While discharging an elderly patient, special attention is generally needed. It is often seen that some discharge procedures are not taken care of properly. This can lead to physical injuries which increases the chances of re-admission of the patient. Proper discharge interventions for older patients should be usually ensured by the hospital. Let us have a look at the Do’s and Don’ts in post-discharge care for the elderly:
Do’s
for post-discharge care for the elderly:
●
Proper
monitoring of medications
The most important thing to keep in mind after hospital care for the elderly is to give time-to-time medications to the elderly person. All the information about medications and their dosage are generally provided in the prescriptions. You might need to discontinue the current medications after a certain time, the prescription information to get the best possible outcome.
●
Follow the
care instruction.
If your grandmother or grandfather has an incision area, follow all the cleaning processes that are provided in the discharge papers. After hospital care for a seniors equally important at home for quick recovery. You must look after your elderly patient with proper care. Remember, an appropriate procedure can heal the wounded area quickly.
●
Maintain a
proper diet plan
Another important post-hospital care for the elderly person at home is to maintain a proper diet chart regularly. The physicians will provide a diet chart to the elderly person based on the health condition. Make sure to give the foods that are instructed by the physician. Apply the same to the water and beverage intake per day.
●
Practising
the exercises regularly
The post-hospital discharge care paper has some mentioned exercises that are required for the elderly person to stay healthy and fit. Doing the mentioned exercises regularly helps in blood circulation over the body and makes the healing process quicker. However, certain surgeries need to have complete rest at home. So, strictly follow the direction provided in the discharge paper.
●
Always go
for follow-up visits
The follow-up visit with the physician is one of the most important after the discharge of the seniors from the hospital. If you take your grandmother or grandfather for a follow-up visit to your physicians within an interval of time, then only you will come to know whether his or her health condition is improving or not.
Your physician will let you know when your elderly person requires a check-up. Look at the post-hospital discharge care paper to know whether there is any fixed appointment with the physicians or you need to call up the physicians. All the information related to the treatments and the physicians are mentioned on that discharged paper.
Don’ts
for post-discharge care for the elderly:
●
Changing the
physician’s appointment according to your routine
If you want to give proper post-discharge care for your elder one, it is usually advised not to change the appointment date of your physician just to suit your routine. It might happen that the date and time of the appointment you are looking for, the physician is not available on that particular day. An interrupted check-up can deteriorate the health condition of your elderly patient.
●
Providing
incomplete information on the elderly’s current medical status
Providing incomplete medical statusofyour elderly patient is not advisable. You should stop practising this immediately. You should inform your physician about the current health condition. After getting discharged from the hospital, you should keep this vital point in mind.
●
Failing to
obey the instruction given by the physician
Not following all the doctor's recommendations and instructions can disrupt and fail the aim of discharge interventions for older patients. If you don't follow the instructions given by your physician, then it is quite impossible to get a proper cure from the diseases.
●
Don’t miss
out symptoms
You must administer the post-discharge care for the elderly properly. Don’t forget to keep a regular record of the symptoms appearing after the discharge. This can be a major sign of recovery.Your negligence may cause a relapse of any illness in the elderly patient under your care.
●
Don’t take
any medication on your own
Taking any medication on your own is
too risky, especially for elderly patients. Even stopping any medication before
the mentioned time has harmful side effects. Whether you are willing to consume
or stop any medication, let your physician know about it to avoid any health
issues.
To wrap up
The post-discharge care of elderly patients
involves many steps and requires patience of the carer. If you want your
elderly patient to recover faster, you should follow all the Do's and avoid
practising the Don'ts. We hope that this information will be of great help to
you. So, follow these points and improve your post-discharge care for the
elderly at home.
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