How can residential nursing care make a difference for seniors with Parkinson’s?
For older people living with Parkinson’s, especially those in the later stages of this complex disease, residential nursing care can make a big difference to quality of life.
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects a person’s movement, though everybody’s experience of the disease is different. For this reason, residential nursing care plays a crucial role when it comes to providing comprehensive support as well as specialised assistance and medical attention.
With trained nursing staff available around the clock in a residential care setting, an elderly person with Parkinson’s can be monitored and their changing needs met in various different ways.
1. Administering medication on time
It’s very important that Parkinson’s medication is administered regularly and at the right time. With professional nursing care staff on hand, you can be sure that you or your loved one will receive medication when it’s needed, and that treatment plans will be monitored over time.
2. Ensuring a balanced diet
It’s much easier for a person’s nutritional needs to be met in a professional care setting. Parkinson’s can affect someone’s ability to swallow and other eating habits, meaning that maintaining a balanced diet can be challenging.
But in a residential nursing home, a senior with Parkinson’s may benefit from the assistance and expertise of trained nutritionists and dieticians.
3. Providing additional therapy
As well as medical care, residential nursing centres offer physical and occupational therapy programmes that can help to improve mobility, coordination and balance. This helps maintain a person’s functional abilities and independence, which in turn can have a positive effect on overall health and mental health too.
4. Improving mental health and wellbeing
Mental wellbeing can also be improved through residential care. Socialisation is hugely important for older people and those with Parkinson’s will have greater, easier access to a range of support groups and social activities that help them connect to other residents and form important social connections.
In turn, this can lower the risk of depression and loneliness, which can be especially prevalent among older people during the festive season and other seasonal holidays.
5. Staying safe
Safety is another important way in which residential nursing care can make a difference to those living with Parkinson’s, and their families. Impaired balance and coordination that comes with the disease increases the risk of someone suffering falls or other accidents.
But a care home provides a safe, supportive environment, with specialist equipment such as grab bars and mobility aids, as well as trained staff on hand.
If you or a loved one is living with Parkinson’s and would benefit from residential nursing care, contact Wessex Care today.
