Does your elderly loved one have epilepsy? If so, it is vital that you learn more about this condition, go to doctor’s appointments with your elderly loved one, and find out how to overcome challenges related to this health condition. If you can’t make it to the appointments, you can always have elder care providers attend with your elderly loved one. They can let you know what happened during the appointments later on.
Dealing with Fall and Injury Risk
If your elderly loved one has epilepsy, it is crucial that you learn more about their risk of falling and getting injured. Unfortunately, people with epilepsy can have a seizure anywhere. Sometimes, when people have a seizure they fall and hit their head or other parts of their body. Knowing this, you can do everything in your power to make your elderly loved one’s home safer. For example, you can put soft covers on the corners of the shelves, counters, or tables in their house. That way, if they do fall and hit those, hopefully, they won’t get as hurt from the fall.
Medication Reminders
One of the challenges with epilepsy in senior citizens is that they may forget to take the medication that helps to prevent seizures. If your elderly loved one forgets to take their medication, they may start having more seizures again. This is not what you or your elderly loved one wants to have happen. If you believe your elderly loved one is going to forget to take their medications, you may want to hire elder care providers to remind them to take the medication on schedule.
More Bone Loss
Unfortunately, some of the medications that are prescribed for epilepsy can lead to a faster progression of bone loss. If your elderly loved one’s bones are weaker, it can lead to a higher risk of fractures of bone breaks if they fall. If your elderly loved one is on medication that causes bone loss, it is crucial to talk to their doctor to see what can be done about this. If there are ways to build their bone strength, hopefully, you and the home care providers can help to make this happen.
Conclusion
Does your elderly loved one have epilepsy? If so, there are going to be some challenges that you need to deal with. The ones that are noted here today give you an idea of what you and elder care providers might need to do to help your elderly loved one prevent seizures or stay safer if they have a seizure.
If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Hillsborough, FL , please contact the caring staff at R.B. Home Health Services, Inc today. 305-220-6309
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/communications/features/olderadults.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4001216/