When family outings and other social events such as weddings and graduations call for time spent outdoors, it is important to help an elderly loved one to beat the heat. Remind your loved one to wear loose, breathable layers like cotton. Whenever possible, remind your aging loved one to wear lighter colors as well. A sun hat can also help to prevent sunburn on the skin. Bring an umbrella to help provide shade if trees or a canopy is not available at the event.
On these sweltering days of summer, your home may be the only cool shelter that you and your aging loved one can find. What if your home isn’t beating the heat as efficiently as you would like? Anything from a faulty air conditioning unit to a cracked window letting in the hot weather from outdoors can lead to excess heat in house. Some of these items may be expensive to fix, and not every senior has it in their budget to afford major home repairs. Fortunately, there are some cheaper alternatives to keeping cool in your home during these dog days of summer.
Did you know that fans can decrease the temperature in a room by up to seventy percent? If your aging loved one gets overheated, you can get a small and inexpensive fan to help circulate the cool air in the room. Fans help to keep the temperature balanced. Just make sure the fan is in a safe place! If their home is equipped with ceiling fans, make sure they are on whenever your aging loved one is home to help lower the temperature at a lower cost rather than cranking up the air conditioner.
If you are somewhat handy, it can be very beneficial to caulk doors and windows in your aging loved one’s home. Air leakage is a serious problem and wastes as much as thirty percent of energy use. A leak could cause both hot and cool air to move through the cracks in a building. Doors and windows are the most significant areas of loss. Running a bead of caulking around interior and exterior doors and windows will create a seal to minimize air flow, keeping cool air in and hot air out. Adding a door sweep on less used rooms will also help to lock cool air into more used rooms. Just be sure to close the air vent to the room that is not used much so you can push the cooler air in other rooms of the house.
Soaring temperatures and triple digit heat indices in Lansdale may be keeping you inside more than usual this year, but for aging seniors, dealing with the summer heat requires a little more planning than simply waiting it out indoors. One of the best things you can do to protect your aging parents and other senior loved ones from this summer’s sizzling heat wave is to prepare a personal summer survival kit. A simple helpful item that every senior needs nearby is a reusable water bottle to help maintain hydration. It is especially helpful for your family to gather together all copies of prescriptions and health insurance cards for easy reach. You can also create a list of phone numbers of health care providers and information concerning chronic health problems.
It is important to remember that our elderly loved ones are more impacted by extreme summer heat than those of a younger generation. Senior Helpers of Lansdale provides in home senior care that will give you and your family reassurance that your elderly loved one is not over exerting themselves in the heat and that they are staying safe. Seniors’ bodies aren’t as able to adjust to severe temperature changes as well as others are at a greater risk for heat. Your senior loved one may also be on a medication that limits their ability to respond to changes or affect their ability to perspire. While your senior loved ones are more likely to succumb to serious heat related illnesses, there are steps that can be taken to minimize that risk and keep them safe.
Many seniors are relatively active in their community, and it is very important that they keep up with their social appearances. Sometimes medications or mild forms of dementia might make driving alone unsafe. Helping a senior to and from local appointments, shopping and social gatherings will help them to stay connected, reduce feelings of isolation, and boost overall mood and sense of wellbeing. Staying connected is a great way to also combat depression. Senior Helpers of Lansdale, 215-699-5400, can provide the transportation to these special events and local activities within the areas of Lansdale, Green Lane, Doylestown, Buckingham, Carversville, Chalfont, Colmar, Dublin, Erwinna, Forrest Grove, Fountainville, Furlong, Hilltown, Holicong, Line, Lexington, Lumberville, Mechanicsville, Montgomeryville, Ottsville, Perkasie, Pipersville, Quakertown, Richlandtown, Rushland, Sellersville, Souderton, Telford, Upper Black Eddy, Warrington, Harleysville, Hatfield, North Wales, Skippack, Worcester, Mainland, Cedars.