If you provide support and care for an elderly loved one who is aging in place, one area your loved one may need extra support in is managing their medical conditions. Many elderly adults have multiple health conditions that they must manage to live well and enjoy their independence. Health conditions can be completely unrelated, or more commonly, one health condition creates multiple medical conditions as it progresses.
Common Health Conditions for the Elderly
Common chronic health conditions that can play a part in how well your loved one feels and how easily she can manage her day-to-day living include diseases like cancer, arthritis, and heart issues. It can also include other conditions that may create multiple health concerns, such as obesity, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease.
Many medical conditions require different medications, multiple trained specialists, and sometimes even conflicting recommendations for healthy living. As a supportive caregiver for your elderly loved one, helping her sort through all of the advice and guidance to make the best choices for her overall health can feel overwhelming.
Four Tips for Managing Multiple Medical Conditions
Make sure everyone is talking to each other. If your loved one has multiple doctors or specialists she needs to see, plus medications she needs to pick up from a pharmacy, plus a special diet she must adhere to, make sure every support person can connect to update each other about changes. If one doctor needs to make a medication adjustment, all of the others need to understand these changes as well, whether or not they affect how they are treating your loved one.
Use technology as much as possible to stay on top of treatments and changes. It’s a lot for anyone to remember all of the details, so using medical portals, tracking sheets, and other forms of technology to help your loved one keep track of her progress and changes throughout the years will help her be able to stay on top of her current care.
Ask for tips to simplify medications or treatments. If one doctor wants a visit on Tuesdays, another on Wednesdays, and then there’s physical therapy on Thursdays, it can become overwhelming and feel like all your loved one does (and you as her caregiver) is run from one appointment to another. See if you can group appointments so that your loved one has fewer trips back and forth. If she is taking multiple medications, talk to her pharmacist about the easiest way for her to stay on top of taking them without it being a constant interruption.
Make lifestyle changes that support her overall health. All of your loved one’s doctors, specialists, etc., can only do so much; she also may need to take control of some of her lifestyle habits. For example, if she smokes, she is the only one who can stop that habit and improve her health in that area. If you can offer support for those lifestyle changes by offering assistance or providing healthy alternatives, it can go a long way to helping your loved one take control of the areas of her health that she has control over.
Having multiple medical conditions doesn’t need to slow your loved one down so long as they are managed well.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Medical Conditions Services in Willard, OH, please contact the caring staff at Central Star Home Health today. Call 419-756-9449
Central Star Home Health is a Trusted Home Care Agency in Ohio, including Ashland, Bellville, Bucyrus, Crestline, Galion, Lexington, Mansfield, Marion, Mt. Vernon, Ontario, Shelby, and Willard.
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