Coming home after a hospital stay is sometimes a little scary for your aging adult. Some of these tips can help her to feel more secure and readjust to being at home.
Keep up with Follow-up Instructions
Your senior’s doctor will most likely give you a set of instructions for follow-up care upon her discharge from the hospital. This information could include future appointments as well as information about what to look for in terms of a relapse or complication. It’s vitally important that you and your aging family member understand and follow those instructions so that she doesn’t have to go back to the hospital soon after her discharge.
Hire Elder Home Care Providers
One way to help ensure that your senior has what she needs right after she gets home is to hire elder care providers. This is especially important if you’re not able to be there with her as much as you want to be. Home care providers can ensure that your senior is safe, that she eats, and that she’s not at risk of heading back to the hospital already.
Encourage Your Senior to Ask for Help
If you’re too clingy with your elderly family member, you might cause her to close up about asking you for help. To help her to maintain her independence, it might be a good idea to let her know you’ll be willing to wait for her to ask for your help as she needs it. If you spot safety problems, let her know you’ll be jumping in any way, but otherwise, you’ll try to be patient.
Find Activities She Enjoys
Before your senior comes home, try to stock up on activities that she enjoys and that helps her to relax. She might enjoy crafting, working on puzzles, or watching movies. Whatever it is that she enjoys, it can take her mind off of whatever ailment caused her to need to go to the hospital.
Encourage Family Members to Visit, within Reason
If it’s okay for your elderly family member to have visitors, you might want to consider asking family members to come over for a little while. You don’t want to overwhelm your elderly family member, of course, but having people that she loves visiting her can help her to perk up after staying in the hospital.
It’s entirely possible that your senior recovers completely from her visit to the hospital, but you still need to take some basic precautions. If you’re noticing anything questionable at all, make sure that you contact your elderly family member’s doctor right away to determine what might be happening.