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| Seniors and their families need to know how to make the right decisions about assisted living needs |
Proper diet is key to health and recovery
Often the tour of a nursing home may bring an invitation for a meal, but it's important to look carefully at food and menu planning. That's because a facility can tout a good, balanced, and nutritional food plan; but Granny ends up with something less than nutritious.
An example was an elderly woman in a facility where hamburger sandwiches and salad with bread crumbs sprinkled on the top was the fare of the day. The woman had a swallowing problem, a definite concern for a proper digestion.
Exercise means the right type to maintain strength and energy
That work out room with a few exercise machines is insufficient for seniors and those with debilitating conditions. In maintaining strength and energy, the exercise must involve several types to maintain bones and to help prevent heart attack and stroke.
For example, recent research has found that the faster a person is able to move or walk, the longer the individual may live. This doesn't mean going for the "burn" as Jane Fonda once declared, but encouraging the speed that is optimum but still within the comfort zone and capability of an individual. This means exercise with repetitions and also weight bearing exercise as well. An individual plan for the person with physical limitations is also important.
Fresh air and sunshine have emotional and physical health benefits
Walk down the hall of some assisted living facilities and nursing homes, and you will see folks lying on hospital beds, propped up for food and sedentary activities, but many seldom taken out for fresh air and sunshine. Windows are closed, and the only light is that bulb in the center of the room.
Fresh air and sunshine provide Vitamin D for bones, and it also helps improve mood. To the extent an individual is able to be moved in some fashion, by wheelchair or walker, it's important to provide a time and space for this important health benefit.
Stimulation of mind and body are critical for maintaining mood and cognitive skills
During a visit I made to a facility to evaluate the care of an elderly woman I was invited to a class where I was told craft activities would be provided. The activity consisted of cutting around pictures of flowers and then pasting these on pieces of paper. No creative activity followed this nor did the instructor provide an overview of the type of flowers, gardening or any theme that might be of interest to the group. Instead it was simply the activity of cutting and pasting, with the participants complaining of boredom and fatigue. Many said, "Is this all we're going to do?"
Another common recreation is to put folks in front of television sets where there sit all day. I have listened to residents complain that often that's the only activity offered. For some individuals this may be all they can do, however it is important to provide as much creative involvement in activities as possible in order to facilitate and maintain cognitive skills that experts declare important.
Ongoing monitoring of physical status is critical to avoid serious injury or death
On assessing the care of an injured adult, I observed several blisters on the heel and inner thigh of the individual. Those blisters had apparently been present for days. The man in the bed was diabetic, so the problem of infection was of particular concern.
Family members and friends should ask about physical monitoring, who does it and how often. It's also important to personally check the status as well, just to insure the protection an individual needs. Many of the worst health problems occur because of neglect. With under-staffing a problem in many facilities, making sure that physical monitoring takes place may be critical in saving a life. Bed sores are common with those who are sedentary.
Whether you are the one planning for assisted living, helping others decide or trying to find the right place for a loved one who needs support for activities of daily living, it's important to make the right choices, for it becomes more difficult once a decision is made to later on have to make changes. And the right choice will mean that not only that loved one will be as comfortable and happy as possible when the time comes to make that difficult move.
