Your senior’s medications do a lot of good for her. They can also create some hazards for her, though. Some medications can dramatically increase your elderly family member’s risk of falling.
Elder Care in Chester PA: Senior Medications and Falls
Not Taking Medications May Not Be an Option
Your senior’s first impulse when medication contributes to her fall risk could be avoiding the medication. But the reality is that she’s prescribed that medication for a reason. Most of the medications that your elderly family member is prescribed are ones that she likely has to take to manage something specific. Not taking that medication isn’t an option, but finding a way to balance the benefits of the medication with her fall risk is a necessity.
Side Effects Are a Big Deal Now
The reason that some medications are a problem in terms of falls is that they bring side effects with them. Sometimes those side effects are obvious ones, like dizziness or drowsiness. Often those types of side effects are readily apparent from the first time your elderly family member takes the medication. Other medications have cumulative side effects that contribute to falls, which means that those side effects aren’t as obvious until your elderly family member has taken the medication for a longer period of time.
Some Medications May Interact with Others
If there have been changes to your senior’s medications, they may no longer cooperate with each other in your senior’s system. Some medications that may only make her a little dizzy when she takes them separately may have a much bigger impact when they’re taken together. It’s important to understand how different medications affect your elderly family member so that you can each be prepared.
Her Doctor Needs to Know What’s Going On
When and if you and your senior do notice that her medication seems to be increasing her fall risk, it’s vital that you talk to her doctor about what you’re seeing. It’s possible that adjusting some of the medications or their dosages can help your elderly family member to reduce her risk of falling and yet still be beneficial to her.
Until you and your senior work out what her medications mean for her, it might be a good idea for her to have some extra help. Senior care providers can assist her with mobility concerns and take over tasks that are a little trickier for her to handle when she’s not as steady on her feet.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Health Care in Chester, PA, please talk to the caring staff at Better Care Home Health Services LLC today. Serving individuals and their families in Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks counties. Call Today: (267) 766-5218
Better Care Home Health Services is a family-owned agency dedicated to providing excellent and comprehensive home health care to individuals and families of Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks counties. We are honored that God has blessed us with the opportunity to positively impact and change people’s lives. It is our mission to ensure that we provide the very best of care to our clients.
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