After a senior experiences a stroke, there’s a long road to recovery ahead, and one of the steps family caregivers need to take is ensuring their elderly loved ones have living environments that are as safe as possible. Here are a few suggestions for helping your loved one remain safe while recovering from a stroke.
Consolidate the Living Space to One Floor
A senior recovering from a stroke can have difficulty with strength, balance, and coordination, causing him or her to be less stable and have a higher risk of falling. To prevent dangerous falls, consolidate your loved one’s living space to a single floor, ideally the ground floor of the home.
Living with serious health conditions can make it challenging for seniors to age in place. However, they can maintain a higher quality of life with the help of professional at-home care. Frederick seniors can benefit from assistance with meal prep, bathing, transportation to the doctor’s office, medication reminders, and much more.
Keep Special Equipment Easily Accessible
If there’s any special equipment your loved one needs during recovery, whether it’s a cane, a walker, an orthotic device, a wheelchair, or any aids for breathing, dressing, or eating, keep these items close at hand and within easy reach for your loved one at all times. This way, your loved one won’t have to risk injury when trying to retrieve an important item.
Senior stroke survivors may need help with a variety of everyday tasks. Caring for senior loved ones can be challenging for families who don’t have expertise or professional training in home care, but this challenge doesn’t have to be faced alone. Family caregivers can turn to Assisting Hands Home Care Frederick for the help they need. We provide high-quality respite care as well as comprehensive Alzheimer’s, dementia, stroke, and Parkinson’s care.
Prohibit Smoking
If your loved one is a smoker, prevent him or her from smoking during recovery. Beyond the general health hazards of smoking, stroke survivors are more likely to have additional strokes if they smoke.
Educate Others about Stroke Symptoms
Teach family members and others who will be caring for or sharing space with your loved one about the symptoms of a stroke so they know what to look for in case your parent has another stroke. Possible symptoms include sudden dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, weakness, numbness, confusion, intense headaches, and difficulty speaking, comprehending, seeing, and walking. Post a list of these symptoms where everyone can see them, and include instructions to call 911 should any symptoms occur.
Limit Social Interactions
Part of keeping a stroke survivor safe during recovery is preventing him or her from becoming agitated or anxious. You can do this by limiting your loved one’s social interactions to one person at a time, as being around too many people at once may cause confusion. Also, speak slowly and calmly, and use simple words so your loved one has the best chance of understanding you with the least amount of effort or potential frustration.
Strokes are just one of the many serious health issues older adults are susceptible to. If your senior loved one has been diagnosed with a serious condition and needs help with tasks like meal prep, transportation, bathing, and grooming, reach out to Assisting Hands Home Care, a leading provider of in-home care Frederick, MD, families can trust. We also offer comprehensive care for seniors with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. Call us today at (301) 786-5045 to learn about our high-quality in-home services.
