How Can You Help Your Parent Prevent Heat Stroke?

One of your most important priorities as a family caregiver is to protect them from potentially serious health conditions and complications.

As the weather outside warms up one of these potentially serious health conditions is heat stroke. The most dangerous of heat-related injuries, heat stroke, occurs when the body overheats to at least 104 degrees. If not addressed quickly, heat stroke can result in damage to the kidneys, heart, brain, and muscles, and can even be fatal. Fortunately, there are ways that you can help protect your parent from heat stroke and prevent the potentially devastating consequences that can occur as a result of it.

Senior Care in Salt Lake City UT: Prevent Heat Stroke

Some ways you can help your parent prevent heat stroke include:

-Make sure your seniors home is properly equipped with an adequate cooling system. Fans are not sufficient to provide cooling during hot weather. Though they may feel good, they do not lower the temperature in the air and cannot genuinely protect against heat-related injury. If your parents home does not have an air conditioning system, make sure they have access to a cool environment, such as a community cooling shelter.

-Encouraging loved ones to wear lightweight, loose-fitting, and light-colored clothing. Too many layers or tightly fitted clothing hold in heat and prevent the body from cooling properly.

-Protect your parent against sunburn at all times. Having a sunburn is painful, but it also damages the body and reduces its ability to cool itself.

-Encourage your aging loved one to stay properly hydrated at all times. The body uses water as its cooling system, so it is critical that they drink plenty throughout the day. If your senior must restrict their fluids due to a specific health condition, talk to their doctor about how much water is safe and healthy for them during hot weather.

-Review each of your parent’s medications with their doctor to make sure they don’t make your parent more vulnerable to heat.

-Never allow your parents to sit in a parked car for any length of time. Even if the windows are down, and the car is in the shade, the temperature can rise extremely quickly and put your parent in serious danger.

-Encourage your parent to relax during the hottest part of the day, and to avoid exerting themselves, particularly outside

As a family caregiver, one of your most important priorities is making sure your aging parents stay safe and healthy, while also encouraging them to maintain an independent and fulfilling lifestyle.

While there are many ways you can do this, starting home care for them can be one of the best. An in-home senior care services provider can be with your aging parent on a customized schedule designed to ensure they have continuous access to the level of care that is right for them, while also keeping you at the forefront of their care routine. This means your senior can stay safe, healthy, happy, and comfortable, while also pursuing more activity and allowing you to focus your own energy and effort on all responsibilities in your life in the most effective ways possible. This can relieve stress, support better health and well-being, and encourage a stronger relationship between you and your aging parent.

Are you or a loved one considering Senior Care in Salt Lake City, UT? Please talk to the friendly staff at December Rose Senior Care at Home. Providing Home Care in Highland, Utah and Surrounding Communities. 801-427-ROSE (7673)

https://www.mayoclinic.org/