Aging changes physiology. This is not news to anyone. What is news to many families, however, is how quickly the upkeep of that physiology goes from “easy” to “wow this is harder than it looks.” Taking medication, eating well, maintaining personal hygiene, etc. begins to become an uphill battle and when efforts fall short, health crisis after health crisis ensue.
The problem is that nobody rings an alarm to let you know it’s time to stop taking care of your own medication regimen. It happens slowly over time which is why so many seemingly become engulfed in a crisis seemingly overnight.
The Medication Management Issue No One Wants to Talk About
The thing about medication management is that it’s easy when you have one or two pills to take at the same time every day. When you have eight medications to manage at four different times of the day, some with food and some without, and some that will actually harm you if you take too close to the others, that’s a different story.
Most people over the age of 75 are taking at least five prescription medications. And with over-the-counter medication and vitamins/supplements, we’re talking about a dozen different bottles. Missing blood pressure medication here and there is not going to kill you; but miss it consistently a couple of times a week over the course of a month and you’re looking at a stroke that just might.
It only gets worse when the side effect of one medication requires another medication to manage that side effect. So, then you’ve got one med to manage the issue your doctor didn’t think of and the med that’s supposed to be helping you in the first place.
Pill boxes are amazing, but they still have to be filled by someone who knows what the hell they’re doing. Someone still has to remember to check it every day.
For families with seniors in need of help here, organizations like All American Home Care who supply Senior Care Reading services, provide the diligent oversight needed to keep all these balls in the air; providing help to avoid mistakes that land people in emergency rooms.
Nutrition Becomes an Unexpected Challenge
Nutrition seems simple until you add the lack of appetite; trouble chewing/swallowing food; and fatigue associated with actually preparing a meal. So many seniors just stop eating real food altogether. Eating crackers and cheese for dinner is a whole lot easier than standing over a stove for forty-five minutes.
They need protein to maintain healthy muscles. But grilling chicken after a long day of navigating a non-senior friendly world isn’t realistic for most seniors. They need calcium to keep their bones healthy. But dairy doesn’t always work the same way at age 80 as it did at age 50.
They need fiber to keep their digestive systems moving as well but again, the effort involved in digesting high fiber foods can be an issue when you feel like every meal is a marathon in a non-senior friendly world.
Going to the grocery store also becomes an issue. Walking through the store used to be easy. Pushing a cart? Easy. Carrying groceries home? Easy. Putting things away once you’re home? Easy.
Withering ability to do these tasks over time makes it easy for diets to resolve down to what’s easy to reach for in the pantry that’s non-senior friendly voice command navigation system friendly. Living on shelf-stable food is not healthy.
Weight loss among seniors is not usually voluntary. It usually occurs because eating well becomes too much work.
Personal Hygiene Tasks Are Skipped
This is where things get tricky. Showing becomes an issue when balance isn’t what it used to be. Navigating a bath tub feels like climbing Everest when your knees don’t bend like they once did and your arms aren’t able to support your weight like they once did. Bathing becomes optional.
Bathing may become grossly limited over time to quick sink baths only (thanks for voice command Amazon); but quick sink baths can only get you so clean. Skin infections, urinary tract infections and a host of other issues can become the norm—often treatable but not “seemingly” preventable.
No one wants to admit he/she can’t wash him/herself anymore. This is a hard thing for anyone to admit out loud.
Brushing your teeth takes both hands and vision. Flossing takes some level of dexterity. Cutting corners might be as easy as picking out “good floss” from “bad floss” and how easy would that be on your hands?? When your fingers don’t bend like they used to it becomes difficult (and sometimes painful) to floss.
Gum disease and tooth decay doesn’t care about your neediness. It cares about managing your oral habits appropriately (or not). And gum disease does more damage than most people understand.
Staying Active Becomes a Struggle
Use it or lose it. The less you move, the weaker you become. The weaker you become the more difficult it becomes to move. The less you move, the less you’re willing to practice your PT exercises
Although doing exercises sounds easy it only works if you practice them on a daily basis. Getting into a schedule sometimes seems easy when your body is able but it feels impossible when it’s not? It’s easy not to practice PT exercises when every bone in your body hurts and you’re tired after a long day of navigating a (you guessed it) a non-senior friendly world.
Walking seems easy until:
- You’re afraid of falling down again.
This leads to:
- Less movement,
- Less strength, and eventually, falling down again
Cognition Slips Just Like Memory
Managing doctor appointments is cognitive work. Managing reporting of symptoms is cognitive work. Understanding discharge instructions (the second time around) is cognitive work (thanks for lunch by the way).
Sometimes knowing when you need help and when you don’t is just cognitive work. Cognition also sometimes deteriorates right along with physical decline. Someone might remember an appointment with a cardiologist yesterday but might forget about an appointment with a podiatrist in between last Tuesday and next Tuesday.
Someone might remember taking their meds in the morning but might forget about them needing to take their meds again at night.
Someone might remember weird symptoms but might forget how important it is to bring them up at the next appointment (which could have easily been three weeks ago).
Organizational skills necessary for managing more than one active issue these days are monumental tasks for older (and usually wiser) individuals with a cognitive decline. They need systems more than they need suggestions.
Giving Up Independence as Health Declines
The sad part of this whole dilemma? None of these tasks feels Herculean when done on their own. None of these aren’t amazing chores we’re talking about here. Managing health on a daily basis is mundane in itself but skipping mundane tasks on a daily basis, leads to boring yet detrimental health issues piling up along with active problems.
Dehydration from lack of water intake (even though navigating water these days is difficult). Urinary tract infections from lack of hygiene maintenance (although on an everyday schedule instead of an occasionally sink bath only limit).
Diabetic catastrophes from pitifully low blood sugar levels that looks scary but are managed without effort (classic case of ritualistic practices feel useless when someone else can do this job better in a timely manner).
And yet each person however well-meaning who steps up and helps in the case of a loved one in need of assistance delays addressing these issues which leads to undesirable problems that could all be avoided if someone can just take the grind out of everyday tasks someone still can do alone sometimes,
So, What’s the Solution?
The solution isn’t independence but consistent help with something someone still can do alone on occasion, not avoid separate from loved ones who mean well.
In light of an aging population across the globe, what has become a hot topic lately? Maintaining good health at home versus not sitting in the right institution feeling confused? Skip mundane daily tasks at your own risk. Because nobody cares about excitement in life until they realize how boring life can be.