Question

Visit an elderly family member, friend, or center that provides services for the elderly. Learn what special needs they have for housing, food, healthcare, communication, socializing, and other needs. Write up your findings.

Answer 1

The needs of elderly people are slightly different from the normal population. This is because old age is comparatively more demanding in almost every aspect of life compared to others. So let's discuss few aspects where they need a little more than usual.

Housing is very important cause elderly people tend to spend more time at home than outside. So the more comfortable it is the better. It would be better to reduce the amount of stairs they have to climb and the distance they have cover for daily activities. Proper hygiene should be maintained as they have lower immunity and tend to fall sick easily. Care should be taken while cleaning the house as a wet flooring or unattended puddle of water may cause a fall which could potentially be fatal or leave a fracture.

They should be careful in their food choices as foods that are hard to digest like red meat as they may cause constipation problems which is quite common in elderly. A fresh, nutritious and fibre rich diet will be ideal.

Healthcare is most important as old age brings its own set of health complications related to heart, blood pressure, digestive system etc. Many of them tend to be on some sort of long term medication for some chronic problem. So their daily medication and health checkup's should be monitored.

The other problem arises with regards to communication and socialising. As they get older, they find it difficult to communicate properly and socialise with others even their own kids. Sometimes they would want is to be around their kids and have someone to listen to them patiently. Some of them end up loosing their life partners to the ultimate tragedy of life, death. So loneliness tend to creep in affecting their mental health. It would be helpful to make up a good conversation with them. It helps to uplift their mood and spirit. Some of the centres organise group activities to help them with this loneliness.

Hope this helps you. Please feel free to give a like and contact us if you have any queries. Thank you, have a great day and take care.