As people grow older, natural defenses against disease weaken.

Caregivers of elderly relatives or seniors need to strengthen efforts

to keep germs at bay to protect seniors’ health and quality of life.

 

Wash your hands!

Often neglected, hand washing is a key infection control

practice that substantially reduces the risk of illness.

Caregivers and seniors need to do this several times

a day. Our hands transfer germs whenever we touch

something or someone—and then touch our eyes, mouth

or nose. Hand washing with soap, for at least 15 to 20

seconds, eliminates most of the germs.

 

On a related note, always cover your mouth and nose

with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and wash your

hands or use hand sanitizer so you don’t spread germs.

(Before washing, throw away the tissue!

Don’t let it, and the germs, lie around for others to pick up.)

 

A few other important times to wash your hands:

• Before eating or preparing food

• Immediately after handling raw food, such as poultry

• After using the bathroom

• After contact with blood or body fluids*

• After touching a trash can, cleaning cloth or other contaminated area

• Before dressing a wound or giving medicines

*(Wash your hands even after wearing gloves. They do not provide an absolute barrier to germs. Wear gloves as needed, such as when exposure to bodily fluids is likely or the senior is infected with a pathogen that is spread by direct contact.)

 

Be considerate to others:

Have family members or friends in the wings, ready to help care for your loved one when you’re sick. And if you’re a professional home health caregiver or work with seniors, call in sick when you’re ill. For the elderly with chronic health conditions, even cold germs can be dangerous.

 

Be sure to bathe!

Seniors may not need a bath every day, but do need to bathe often
enough to prevent skin infections. To keep their skin from getting too
dry, make sure they use a good skin lotion.

 

Sanitize surfaces:

Keep hard surfaces—kitchen countertops, tabletops, desktops, and bathroom surfaces—clean and disinfected. Use a combination detergent and disinfectant or a cleaner first, followed by a thorough rinsing and disinfectant. Clean and disinfect other commonly touched surfaces, such as doorknobs and kitchen appliance handles and controls. Use sanitizing wipes on electronic items such as phones, computer keyboards and remote controls.

 

 

How’s the refrigerator?

What goes on behind the closed door of a refrigerator can be dangerous. Bacteria lurk, and can lead to food poisoning, when food is left too long, the refrigerator is dirty, or the temperature isn’t cold enough.

 

 

Boost resistance

You can’t stop every germ, but you can help your loved one intensify resistance to infection by making sure they eat regularly and maintain a well-balanced diet, get enough sleep and maintain physical activity at a level appropriate to their ability. And, caregivers, practice your own medicine.