There are so many concerns as your elderly family member nears the end of her life. Paying attention to your senior’s skin is a key part to making sure that she’s as comfortable as possible. During National Healthy Skin Month it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about preventing skin breakdown and bedsores.
Try to Include Nutritious Meals
The nutrients your senior takes in, even if her appetite is a lot lighter than it used to be, help her body to keep her skin as healthy as possible. If your senior isn’t eating much, it’s more important than ever to ensure that what she is eating has plenty of vitamins and minerals. This might mean making fruit smoothies or even helping her to take supplements to get the nutrition she needs.
Keep Your Senior’s Bedding and Skin Dry and Clean
Odds are that as your senior edges closer to the end of her life, she’s spending a lot more time in a particular space, like her bed or a favorite recliner. It’s vital to keep the bedding and blankets she’s using in those locations clean and dry. Likewise, her skin needs to be clean and dry, too. If she’s sweating or experiencing other issues that make the bedding or her skin damp, then changing her bedding often is going to help avoid issues with skin breakdown.
Help Her to Change Positions
Another big factor in whether your elderly family member’s skin starts to break down or not is pressure and whether she’s remaining in one position too long. It’s important to help her to change positions every couple of hours or so. Use plenty of cushions and pillows to help relieve any pressure she might be feeling, particularly around joints.
Ask What Else Could Help
There may be some other solutions that fit your senior’s unique situation. Be sure to talk with her doctor about what you can do. It can also help to work closely with hospice elder care providers. They have a lot of experience with the types of issues that patients near the end of life face, including skin breakdown. They can offer advice that works within your senior’s existing care plan.
There are a lot of challenges facing your senior during this stage of her life and this may seem like just another situation that’s making her uncomfortable. But there may be more that you can do about it than you think.
If you or your aging loved one could benefit from End of Life Care in Elloree SC, contact the caring staff at Grove Park Hospice, (803) 536-6644.
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