Dos and Don’ts if Your Senior Starts Feeling Sick

During this coronavirus pandemic, it’s really vital to know what to do and what to avoid if your senior starts to feel ill.

 

 Home Health Care in Glenview IL: Senior Tips


Home Health Care in Glenview IL: Senior Tips

 

Don’t Immediately Go to the Hospital or to Urgent Care

It’s really important that you and your senior don’t hop in the car right away and head to her doctor, to urgent care, or to the hospital. There are a lot of reasons for this. First, if your senior does not have COVID-19, going to these places could expose her to the virus and her immune system is already battling something. Second, if she does have the coronavirus and her symptoms are mild, she runs the risk of infecting someone who doesn’t have the virus yet.

 

Do Call Your Senior’s Doctor

The better option is to call your senior’s doctor and let the office know what her symptoms are. They can go through a set of screening questions with you to narrow down what might be causing your senior’s illness. They’ve got her entire health history to refer to as well, which helps. If they determine that your senior likely does have COVID-19, they may recommend that she self-isolates and calls back if her symptoms change.

 

Do Keep an Eye on Symptoms

It’s a really good idea to start keeping a log of your senior’s symptoms. Just a simple notebook with information like any fever she has, how she’s feeling, and what she’s eating can give you a lot of data you can use. You’re going to need to know whether her fever is breaking and how high it gets and it’s not easy to just remember that information.

 

Do Stay Self-isolated While Experiencing Symptoms

Your senior does need to self-isolate while she’s experiencing symptoms. If she’s wondering when she is safe to stop self-isolating, the recommendations from the CDC include having had no fever for at least 72 hours without medication and that symptoms have improved. Additionally, at least seven days should have passed since your senior first became symptomatic. This is where keeping a log can really help you to narrow down exact dates.

 

Do Keep Washing Hands and Wearing a Face Mask

It’s still really important for your senior to keep washing her hands and to wear a face mask. That’s especially true if there are other people in the house with her. These actions can help to reduce the risk that she’ll pass along the virus to someone else in the house.

 

The CDC has some distinct recommendations if someone in your household is sick with COVID-19. If you’re not able to disinfect or to help your senior as much as she needs, you may need some extra help. Senior care providers can be the extra set of hands that you need and they’re well-versed in how to take precautions to avoid spreading germs.

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in Northbrook, IL, call the caring staff at LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services. Call (888) 606-4199 LifeCare serves all of the Chicago Metro Area.

LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services