Elderly at Risk in Extreme Cold

The extreme temperatures and snow of winter can be particularly dangerous for older adults. The elderly and those with heart disease are at special risk, according to the American Heart Association.

As people age, their ability to maintain a normal internal body temperature often decreases. Because elderly people seem to be relatively insensitive to moderately cold conditions, they can suffer hypothermia without knowing they're in danger, the Heart Association reports (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4570).

Hypothermia means the body temperature has fallen below normal. It occurs when your body can't produce enough energy to keep the internal body temperature warm enough and the condition can kill. Heart failure causes most deaths in hypothermia, the American Heart Association notes. 

 The following tips, from the local Home Instead Senior Care^® office, will help you safeguard a senior loved one or neighbor.

• Fill the cupboard. Help your senior stock the staples and groceries they’ll need in the event of a large snowstorm or cold spell.
• Maximize energy. Encourage your senior to make sure they have adequate insulation and to check and clean the fireplace and furnace. Replace furnace filters monthly.
• Minimize drafts. Help your senior fill old socks with sand and use them in drafty windowsills and door jams. Weather-strip around windows and doors. Keep doors closed to unused rooms and close curtains at night.
• Stay toasty. Advise your senior to add an extra blanket to the bed and warm the bed in advance with a hot water bottle. Never use electric blankets.  A senior may not be able to operate the controls if the temperature needs to be adjusted in the night.
• Dress warmly. A senior’s circulation decreases with age. Encourage your senior to wear an extra sweater or sweatshirt, and sweat pants during the winter.
• Monitor the thermostat. Check with your senior to make sure that they’re keeping the thermostat above 65 degrees during the cold weather. Older adults are particularly susceptible to hypothermia, which can develop over a few days and weeks even in the mildly cool indoor temperatures of 60 to 65 degrees.
• Beware of budget problems. Make sure your senior isn’t trying to save money by keeping the thermostat down. Many communities have energy assistance programs for low- and fixed-income households.

• Avoid slips. Make sure your senior has made arrangements to have driveways and walkways cleaned. Salt and sand should be available to speed melting.
• Stay in touch. Check on your neighbor or loved one frequently during periods of cold and snowy weather.
• Build a network. You can’t always be around to help your elderly loved one. Call on neighbors, family and church members to help.

For more information about the cold, visit the National Weather Service Web site at http://www.noaa.gov and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site at www.fema.gov. Or, to learn more about Home Instead Senior Care, log on to www.HomeInstead.com/nepa.

A Day in the Life of a Caregiver

Meet Reta
Reta lives in a small, 24-bed home specifically dedicated for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. She has lived there for four years. The home caters to individuals in the first and second stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Reta’s disease has progressed to Alzheimer’s stage three.

A Need for More Care
“The need for extra care became very evident when some challenging behaviors developed,” explained Sharon Galway, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care® franchise in northern Toronto. Reta began refusing bathing and personal care, was often anxious and agitated, and refused food during mealtimes. Though the facility staff were well trained in Alzheimer’s care, Reta’s disease had progressed to a stage that the staff was unable to effectively manage. Typically, this particular home does not permit patients to stay once they have entered stage three Alzheimer’s. However, due to long waiting lists for other facilities that could accept Reta, the home allowed Sharon and her team of CAREGiversSM to step in and help. 

Capturing Life’s Journey
Capturing Life’s Journey® is an Alzheimer’s care technique taught in the Home Instead Senior Care network’s Alzheimer’s or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging Through Research and Education® program. It’s a method of better understanding an individual by learning about his or her life history and past experiences, and using that knowledge to customize care accordingly. Before Sharon and her team began providing care to Reta, they gathered information from the home’s staff, talked to Reta’s family, and learned what they could about her past. 

One of the biggest difficulties the home staff expressed was getting Reta to shower. Sharon and her team learned that she had never liked showers or water. They also learned she was a very particular woman and very organized. In her current stage of Alzheimer’s, she would get up early and get dressed thinking it was time to go to work. Then she grew agitated when a staff member from the home wanted her to undress for the shower. That agitation carried through to other activities throughout the day. 

Creating a Customized Care Solution
Once Sharon’s team had identified a trigger for her behavior, they came up with a plan. If they got to Reta’s room before she got out of bed and got dressed, they could redirect her behavior. So Sharon found CAREGivers who were willing to get there at 6:30 in the morning. They started slow to gain her trust. For the first few weeks they were able to do a sponge bath. After six weeks, they could see a noticeable improvement in her behavior. Now a CAREGiver is able to manage her personal care, bathing and dressing, in addition to helping her transition to group activities for the day, all within a three-hour shift. Reta no longer exhibits any of the challenging behaviors she had before the Home Instead Senior Care team began providing her with specialized one-on-one care. 

A Better Quality of Life
The additional care support Home Instead CAREGivers provided Reta took away a lot of worry for her daughter, Linda. When Linda visited, she could be a daughter again. It also made a noticeable impact on Reta. Linda said, “I can tell you without a doubt that having the specialized care added to the quality of her life.”