Senior-proofing lives
My gym buddy’s tee was dripping wet. He looked bushed. “It’s mind over matter,” he said. “My body tells me no, but my 17-year-old mind tells me to keep going so I can still be playing racquetball when I’m your age.”
Like a few other early elderlies, he’s clinging to a fantasy that determination and hard work can overcome decades of subtle, progressive mental and physical decline.
But falls and accidents and their aftermath are leading causes of death and disability in people over 65. One in four elderly who break a hip will die within a year. Four of five survivors will have severe problems – like not being able to walk a full city block.
For survivors, recovery is a long, difficult slog with physical therapy for regaining strength and balance, and occupational therapy for learning new ways of doing activities previously taken for granted. And low spirits, lingering fears of falling and possibly self-deprecating feelings of guilt or anger complicate rehabilitation.
Along with their other health problems, a quarter of seniors have peripheral neuropathy, with diminished feelings and position senses in their legs and feet. Three quarters over 75 have balance issues.
In my late 70s, after a fall on the tennis court with only minor scrapes and bruises, I thought I’d merely tripped while focusing on a shot. A couple of weeks later I returned to play, nearly fell again, and quit a main source of exercise, socialization and fun. Two electromyelograms (emgs) since then demonstrated significant and progressive neuropathy.
My gym buddy’s naïve goal is keeping the good times rolling by demanding that his body conform to his desires. I’m trying to keep my good times rolling by managing risks of suffering, disability and early death. Like we “child proof” our home for toddlers, I’m senior-proofing my life to prevent accidents.
I’m disciplining myself to live a life balanced with aerobic and physical fitness exercises, socialization, moderation in diet, and personal pleasures like reading and writing.
After being honked at, I remembered riding with a dangerous elderly driver when I was a child, checked my driving, and decided to take the online 8 hour AARP Safe Driving Course. It has no possibility for taking short cuts. I learned that my age’s auto-accident death rate is the same as that of inexperienced drivers. In other words, years of experience don’t offer protection. Four times as many elderly die in auto accidents as teens.
Since completing the class, I’ve significantly changed my driving practices. I don’t talk on a cell phone. I don’t have complex conversations or discuss controversial topics with passengers while driving. I avoid left turns and go out of my way to make right turns. When left turns are necessary, I prefer making them with green arrows. I plan ahead to avoid making left turns against two-lanes of traffic in intersections without traffic lights.
It’s widely reported that seniors are overmedicated. With aging, the effects of drugs and alcohol are increased and last longer. Antidepressants, antianxiety, antihistamine, anticonvulsant, pain relieving medications and over-the-counter sleep-aid products make people more vulnerable to falling. They can affect their minds’ ability to process information and react to situations. Heart and high blood pressure drugs can affect balance.
It’s wise to consult with a pharmacist on your medications’ possible effects on balance and the mind. Doctors sometimes prescribe drugs hoping for benefits. But risking life-altering stumbles for “possible benefits” is too big a gamble.
To avoid stumbles, I plan my trips across rooms, up and down stairs, getting out of bed, and going from sitting to standing. I tripped and fell at Glacier this fall, skinning my knee and hand. Talking and walking, I momentarily took my eye off the boardwalk and didn’t see the single step. Almost all other steps in the Park had warning ribbons on their edges.
A majority of seniors’ catastrophic falls happen at home. An informal “what if” committee of seniors and their friends can periodically evaluate the effects of gradually diminishing strength, balance, vision and hearing on safety. Considerations for senior proofing homes include improving both inside and outside night lighting and color contrast, removing small rugs and other obstructions from walkways, arranging places inside to sit or lean against and rest and regain balance, strategically located safety bars in bathrooms, and a possible need for raised toilet seats with/out color contrast.
To borrow a military idiom, the army can’t make you do anything. But it can make you wish you had. That especially fits for senior proofing your life.
Overmedication is a huge problem with seniors.My father
Overmedication is a huge problem with seniors. So much attention is paid to making sure seniors take their medications correctly, but very little attention seems to be paid to when they should STOP taking their drugs. For example, my elderly father returned from a short hospital stay with two new drugs, each of which had four refills. One was an antibiotic drop for an eye infection, the other a heart medication. When I checked with the ophthalmologist about how long he should take the drops, I was told 2 weeks. But had I not checked, Dad would have continued to fill the prescription, assuming that if it had four refills, he needed to continue to take it. The same scenario occurred with the heart medication. It was intended to be short-term, and because of potential side effects, the cardiologist wanted him off of it after ten days. So why all the refills? Who knows. But unnecessary medication can cause confusion, dizziness, loss of balance, and drowsiness, all of which can contribute to the likelihood of falls. So, seniors and their caregivers need to ask not just “how do I take this medicine? but “when do I stop taking it?”