How To Help Your Loved One With Pneumonia

Pneumonia

Share This Post

Pneumonia – A common problem when cold weather arrives
Today is the coldest day of the yea,r and we have to watch out for Pneumonia! It is a dreadful condition that can cause major problems. As your lovedonesagese, there is a significant decline in their immunity. This makes them susceptible to contracting infections of all kinds. It is an infection that attacks the respiratory function of your loved ones.
Furthermore, if our loved ones suffer from other diseases, such as cardiovascular ailments or other degenerative diseases, battling Pneumonia becomes all the more difficult. In old age, It may not always appear as classic symptoms of breathlessness, body each,e and high fever. But, in many cases, it may manifest as delirium, confusion,n or dizziness. This is even more important with China’s new threat of the new coronavirus.

Understanding Pneumonia

You can get Pneumonia either by bacteria or viruses. The symptoms differ according to the type of organism it is caused from. Older individuals are more prone to develop it during seasonal changes. And having a weak immune system does not help. Some of the common symptoms are:
  • Cough
  • Fever with chills
  • Chest pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sputum is either green or yellow-colored
  • Weakness
  • Confusion
Our loved ones may not always suffer from the symptoms mentioned above. Your loved ones may exhibit a different set of signs and symptoms as compared to their younger counterparts. The characters are always not very specific, making the diagnosis difficult. For example, your loved ones with Pneumonia may appear passive,y feel more sleep, and experience spells of dizziness. Diagnosis becomes more complicated when our loved ones already suffer from dementia or other respiratory diseases.

Tips to take care of our loved ones with Pneumonia

When our loved ones contract it, they have to spend quite a long time in a hospital. However, to ensure complete recovery, our loved ones need good care once they return home. One of the significant considerations for your loved ones is ensuring they don’t contract the infection again.

This is because, with age, a decrease in immunity, and a viral or bacterial attack, our loved ones are all the more vulnerable to contracting infections. Here are some of the tips that can help you take good care of your loved ones with Pneumonia:

  • Rest, rest, and more rest

Ensure that your loved one takes as much rest as possible. Pneumonia is a severe form of viral infection that leaves behind long-term effects on our bodies. Making sure our loved ones have adequate rest during this period is necessary to recover faster from the disease. Rest is practically proper for any infection, particularly Pneumonia. The body heals itself with adequate rest.

  • Fluids are a must

You need to encourage your loved one to drink more and more fluids. This is necessary so that all body organs can function appropriately and the immune system can become recharged to fight against infections. In addition, it is essential to realize hydration is necessary to heal your loved one’s body after an attack of Pneumonia.

  • Please take note of their nutrition.

Nutrition is essential for those who have recently suffered a pneumonia attack. Loss of appetite is natural in many cases, but eating the right food is extremely important during recovery. So to build a need and get proper nutrition, you should encourage your loved ones to eat small and frequent meals throughout the day.

  • Start slowly

Your loved ones may feel that they are fit enough to go ahead with their routine since they are back home from the hospital. However, this isn’t entirely true, and you have to trust your loved ones to take and begin slowly with their daily activities.

Steps to prevent Pneumonia

Our loved ones aged 65 years and above,e are at an increased risk of suffering from Pneumonia. Take the following steps to keep your loved ones safe from respiratory infections:

  • Immunization

Getting immunization shots every year is an excellent way to prevent infections. You need to ask your doctor about the best form of immunization. Medical experts advise seniors to get vaccinated against bacterial pneumococcal Pneumonia. Your loved ones can get this vaccine once every five years. This is pretty effective at preventing Pneumonia or decreasing the severity if infected.

In many cases, doctors may also suggest a booster dose after five years. In addition, seniors should also receive vaccinations for other types of diseases,e such as flu and influenza, which can eventually lead to Pneumonia in a much more severe case.

  • Practice good personal hygiene

Maintaining good personal hygiene is necessary to ward off infections because our loved ones are more susceptible to contracting diseases. In addition, we need to keep them safe from other individuals who are sick and down with measles, chickenpox, or even the common cold. It may be hard to believe, but all these germs can cause Pneumonia in our loved ones. Therefore, it becomes necessary that we encourage our loved ones to practice good personal hygiene and don’t forget to wash our hands often. Also, dental infections can, in some way, cause Pneumonia. And therefore, taking good care of dental hygiene also becomes necessary.

  • Learn about the symptoms of Pneumonia in the elderly

Our loved ones do not always experience the classic symptoms of Pneumonia. Therefore, we must learn about the different signs our loved ones may experience. This would help in early diagnosis of the condition, allowing better management.

  • Avoid smoking

Smoking is one of the significant risk factors for not only developing Pneumonia. But it also considerably reducesung’s capacity to heal itself. Moreover, smoking also significantly reduces the body’s capability to fight infections. Therefore, we must urge our seniors to quit smoking.
Let me help

Overseeing this can cause you to be because you can’t be in 2 places at one time: taking care of your business and taking over one. So look into hiring some help. This will allow you to rest and ensure your loved one is properly cared for. Or maybe you want to spend more time with your loved one while taking a break from redundant business tasks like sending emails, returning calls, or organizing files. So let’s chat about how I can serve you so you can take care of your business and your loved ones.

Remember to care for yourself and keep your business going while caregiving. I’m here to assist you on this journey; schedule your planning session with me so we can look at how to keep your life and your business running smoothly.

Conclusion

live a healthy life by practicing the tips mentioned above. We must understand that our immune system also loses its capacity to fight infections. Therefore, taking preventive steps to stay healthy and prevent respiratory infections can help build good respiratory health. For more information, check out this article. Also, check out my past post on the flu. Finally, I have written several books to help you with caregiving if you are interested.

Pneumonia
Group
Join The Group Today

More To Explore

Internet

How To Effectively Help Seniors Navigate To The Internet

  What’s the Real Truth About Seniors and the Internet? The truth about seniors and the Internet is that while some seniors may face barriers to using technology, such as lack of access, physical limitations, or fear of technology, many seniors are increasingly using the Internet and other digital devices. According to a 2021 Pew

Read More »

Caregiving can be challenging, frustrating, and highly stressful!

But it doesn’t have to be that way . . . I can help.

Learn More
Long Term Care Insurance