When you have a bedridden senior at home, it is entirely possible that they face a higher risk of illness, disease and infection, because their body is no longer strong enough to fight these conditions off. As a result, they have to rely far more on others for care and support.
In many cases, an older person becomes confined to bed, which makes it harder to look after their day-to-day needs. You also have to watch out for other important factors, such as their physical and mental health, while caring for them at home.
So here are 9 practical tips that may help you care for a bedridden senior at home
1. Take care of their basic hygiene
Bedridden seniors often cannot get up to carry out their own hygiene routines, such as brushing their teeth or bathing. That makes it extremely important for you to make it easier for them to maintain proper basic hygiene.
You can move a bedridden senior to a shower chair to help them bathe. You should also trim their fingernails and toenails regularly to avoid scratches. For dental care, you can look after them right at the bed by bringing a toothbrush, a bowl of water and a bowl to spit into, then helping them brush their teeth. These basic hygiene routines will keep them clean, healthy and happy.
2. Watch out for pressure sores
Caring for an older person, especially one who is bedridden, means checking regularly for pressure sores. These sores appear often when a senior lies in the same position for long periods, on the back of the head, the shoulders, the elbows, the tailbone and even the heels. To avoid them, you can use an electric anti-pressure-sore air mattress that keeps the air cells moving at all times, or a foam mattress if the patient can still shift position on their own. Keeping their skin moisturised at all times is also a very effective way to reduce the chance of pressure sores developing.
3. Good, healthy nutrition
Eating well is how you prevent all kinds of health problems, so you need to choose balanced, healthy and nutritious meals for them. You can calculate the calories and the nutrients an older person needs. This helps you manage their eating habits and gives you a record to share whenever their doctor asks. And if you are unsure how to plan their meals, you can ask for advice from a doctor or a dietitian .
4. Look after the space around them
Caring for a bedridden senior goes beyond hygiene and nutrition. When an older person has no choice but to stay in bed, the environment around them can have a huge impact on their emotional wellbeing. You should therefore create a healthy, comfortable setting. You can do this by keeping the room well lit and leaving space for fresh air and natural sunlight, and by placing frequently used items on a table beside the bed so they are easy to reach.
5. Annual health check-ups
Another important part of caring for a bedridden senior is a strict yearly health check, which reduces the chance of discovering a serious illness only when it is too late to treat. Diseases and illnesses often develop silently inside the human body. On top of that, age brings a higher risk of serious conditions such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer, all of which should be caught early and managed under a doctor’s care.
6. Getting out for fresh air
One benefit of spending time outdoors is that it is a great way to relieve stress. Nature has a calming effect on older people. You can take them out in a wheelchair , or if the bedridden senior’s room is on the second or third floor, you might install an elderly lift to make moving them around much easier. A stroll for fresh air around the neighbourhood is another good routine that gets an older person out of bed and gives them a change of scenery, which is good for their overall mental health.
7. Manage their weight
Keeping weight within a normal range is an important part of staying healthy in later life. A higher body mass index (BMI) in older people can raise the chance of health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes. Losing weight or keeping it within a normal range can help reduce these risks.
8. Keep checking on their mental health
Mental health matters just as much as physical health for older people, and you should always keep an eye on the senior in your home. Isolation and loneliness from being alone at home can lead to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. There are many ways to support good mental health in an older person, for example making sure they get enough rest and helping them exercise.
9. Stretch to keep the body flexible
A bedridden senior is limited in the daily activities they can do. Going without using the muscles for a long time can lead to muscle pain and complications. Several forms of exercise can help. Try helping them do gentle stretches on the bed or in a chair every day to reduce the various risks that can arise.
Caring for a bedridden senior or a bedridden patient comes with great responsibility, because even moving the body is difficult. Cibes Lift is rooting for everyone looking after a father, a mother or a grandparent, and Cibes Lift wants to be part of what helps these seniors feel good and move around the house as freely as they always did, with a home lift or an elderly lift.
