Can a Care Professional Help Your Senior Fight Dehydration?

Domiciliary care agency

As they age, seniors become vulnerable to suffer from dehydration for a number of reasons. Not only does the amount of body fluid begin decreasing with age, but seniors also experience a lowered and weakened thirst response. Also, with age, the function of kidneys can deteriorate leading to an excessive loss of water in form of frequent urination. If not diagnosed and checked at the right time, dehydration can cause or complicate the existing health problems in your seniors.

Do you wonder how hiring a home care provider can help your senior combat dehydration? Well, a care professional can keep your senior under the supervision and cater to his /her needs from time to time. So, when you are away, you can easily count on them to take care of your senior. To know more, you can keep reading below. 

How can a care worker help your senior fight dehydration?

Look for symptoms – Since older adults lose their thirst response with time, it can be difficult to identify in the signs of dehydration in them. However, being experts at caregiving, a professional can easily observe other symptoms and detect the underlying condition. Dry skin, dry mouth with a thick tongue, body weakness, sleeplessness, and constipation are the telling signs of dehydration.

Taking care of your senior 24/7, the care worker can understand if something is not going right. If need be, he might take the matter to the doctor and seek expert advice. 

Regulate their fluid intake – As they do not feel as thirsty as any younger adults, seniors can easily skip drinking enough water throughout the day. This is where hiring a senior carer from a domiciliary care agency can be of tremendous help. Committed to keeping your senior healthy and hydrated, the professional can encourage the elderly to take a sip of water at fixed intervals.

From serving him/her with glasses of water to keeping a track of fluid intake, the carer makes sure your senior is not showing signs of dehydration and remains hydrated from inside. 

Maintain a healthy diet – Along with lots of water intake, seniors should also follow a fluid-rich diet to overcome the problem of dehydration. Offering comprehensive domestic support, the care worker can visit the grocery store and get the best vegetables and fruits for your senior. Further, the expert can cook tasty and nutritious meals comprising spinach, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, and tomatoes.

When it comes to fruits, your senior will be spoilt for choice. From watermelon and grapes to apples and oranges, your senior can cherish a variety of tastes and stay healthy as well. 

Additional care – To manage dehydration in your elderly, the carer can encourage them to stay away from beverage, sugary drinks, caffeine, and alcohol. The reason being, an excessive intake of these beverages can speed up the process dehydration in your seniors.

Starting from applying moisturisers to making them wear light clothes, the expert makes sure your senior is comfortable and feeling optimal physical energy. Moreover, the carer oversees medications because diuretics can trigger dehydration in seniors. 

Conclusion – Hiring a home care provider is necessary because older adults have a low-level of self-care ability given their physical and mental weaknesses.