What are the key points of daily care for the elderly?

Having worked in community home-based elderly care for 6 years, I can directly say that everyone should not be framed by various "standard care lists" on the Internet. The core point is never to copy the process, but to put the habits and wishes of the elderly first. Don't always forcefully correct their lifelong lifestyle with the mentality of "I am doing it for your own good."

A while ago, the 78-year-old Aunt Zhang who was taking care of her always drank half a cup of cold water before brushing her teeth when she got up in the morning. Her children always said that the coolness hurt her stomach, so she forced her to switch to 40-degree warm water. As a result, the old woman secretly hid in the bathroom to drink tap water, and she developed acute gastroenteritis. Later, we followed her habit and left the cold water on her bedside the night before.

There is now a lot of controversy about the renovation of the home environment. One group advocates making the whole family a "safe house" with no edges and full anti-skid. The other group believes that over-protection will cause the elderly to feel frustrated that "I have lost the ability to take care of myself." Instead, they will not dare to move, and their muscle strength will deteriorate faster. This is the case with Grandpa Wang, who I met before. He fell once before, and his son removed the coffee table and low cabinets from the living room, and covered the floor with 3 cm thick non-slip cushions. As a result, the old man was afraid of falling and did not dare to take a step. He stayed on the sofa every day. After three months, he no longer had the energy to go downstairs to buy groceries. Later, we discussed with his family that we would lay anti-slip mats only in places where he often gets up, such as the bedside and bathroom, and keep the original floors in the rest of the place. We would encourage him to go to the balcony to water the flowers and go to the door to get express delivery. After more than a month, he was able to walk downstairs with crutches.

Many people always focus their care on things like feeding, wiping themselves, and taking medicine, but ignore the dignity of the elderly. For example, Uncle Li, who has diabetes, has always loved sweet Yuanxiao. His children would not let him touch it before, so he secretly bought Yuanxiao and hid it under his pillow. After eating six Yuanxiao at one time, his blood sugar spiked to 12. Later, we discussed with his family and cooked two small Yuanxiao for him as a snack every Saturday afternoon. He would eat half a piece of whole wheat cracker as a cushion before eating, and test his blood sugar once after eating. After more than half a year, his blood sugar has been stable within the normal range, and he no longer secretly hides snacks. When distributing medicine to an elderly person, don't just put the medicine into his hand and stare at it. Buy a large-sized medicine-distributing box, divide the medicine every day and put it on the table where he can easily reach it. If he remembers to take it, he will feel that "I can still control myself", and his emotional state will be much better.

After all, caring for the elderly has never been a standardized assembly line job. Each elderly person has different living habits, personality and temperament. It is much more effective to make him comfortable and decent than to forcefully modify the care according to the so-called "health standards".