Age is an illness no one can escape from and it has its own set of problems which need not be medically related. The problems faced by elders especially at present times when all their children are out of the city or country to grow in their careers and to support the ever growing demands of lifestyle and their children’s futures.
This leads to unintentional neglect or reduced priority by the elders or their children.
We are going to try and highlight the list of problems faced by the elders and what can be done to deal with them. The list is not conclusive and can be more than what we read here.
The problems can be broadly categorised into
When elders are alone and they are self-dependent to carry out all their activities and health checks, most of them delay or postpone the checks due multiple factors like logistics, waiting time at hospitals or clinics. This delay can result in delayed diagnosis of certain health conditions like late onset diabetes, age related hypertension, thyroid dysfunction, arthritis, dementia, Parkinson disease, cataracts & other eye related issues to name a few common illnesses due to age.
At NORMS Home Care, we can help by subscribing them to a program where we monitor their health at the comfort of their homes and if necessary for them to visit any medical centre for eye testing or scans we facilitate their logistics and accompany them for their tests and drop them back home. NORMS would provide a 360-degree care for them to prevent illness and lead an independent life.
Elders are prone to get pneumonias and they can be fatal, most of the pneumonias can be controlled by vaccines and the advantage of the vaccines are it reduces the severity of the pneumonia and can be treated easily, and many times avoid hospitalisation.
At NORMS Home Care, we facilitate the administration of vaccines and keep a check and remind on booster doses and arrange for the same at the comfort of home. Vaccines are not limited only to Pneumonias and also, we provide regular injections which some elders would need for their health which would be prescribed by the primary physicians of the elders.
There is no need for the elders to go to a clinic or hospital for the same and we can arrange for the same at home.
Majority of the population are affected by the so called non communicable diseases either singularly or a combination of illness. The non communicable diseases are Hypertension, Diabetes, Coronary Artery Disease (heart problems), Vascular Problems (leading to stroke or pulmonary embolism).
These diseases can be controlled and kept under strict check, which will result in the elders living a hassle-free life and avoid major illness and hospitalisation.
For example, an elder having both hypertension and diabetes and not having regular checks and continuing a prescription for many months or years can give rise to the chronic disease not being under control and lead to major illness which can be avoided like heart diseases like heart attacks, heart failure etc., or stroke and other neurological issues like neuropathy, and other associated illness like retinopathy etc.
At NORMS Home Health Care, we provide Chronic disease management where we do regular blood tests, have regular visits by nurses to check on vitals and in turn they speak to the doctors at NORMS Home Care to take tele advice on medications and medical management and further course of treatment. Such regular checks and interactions by our team will reduce the chances of any of the chronic disease to be missed or going out of control, which will help the elders live a healthy independent life just minimally assisted by NORMS Home Care.
Heart disease itself is a chronic disease and when someone is under the care of NORMS Home Care, we ensure proper monitoring including doctor visits apart from nursing visits to ensure they don’t end up having another episode of heart disease. There is specific cardiac rehabilitation physiotherapy which can also be incorporated for elders to cope with the damage of the heart muscle and avoid further episodes.
Patients having Chronic respiratory illness like, Bronchial Asthma, COPD, Small airway disease, Interstitial Lung disease, Bronchitis or any other lung disorders can be managed at home with our 360-degree program. NORMS Home Care has specific respiratory therapists who help with proper targeted respiratory physiotherapy. NORMS Home Care takes pride in mentioning we have incorporated device assisted respiratory therapy like Cough Assist Therapy which is used in certain respiratory illnesses, and it helps the patient feel better faster and maintain respiratory healthiness.
Men can have specific health issues like prostate enlargement which eventually may need surgical treatment, but at NORMS Home Care, we help in diagnosis and guide you to the proper expert to get the issues addressed. If surgical treatment is inevitable NORMS Home Care can assist by being at your side during the procedure even if the children are unable to come immediately to take care of the logistics and admission. Post operatively we help you rehabilitate and take care till you are independent.
Constipation can be a very common illness for elders and this can be chronic issue. NORMS Home Care will help you with dietary advise and intermittent enema if necessary and get tele advise and consult from the Medical Gastroenterologist in the panel of NORMS Home Care.
Vertigo is another common problem of elders which can be very debilitating as it is not a dangerous illness but can cause unwanted discomfort and limitations. It can also lead to falls and accidents. At NORMS Home Care, we provide help by assisted living at home with caretakers if the illness is severe or during the severe phase alone. Alongside we provide medical therapy to overcome the illness and provide physiotherapy, specific to vertigo. There are some specific exercises which we teach, and you just need to do them continuously to overcome this illness. The follow up will be done in periodic intervals by the doctors and therapists to prevent recurrence.
Gait problems can be an issue in advanced age, even with no background of muscle or joint disorders. This can be due to muscle weakness and loss of tone. Obviously, it is not possible for elders to be at the gymnasium to work out and tone up their muscles. NORMS Home Care have Physiotherapists specialised in general geriatric physiotherapy and we can do assisted training to improve gait and balance related issues. This is done alongside with dietary advise and modifications which can help the elders live an independent, confident and life with free mobility.
