Precautions for daily care of the elderly do not include

Combining 8 years of front-line nursing care experience and current geriatric medicine guidelines, precautions for daily care of the elderly This does not include deliberately creating a completely sterile living environment, completely taking over all daily activities, strictly prohibiting all high-oil and high-sugar diets, and forcibly adjusting the regular schedule that the elderly have adhered to for many years. These four common "correct misunderstandings".

Don't tell me, many family members have fallen into the trap of over-disinfection. In the area I was in charge of before, there was an aunt whose daughter was a pediatric nurse. Out of professional habit, every time she came to visit the patient, she would spray chlorine-containing disinfectant inside and outside the room where the elderly person lived. She would also wipe the bedside table, handrails, and even the magnifying glass commonly used by the elderly with disinfectant wipes twice. As a result, during that time, the aunt had a stomachache every three days, and she would always sneeze and have a runny nose. She thought it was a cold. After a long investigation, I found out that excessive disinfection destroyed the normal flora in the environment, and the elderly's respiratory and intestinal flora were disordered. Of course, this does not mean that disinfection is not necessary at all. If the elderly have just had surgery or are undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy with low immunity, they must do a good job in environmental disinfection. However, for the vast majority of elderly people with stable physical conditions, normal cleaning and frequent ventilation are enough. Deliberate pursuit of sterility will weaken their immune tolerance. This point was still controversial in the academic circles a few years ago. Some nursing schools insisted on high-frequency disinfection in nursing homes. In the past two years, with the accumulation of clinical data, more and more studies support the conclusion that "moderate exposure to normal flora is more conducive to the immune stability of the elderly."

Speaking of this, I think of another unnecessary operation that is often regarded as "filial piety" by family members: don't let the elderly do anything. When there was a 78-year-old aunt who first moved in, her family members told her that she had a herniated lumbar disc and could not bend or exert force. She needed to be fed when eating, helped to put on clothes, and even when drinking water, the nurse had to pour it into her hands. As a result, when the aunt came, she could hold the armrest and walk to the cafeteria to eat. Within half a month, she had to call someone to even stand up from the sofa. Later, we repeatedly communicated with the family, and slowly let the aunt do what she could: when she was getting dressed, she only helped her pull the corners of her back, let her wipe the table by herself after eating, and walked slowly two steps to the front desk to get her own snacks every day. In just two months, the aunt was able to go to the small garden to feed the cats on her own crutches. Of course, if the elderly person is indeed disabled or semi-disabled and has difficulty even turning over, full care is definitely necessary. However, as long as the elderly person still has the ability to move independently, even if the elderly person moves a little slower, the clothes are crooked, and the table is not wiped so clean, there is no need to do all the work for him - after all, muscles and joints are used or lost. If you save him some energy, you are actually accelerating his functional degradation.

Food is even more interesting. As soon as many family members get the medical examination report of the elderly and see high blood sugar and high blood lipids, they immediately throw away all the snacks and braised pork at home. They don't allow them to touch anything sweet or salty, which is actually not a crime. There used to be an 82-year-old man who had been diabetic for more than 20 years. His blood sugar had always been stable. He loved to eat the mung bean cake sold at the old pastry shop at the door, but his girl refused to buy it. As a result, the old man secretly saved his pocket money, sneaked out to buy it when the caregiver was not looking, and hid it under the pillow to eat in the middle of the night. During that time, his blood sugar fluctuated high and low, which frightened his family members. Later, we discussed with the nutritionist that we would leave a small piece of mung bean cake (about 20g) for the old man every afternoon as a snack, which would be included in his total carbohydrate intake for the day. Just reduce the rice for dinner by half a spoon. After this adjustment, the old man no longer secretly hides food, and his blood sugar is very stable. Of course, if the elderly are in the acute attack period of the three highs, or have underlying diseases such as pancreatitis, they must strictly follow the doctor's advice to avoid eating. However, as long as the condition is stable, there is no need to ban all the foods that the elderly have liked all their lives. After all, the benefits of a good mood to the body are much greater than the harm of eating more sugar. This is recognized by both the emotional conditioning of traditional Chinese medicine and the geriatric psychology research of Western medicine.

Another point that is easily overlooked is that many family members always force the elderly to change their schedules, thinking that "early to bed and early to rise are the best ways to maintain health", which is actually unnecessary. There used to be an old man who was a newspaper editor before he retired. He had been used to reading and writing until after 11 o'clock at night and sleeping until 8 o'clock in the morning. However, his son said that the elderly should go to bed early and get up early, so he insisted on lying in bed at 9 o'clock and getting up at 6 o'clock. As a result, the old man lay in bed tossing and turning until 12 o'clock and could not fall asleep. When he was pulled up at 6 o'clock in the morning, he was still groggy. Within half a month, his blood pressure increased and he almost fell due to dizziness. Later, we advised his son that as long as the old man has a regular schedule and can sleep 6-7 hours a day, whether he goes to bed at 11 a.m. and starts at 8 a.m., or goes to bed at 9 a.m. and starts at 6 a.m., it will not have a big impact on his body. There is no need to forcefully reverse the habit he has persisted for decades. Later, he changed back to his original schedule, and the old man's blood pressure quickly stabilized.

I have been in this industry for almost 10 years, and my biggest feeling is that there is never a universal standard for the care of the elderly. Many care requirements that appear to be "politically correct" are actually shackles on the elderly. Whether we are doing nursing care or being filial to our children, the core is never "I think it is good for you", but "you feel comfortable". Throw away those requirements that sound right but are actually unnecessary.