My name's Marcy. I’m forty-two years old, single, and live alone. I had knee surgery six months ago, and I didn’t plan to have a professional help me after surgery. What a mistake! I made it a total of one day home alone before calling in a home health care professional. I had family and friends who were available to help, and they were great when it came to cooking and cleaning. However, when it came to helping with personal hygiene, caring for my surgery site, and helping me move, I needed more than family and friends. I’m going to share more about my home health care experience. I hope you find what I share to be helpful.
Home Health Care after Surgery
How Can In-Home Senior Care Help People Who Have COPD?
Ngoc Volkers
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease causes the muscles around the lungs to become stiff, which makes it very difficult to breathe. As a result, seniors with COPD often have difficulty with everyday tasks such as cleaning and cooking — even light activity can cause them to become winded, as COPD prevents them from getting enough oxygen. COPD is also typically progressive, and it gets more difficult to breathe over time as the muscles around the lungs continue to stiffen.
If you have a family member with COPD that's living alone, one way that you can help keep them safe while letting them remain in their own home is to hire an in-home senior care aide. A senior care aide helps with chores around the home that may be too exhausting for people with COPD. To learn how senior care can help your family member stay safe living alone with COPD, read on.
Encourages Regular Physical Activity
Even though exercising is very difficult for seniors who have COPD, it's an important part of slowing disease progression. Exercise helps preserve lung function by keeping the chest muscles strong, which aids in breathing deeply.
An in-home senior care aide will encourage your family member to be more physically active, and they'll make sure that they're doing it in a safe way — for people with COPD, it's important to keep physical activity gentle. Being active helps reduce COPD symptoms, allowing your family member to breathe more comfortably.
Attends Pulmonary Clinic Appointments
Another important facet of managing COPD is attending regular breathing treatments. During a breathing treatment, your family member inhales vaporized bronchodilator medication in order to open up the airways in their lungs, which helps them breathe more easily.
An in-home senior care aide will make sure that your family member attends all of their breathing treatments at the pulmonary clinic, and they'll also accompany them to appointments in order to make them feel more comfortable about going.
Monitors for COPD Exacerbations
An in-home senior care aide will also monitor your family member for signs of a COPD exacerbation. COPD exacerbations occur when the airways inside the lungs become inflamed, which causes them to constrict. They can be caused by an infection in the lungs or by inhaling a harsh substance such as cigarette smoke.
A COPD exacerbation can be fatal without prompt treatment, since the constricted airways make it very difficult to get enough oxygen. Monitoring for signs of an exacerbation involves watching for a sudden increase in coughing or difficulty breathing. If an in-home senior care aide notices signs of a potential exacerbation, they'll call your family member's doctor so that treatment can begin as soon as possible.
Overall, an in-home senior care aide can help slow the progression of your family member's COPD by making sure they get enough exercise and attend their scheduled breathing treatments. They also make sure your family member will remain safe by watching for signs of a potential COPD exacerbation and seeking treatment. If you have a family member with COPD who is living alone, consider having an in-home senior care aide make regular visits to their home in order to make sure they're safe and managing their condition well.
Share