Many people think that getting older means that a person will become incontinent. That is not true. However, many health conditions can affect a senior citizen’s ability to control their bathroom urges – both bowels and bladder. If you are caring for your aging parent and need to handle their incontinence, home care assistance and some of these tips might help.
Eating, Drinking, and Regulation
Your elderly parent’s fluid and food intake can affect their incontinence. For example, if your elderly loved one drinks too much, it can cause them to have accidents. The same can go for if they eat unhealthy, fatty foods. If your elderly loved one isn’t regular with their bowels, this can also cause incontinence to be worse.
On the other hand, you want to make sure your elderly parent is eating and drinking enough. It is recommended that elderly adults get 6 to 8 glasses of water every day. If your aging parent isn’t getting this much, now may be an excellent time to get them on a schedule with drinking water and using the bathroom.
Other Drinks
Did you know that sugary, citrus, alcoholic, and caffeinated beverages can cause someone to have more urgency when using the bathroom? If your elderly loved one drinks many of these beverages, they need to use the bathroom more often. They may even need home care assistance services to help them get to the bathroom quicker.
Better Bowel Movements
Is your elderly loved one living a sedentary lifestyle? Are they bedbound? If you say yes to either of these questions, your elderly parent will likely have unhealthy or irregular bowel movements. This constipation or irregularity can lead to incontinence, stomach cramps, and many other stomach-related issues. If you want your aging parent to have better bowel movements, you should have them do whatever exercises they can to prevent bowel backups.
Pooping on a Schedule
While it may seem childish, if your aging parent has bowel incontinence, it may be beneficial for them to go poop or at least try to poop on a schedule. It might take a while to get your parent regular or even into better bathroom habits, but ultimately, this schedule will help.
Catheter Management
You may have already gotten your aging parent home care assistance services. If that is the case, that is great. However, you may also need to hire home health care providers to help with catheter care if your elderly parent is incontinent. Even with a catheter, they may have some leakage. They will need the catheter changed regularly, too.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Home Care Assistance in Chandler, AZ, or anywhere in the East Valley, please contact the caring staff at Legacy Home Care.
Call (480) 777-0070
Sources:
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/urinary-incontinence-older-adults
Legacy Home Care has been serving the valley since 2007. We are family owned and operated with over 75 caregivers. We offer a customized care plan that includes services such as: Hourly Senior Home Care, 24-Hour Home Care, Dementia Care, Personal Care and Companion Care. Also ask us about our Veterans' Home Care program.
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