Electrolyte imbalance & Dehydration is a common problem that can occur in elders due to certain medications or even due to dietary imbalance. This can be easily prevented and avoid hospitalisation. NORMS Home Care will have regular checks in the 360-degree program where we risk stratify these elders.
Headaches are a common complaint which elders face, and it may be a simple issue which may require a pain killer. In some elders especially if they are on specific medications, the headaches should not be ignored. Elders under the care of NORMS Home Care are monitored and necessary precautions taken to not miss any underlying diagnosis for headaches.
Vision problems are very common, and the usual illness are Cataract & Glaucoma, which are treatable. Only when they are ignored it would lead to blindness. Sometimes cataract surgeries are not advised as soon as we arrive at the diagnosis, so regular checks and tests by the Ophthalmologist is required and when the elders are under the care of NORMS Home care, we keep a tab on their checks and assist them for the same and take necessary precautions.
Hearing Problems is another common health issue due to ageing. Not necessarily that all elders have the problem, but many times it can be due to correctable causes or can easily overcome with assist of hearing aids. It is not possible to do the specific tests or treat the correctable causes at home due to logistical issues involved. In NORMS Home Care we assist in accompanying the elder to the centre of their choice or we help them choose the ENT specialist part of our panel and do the necessary line of treatment. Our panel of physicians will be involved in counselling and our case managers will be there to help them and overcome their doubts whatsoever with the treatment.
Blackout & TIA (Transient Ischemic Attacks) is also a common problem with elders and usually it is ignored since the time span of the whole attack lasts only for few seconds, but when these attacks are very frequent it is something which should be evaluated at the earliest by a Neurologist. Studies have revealed that such frequent attacks can be a very early sign of stroke and early testing and diagnosis can prevent a debilitating illness like stroke. NORMS Home Care program helps in monitoring and prevent ignoring these symptoms and help the elders get the right consult and testing done.
In old age, we all know most of the population develop some kind of weakness of muscles and joints and many times associated with restriction of movements and dysfunction in stability.
This kind of issue has the highest risk of them developing a fall and many times even a fall with minimum impact can cause fractures requiring surgical correction or becoming bed bound for prolonged periods.
NORMS Home care can help the elders by assessing the patients and provide support in many ways. We can provide live-in caretakers to help the elders with mobility and activities of daily life if the disability or instability is severe or very bad. In some cases the elders do not need caretakers and physical support and they can walk with some rehabilitation and targeted physiotherapy and mobility with support like a walking stick can be used.
We also advise the family on modifications of the living environment with support aids like handrail in frequently moved areas, in toilets for support, skid proof flooring and other aids in toilets.
The biggest challenge faced by elders is to be alone and separated from their children. The demands of life, education and career is forcing the children to leave their parents alone and go work elsewhere. In many families, both family members of the younger generation need to work to keep up the demands of the present day lifestyle.
The elder parents are so understanding and not to be a burden on their children, forcing the children to move to better workplaces. They do it wholeheartedly, but the children also are also extremely worried about the whole situation of leaving their elderly parents all by themselves.
This separation and demands are extremely stressful for both the families but even more stressful for the elderly parents. They develop a multitude of psychological problems like separation anxiety, panic attacks, depression, loneliness.
NORMS Home Care can definitely not bridge the gap of this separation but what we can do is provide support, in the form of caretakers, companionship by caretakers, psychological counselling, keeping track of all health-related issues and helping them to be healthy.
The degree of such separation anxiety is little lesser with technology as there is the possibility of video calls and to a certain extent helps both sides to cope with separation related issues.
This leads to the next issue that will be discussed.
The growth of technology and the advancements and updates can be overwhelming for any person who is not a gadget & gizmo freak. It can be imagined how challenging it is for elderly population. Not only is it overwhelming it is also at times frustrating for the elders.
The younger generation to bridge the gap of separation and long-distance calls, they invest in some latest technologies for connectivity, but many times it can be overwhelming to set up and learn the gadgets for the elderly.
With so much digitalisation, online orders, payments etc. The elders feel handicapped or challenged to use these technologies and sometimes we hear them say they don’t believe in such modalities and trust in going to the bank and drawing money by cheque, filling their bank books.
NORMS Home Care provides support with outsourced agencies to send someone to teach them with such technicalities and help them use the gadget with ease and be connected.
Social problems include mainly.
Logistics
Online payment or ordering
Banking
Security & Safety
Household Help
Cooking & food in some elders
One can imagine the problems associated with all the above since it is not only to the elderly, but also sometimes a challenge and problem even for the younger generation who are in the earning age group.
For the elders face challenges in almost every aspect.
NORMS Home Care is not directly involved in addressing these issues, but when elders are under our program, we identify such issues and counsel family members and also the elders on probable solutions for all of these and more and we connect the families and elders to them for help and comfort.
However, for banking related reasons we cannot do anything for the reason of confidentiality, but we can teach them dos & don’ts of safe net banking and online money handling.
But for areas like security and safety, we can provide consultation on types of surveillance and safety measures and connect to people who provide solutions for the same.
For issues related to cooking and food, we have sources to provide home cooked meals as per the needs of the elders and provide home delivery for all the meals which would help the elders get hygienic and nutritious home cooked food rather than depend on hotels and restaurants.
