small pieces of furniture. Next, illuminate these paths with motion sensor lights, or plug in lights that can make walkways and hallways visible during the night. Also consider independent living aids such as walkers and canes to help elderly move about at night. Look further to see some great options.
Help when the worst happens.
At this point you should have done everything possible to keep them in bed, and make it safe when they aren’t in bed, but accidents, falls, and emergency situations still happen. That means the next step is to make sure they can get help if help is needed at night. A home monitoring system is a great option. These emergency response systems often include a pendant or some kind of emergency call button that can be worn by the senior and used to summon help should they fall or get hurt in some way. This will give you and them peace of mind to insure that should they fall at night, they won’t be laying injured on the floor for hours before help arrives.
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| Call us. We're here to help. |
About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wisc. Visithttp://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353.
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