Elderly Care Tips: Understanding what is most likely to contribute to dehydration allows you and your elderly family member to ensure that you’re both making the best choices for her situation.
Some causes are more likely to apply to your senior, but it’s also important to consider whether she’s willing to make changes to what and when she drinks more water. Follow the following elderly care tips to recognize any dehydration symptoms.
Complicated Health Conditions
Underlying health issues, especially ones that are chronic and complicated, may pose a problem for your senior in terms of staying hydrated. Diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease are just a few of the complex health conditions that might make dehydration more of an issue for your senior. Talk with her doctor about how you can help your senior to work around those existing health issues to avoid developing bigger problems.
Medication Side Effects
The flip side of health issues is that the medications that help to control those health issues might also contribute to dehydration. The most common culprits are medications for high blood pressure, especially those which have a diuretic effect. Talk with your senior’s doctor about medication side effects and which ones are most likely to give your senior trouble with hydrating properly.
Cognitive Changes
When your elderly family member starts to experience cognitive changes, that impacts the rest of her life and her health. The cognitive changes themselves don’t create dehydration, but they do make your senior less likely to drink when she should or to recognize thirst when it happens. It’s more important than ever to have a routine for keeping your senior hydrated because that’s going to give you the best results.
High Temperatures and Humidity
Even if your elderly family member has no other health issues whatsoever, high temperatures and high humidity levels are going to make it more difficult for her to stay hydrated. It’s important to pay close attention to dehydration symptoms, especially if your senior is spending time outside during warmer weather. Keep track of how much fluid she’s taking in so that you can adjust those amounts if necessary.
Elderly Care Tips: Your senior may not be worried about dehydrating, but the reality is that it can sneak up on your senior for a variety of reasons. Having elderly care providers there with your senior can be tremendously helpful in avoiding problems around hydration. They can help to remind your senior to drink and can ensure that she’s not overdoing it, which can also lead to dehydration.
