What Can Your Senior Do for Better Respiratory Health?
Lung ailments can really create problems for your elderly family member. They can reduce her quality of life far more quickly than either of you expect. Following some of these tips can help, though.
She Should Have a Plan for Conserving Energy
Home Care Cascade, MI: Better Respiratory Health
One of the biggest things your senior can do for herself if she’s got problems breathing is to conserve her energy as much as possible. It takes far more energy than most people realize to do even normal household activities. If your senior has a plan to delegate some tasks to you or to home care providers, she’s able to use that energy to do things that she wants and needs to do. Tasks like eating require a lot of energy and if your senior has the energy to fuel her body because someone else cleaned her house, that is incredibly helpful.
She Needs to Fuel Her Body Properly
People with lung illnesses, particularly COPD, find that they have a difficult time keeping weight on. This happens because the simple act of breathing requires so much more energy for her. If she’s eating foods with empty calories, this doesn’t help. Eating foods that are rich in nutrients helps your senior’s body to have what it needs to keep her going. This means avoiding processed foods as much as possible and choosing foods that are rich in the vitamins, minerals, protein, and carbohydrates that she needs the most.
She Needs to Take Her Medications
If your elderly family member has had difficulty sticking with a medication regimen in the past, you might want to help her to devise a plan to remember any mediations that she takes for lung issues. Inhalers and oral medications can absolutely make your elderly family member’s life and breathing easier, but she needs to take them exactly the way that her doctor prescribed them. Medication reminders, both electronic and in the form of notes in prominent spots, can help a lot.
Oxygen Supplementation Isn’t a Bad Thing
Supplemental oxygen can be a mental hurdle for some people who need it. Your elderly family member might try to avoid using oxygen as a way to prove to herself that she’s still able to do certain things. The problem is that avoiding the oxygen doesn’t do anything good for her. If your senior’s doctor has determined that she’ll benefit from oxygen, she will likely experience tremendous relief from having that available. There’s nothing bad or wrong about having and using oxygen therapy.
Make sure that you mention any new symptoms to your senior’s doctor as those could indicate changes in her lung health.
If you or someone you know needs help with Home Care in Cascade, MI, contact Gauthier Family Home Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services in our community. Call us at (616) 258-2300 for more information.
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