In general, the risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 increases with age. Serious illness means that the person with COVID-19 requires intensive care. In some cases, it can even be a death sentence. Because of that, older adults should be incredibly diligent when it comes to protecting themselves against the virus. However, they aren’t always able to take care of themselves and are dependent on other people, such as their children or grandchildren. You probably belong to one of these groups and want to make sure that your senior parents stay healthy amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
There are quite a few preventive measures that you can take to prevent your elderly loved ones from contracting the novel coronavirus. First of all, you should make them feel safe. One way you can do it is by providing them with a high-quality medical alert system.
That way, if your senior parents ever feel lightheaded or nauseous and you aren’t there to help them, they will be able to contact a monitoring help center staffed with medical professionals with a press of a button. If you’re new to the topic and don’t know what medical alert system you should choose, visit https://medicalalertsystemshq.com for comprehensive reviews.
Here is how you can protect your senior parents in these difficult days:
Good Hygiene and Social Distancing
The coronavirus outbreak has prompted many organizations, such as the CDC, to post detailed guidelines on protecting yourself and others from the virus. Because of that, we have been urged to incorporate quite a few safety measures into our daily lives.
Firstly, you should wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you don’t have easy access to either soap or water, use hand sanitizer instead. Keep in mind that hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol to be effective.
On top of that, try to practice social distancing and avoid close contact with people who are sick. Remember that even though many people who have already caught the coronavirus are asymptomatic, they can still spread it.
These are only two out of many ways in which you can protect both you and your family members, including your parents, from the virus. Try to educate both them and the people around you on the matter and make sure that they treat those guidelines very seriously.
Make Them Stay Home
If your parents can still leave their home by themselves, try to make them stay home. When it comes to running daily errands, such as groceries, either you or another family member should do it for them.
Despite the pandemic, your parents might still want to socialize with their acquaintances. It would be best if you made them understand the risks associated with such behavior and kept on educating them. They should be aware of the fact that not practicing social distancing puts them at a high risk of severe illness or even death.
Monitor Your Parents’ Health
Remember to stay on the lookout for symptoms of COVID-19 amongst your family members. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 include shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and fever.
If you are your parents’ primary caregiver, coughing and gasping for air should be relatively easy to notice. On the other hand, if you don’t live together, you should ask them how they are feeling on a daily basis, preferably in a phone call. That way, you will still be able to tell if they develop any symptoms of serious lung disease, even if they try to make light of the situation.
Keep Their Surroundings Clean
You can limit the spread of COVID-19 by cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces at least a few times a week. Such surfaces include doorknobs, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.
Make sure that you are using an EPA-registered household disinfectant! Disinfectants on EPA’s list have qualified for use against COVID-19 in particular. If you decide to use other disinfectants, they might prove to be far weaker or even completely ineffective when it comes to preventing the coronavirus from spreading.
Conclusion
Since older adults are at a higher risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19, they should strictly adhere to the guidelines that have been published by organizations such as CDC or WHO. If they can’t function without the help of caregivers and you happen to be one of them, you can take care of that yourself. After all, they are dependent on you and your decisions.
Remember that access to high-quality medical care is very limited nowadays due to the fact that many hospitals are dealing with overcapacity at the moment. If you tell yourself that your parents will be well taken care of even if they fall sick, you might be dead wrong. Because of that, you should protect them from contracting the coronavirus to the best of your abilities.
