As people age, their ability to maintain a normal internal body temperature often decreases. Because elderly people seem to be relatively insensitive to moderately cold conditions, they can suffer hypothermia without knowing they're in danger.
Hypothermia means the body temperature has fallen below normal. It occurs when your body can't produce enough energy to keep the internal body temperature warm enough and the condition can kill. Heart failure causes most deaths in hypothermia, the American Heart Association notes.
The following tips, from Home Instead Senior Care, will help you safeguard a senior loved one or neighbor.
- Fill
the cupboard. Help your senior stock the staples and groceries they’ll
need in the event of a large snowstorm or cold spell.
- Maximize energy. Encourage your senior to make sure they have adequate insulation and to check and clean the fireplace and furnace.
- Minimize
drafts. Help your senior fill old socks with sand and use them in drafty
windowsills and door jams. Weather-strip around windows and doors. Keep
doors closed to unused rooms and close curtains at night.
- Stay
toasty. Advise your senior to add an extra blanket to the bed and warm the
bed in advance with a hot water bottle. Never use electric blankets. A senior may not be able to operate the
controls if the temperature needs to be adjusted in the night.
- Dress
warmly. A senior’s circulation decreases with age. Encourage your senior
to wear an extra sweater or sweatshirt, and sweat pants during the winter.
- Monitor
the thermostat. Check with your senior to make sure that they’re keeping
the thermostat above 65 degrees during the cold weather. Older adults are
particularly susceptible to hypothermia, which can develop over a few days
and weeks even in the mildly cool indoor temperatures of 60 to 65 degrees.
- Beware of budget problems. Make sure your senior isn’t trying to save money by keeping the thermostat down. Many communities have energy assistance programs for low- and fixed-income households.
- Avoid
slips. Make sure your senior has made arrangements to have driveways and
walkways cleaned. Salt and sand should be available to speed melting.
- Stay
in touch. Check on your neighbor or loved one frequently during periods of
cold and snowy weather.
- Build
a network. You can’t always be around to help your elderly loved one. Call
on neighbors, family and church members to help. Or contact your local
Home Instead Senior Care office.
