Many elderly adults struggle with mobility, balance, and other issues that make it difficult for them to bathe independently. This can be particularly true for an aging adult who is living with Parkinson’s disease. The symptoms and challenges of Parkinson’s disease often include tremors, loss of balance, dizziness, and other difficulties that can make bathing independently difficult or even impossible for your senior. You can help your aging loved one to stay safer while bathing and to maintain as much independence as possible by making simple changes to their bathing routine. This not only helps to reduce the risk of falls and other injuries, but supports better mental and emotional health and quality of life.

Use these bathing tips to support safety and independence for an elderly adult living with Parkinson’s disease:

• Decrease the temperature setting on your parents hot water heater to less than 120 degrees. This dramatically reduces the risk of your parent suffering a severe burn.
• Consider adding a shower bench or chair inside the tub so your parent can sit on it while showering.
• Use a handheld shower head to make it easier for your parents to rinse their skin without having to bend, twist, or lift their feet too much.
• Add a bath rug outside of the shower to absorb moisture and help reduce the risk that your parent will slip getting out of the shower. Make sure that the back of the rug is rubberized to further prevent slipping.
• Add a shelf inside the shower so that soap, shampoo, conditioner, and other necessities are within easy reach for your parent without them having to bend.
• Work with your parent during bathing if they require assistance. Rather than just taking over the entire task for them, take the bathing process step by step and encourage them to do as much as they can on their own. This will help them to feel more independent and less resistant to the assistance offered by you or their elderly care provider.

 

If your aging parent has developed new challenges and limitations, your own schedule or abilities have changed and you can no longer give them the care that they need, or you simply feel that they would benefit from more diversified care, now may be the time to consider elderly care. And elderly home care services provider can tailor a set of highly personalized services specifically to your parents as an individual. This means that they can give them the type of care, assistance, and support that they need to manage their challenges and limitations while also supporting a lifestyle that is as active, independent, and fulfilling as possible as they age in place.  Through these services, your senior can remain happier, safer, and healthier while you have more time, energy, and flexibility to manage the other needs in your life. This can be particularly beneficial if you are part of the sandwich generation caring for your aging parent as well as your children, or if your parents challenges are more extensive than you feel capable of managing comfortably and successfully.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elderly care in Meyerland, TX, contact the caring staff at Personal Caregiving Services at 832-564-0338. Providing Care in Houston, Bellaire, West University Place, Katy, and Sugar Land and the surrounding areas.

 

Source

http://www.parkinson.org/Living-with-Parkinsons/Managing-Parkinsons/Activities-of-Daily-Living/Home-Safety