Elderly people tend to suffer from multiple chronic disorders, often suffering from cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, and cognitive, functional, or social problems. All of these reduce the quality of life and even endanger life. That is why elderly health care is so important.
- Why should we care about the health of the elderly?
Elderly people tend to suffer from multiple chronic disorders, often suffering from cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, and cognitive, functional, or social problems. All of these reduce the quality of life and even endanger life. That is why elderly people are in high need of geriatric health care. In addition to love and patience, elderly health care also requires attention to all physical and mental issues.
When reaching old age, the elderly often have many changes in their mental and physical health. Specifically, the following factors will clarify the reasons why it is necessary to take care of the health of the elderly.
The elderly often feel lonely because they receive little attention and care from their children and grandchildren. They easily fall into a state of psychological crisis such as loneliness, anxiety, nostalgia, irritability or pessimism, … Depression, anxiety and boredom make the elderly feel less determined and lose confidence to fight health problems in old age.
The elderly have to face physiological and physical changes. The body is no longer agile, plus the fact that they have to retire and no longer work as before makes it easy for the elderly to become sad, feel useless, disrespected, irritable, and want attention.
The elderly’s eating is not delicious, and their digestive system absorbs poorly. In addition, the elderly often suffer from many cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, and kidney diseases, which further weaken their health, reduce their resistance, and cause them to lose weight. Therefore, when taking care of the elderly’s health, special attention must be paid to their nutritional regimen to ensure that it is balanced and full of nutrients.
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- Things to note when taking care of the elderly’s health
All physical, mental, and psychological changes in the elderly reduce the quality of life and even endanger their lives. That is why it is necessary to take care of the elderly’s health. The need for elderly health care always requires a great deal of resources and attention. Therefore, in order to take care of the elderly’s health comprehensively and optimally, we need to pay attention to the following.
2.1. The elderly should regularly participate in social activities
If the elderly do not regularly exercise their body and mind, their health will decline rapidly, their minds will no longer be clear, they will easily become confused and susceptible to chronic diseases.
To stimulate the elderly’s minds to be active, in addition to regularly chatting, reading newspapers, watching TV or discussing issues that interest them, children and grandchildren should encourage the elderly to participate in social activities. These can be volunteer clubs, hobbies such as playing chess, raising birds, fish, or sports activities such as yoga, meditation, health care, walking, etc.
Creating conditions for the elderly to participate in social activities, to meet many people, to talk and confide will help their spirits feel comfortable and relaxed. From there, the elderly will reduce feelings of depression, negative thoughts, and daily fatigue.
Health care for the elderly is essential
Health care for the elderly is essential
2.2. The elderly should divide their meals into many meals a day
The nutritional regimen of the elderly plays a very important role in improving health and longevity as well as reducing diseases. Therefore, the issues of the elderly’s diet need to be paid attention to. Specifically as follows:
The elderly should not eat too much at one meal.
Divide meals into 5 or 6 meals a day to make nutrients easier to absorb.
Choose fresh foods, dishes should be prepared in a variety of ways and changed regularly to create a feeling of appetite.
Prepare dishes that are not too salty, too hot or too cold, not too greasy…
Limit eating fast food or processed foods bought outside.
2.3. Low-fat, plant-based diet for the elderly
In addition to adjusting the daily diet appropriately, the nutritional regimen in the elderly’s meals also needs attention. The following are nutritional tips when taking care of the elderly’s health:
Always ensure enough of the 4 groups of nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals. However, the composition of each substance needs to be adjusted to suit the elderly.
The daily diet should include more vegetables, tubers, fruits, fresh fruits and reduce meat.
Should eat whole grains to supplement micronutrients
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