Nations across the world are still fighting to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Although, there no signs yet that COVID-19 will be over soon, the good news is that globally, recovery rate from Coronavirus has picked up its pace. In fact, India has now more recoveries than even USA.
In this current situation, it is very important to keep yourself and your family healthy, particularly senior citizens of the family especially during the travel as people over 50 years of age are more prone to COVID-19.
Why is it necessary to give proper care to the aged?
It is important to take care of elderly people during Covid-19. Doctors worldwide believe that senior citizens (over 60 years), particularly those with diabetes, people with high blood pressure, and heart disease are more prone to the virus. The infection mainly attacks the lungs. If someone is already suffering from a lung disease, they will be more susceptible to the Coronavirus.
In this current situation, the health department is also taking great pains to ensure that the senior citizen are aware of pandemic with the help of posters, banners, and pamphlets to advise them to take necessary instructions.
To sum it up:
- According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus is expected to impact people whose immunity is poor.
- Several other diseases also surround the aged due to increasing age and their immunity is minimized.
- In such a situation, you should take special care of your elders.
How to take care of elders during the pandemic?
1. Maintain Strict Hygiene
It is one of the most important things to take care of elders. Try not to let the elderly out of the house for non-essential works. Only let them out if it is very necessary such as under a situation like a medical emergency or doctor checkup advise them to apply masks and use the hand sanitizer frequently while exiting the house.
Give attention to the little things of your elders, such as keep their nails trim and clean, if any of your elders have the common flu, then advise them to keep the tissue on the mouth and not the hands while coughing or sneezing.
2. Keep Them Away From Rumors
Due to lock-down, the senior members of a family used to watch a lot of news on TV that can be a reason for getting stressed, try to provide them information related to the Coronavirus so that they do not get scared and stay away from rumors or fake news.
Try to spend as much time as possible with the elders of your household, as this will not make them feel lonely and will also avoid stress.
3. Keep Them Motivated
Keep your elder motivated for physical activities along with their proper diet. If the elders in your family are technology-friendly, then you can also tell them to be part of a workout or yoga session, which are available on the various digital platforms or let your smart kids help them out.
Young kids can also look after them to make sure that they are doing any kind of exercise for 15-20 minutes. Provide any medium of entertainment for your elders at home and include nutritious things in their diet which is an effective way to keep them motivated.
4. Adopt Indoor Workouts
Senior people who already have some kind of illness should stay indoors. During the pandemic, they should follow the medicines needed for rest and their treatment. These days it is not possible to go out, so you can manage some indoor activities like cycling, yoga, and other exercises so that these can also help and keep them active.
5. Maintain Healthy Diet for Diabetic
The diet of elder particularly diabetic patients has been considerably affected by the pandemic situation. Many elders have started opting for processed food items and have seen an increase in the number of their food which can drastically affect blood sugar levels. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on a healthy diet.
6. Engage Young Members
Hand out small tasks like timely food or medicine to the elders of the household to children or younger members. This will give some comfort to the elders and children will get some work. This will also instill a sense of responsibility within them.
At home, if the elders and children have to spend twenty-four hours together, then the housewives of the family have to make many efforts at times. It is not easy to handle two generations at once. You can try to take some initiative to create good synergy between children and the elderly.
You should work towards bringing the two together on one platform, not favoring anyone. Also, children can explain technology to grandparents and in return, they will get a box of stories ready. Every day, children will wait for a new story.
7. Learn To Handle Diabetes
Physical activity is very important for patients with diabetes, especially in this situation. They suggest that we now have to learn to live with the Coronavirus. So make the necessary changes in your lifestyle accordingly. Make sure your parents’ blood sugar level is under control.
Learn to manage diabetes during situations arising out of Coronavirus. For this, it can be easy if they focus on their medicines and diet. Diabetes patients should regularly check their dose according to fluctuations in their glucose levels.
8. Regular checking blood sugar
Elder diabetic patients who have to take insulin injections should keep checking their blood sugar levels. Those who take an insulin injection every day should check their glucose levels once a day. And those who take oral medicine for diabetes should check their blood sugar level four times a week.
9. Stay in touch with the doctor
According to medical experts, it is very important to keep in touch with your family doctor. In this modern time, you can also use the digital platform to connect with the medical experts. Diabetes is a disease. This can be managed only when you are alert to your diet and lifestyle. To take care of the health of your elderly parents, you must be aware of their diabetes control. It is more important to take care of them during the pandemic.
It is very well said that precautions are better than cure. By following such simple steps, one can shelter the senior members of the family from COVID-19.
Note: Post Unlock 4.0 many states have opened their door for tourism which includes Goa, Ooty, Uttarakhand (Corbett & Char Dham), Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh. As per latest updates, North East will also open in the first week of October besides many other states such as Uttar Pradesh & Orissa.
Also Read: Taj Mahal is Now Open
Considering the time spent in lockdown, it is more important than ever to travel now not just for a change of scenery but also to show your support to the travel industry and local economy which has been most severely impacted by this global pandemic.
Also check out places to visit in October & November to plan your trip.