What Can You Do When Your Senior Is Dehydrated All the Time?

Your senior’s body can’t work as well as it is supposed to when she’s not properly hydrated. Chronic dehydration brings with it a lot of other health issues to worry about, too. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to dehydration, ranging from your senior’s diminished thirst response to medications that she might be taking. All of this means that keeping your senior hydrated is a high priority.

Look at Why She’s Getting Dehydrated

The first step in keeping your senior better hydrated is figuring out what’s causing the dehydration. It might be a good idea to work closely with her doctor to determine if there are medical reasons at play. If the cause is more about choices and simply not getting enough water in each day, that is a lot easier to manage with some simple changes and possibly a little bit of help.

Put a Routine in Place for Hydration

Hydration is a lot easier when your elderly family member has a routine that supports her drinking more hydrating fluids. That’s not always easy to do on her own, so having help from personal care at home can make a big difference. Home care providers can help your elderly family member to stick with her routines, reminding her to keep sipping hydrating beverages.

Revamp Her Diet to Include More Water Overall

But there’s a lot more involved in proper hydration than just drinking water. That’s a must, of course, but eating hydrating foods is also important. Many different vegetables and fruits contain a lot of water, making them foods that are good to include in your senior’s daily menus. Broth-based soups, cucumbers, berries, and melons are all just the tip of the iceberg for including more hydration in your elderly family member’s diet.

Look for Ways to Make Water More Appealing

Sometimes water just doesn’t cut it, though. And for some people, water is never a first or even a second choice. If that describes how your elderly family member feels about water, she might want to explore other ideas for hydration. Gelatin in flavors your senior loves can be hydrating, as can popsicles made with low-sugar ingredients. Personal care at home can make sure your elderly family member has plenty of choices available for easy access.

Find Ways to Reduce Water Loss

Water loss can also contribute to dehydration. If your elderly family member is overexerting herself a lot and is sweating a good deal, that can be a problem if she isn’t also replacing that water. Encouraging your elderly family member to balance her water intake and her water loss is important. It might mean keeping a log and paying closer attention to both water intake and activity levels to maintain a proper ratio.

Keeping your elderly family member safe and comfortable means sometimes encouraging her to do things she might not want to do, like drink more water. Ultimately, though, she should start to feel a lot better when she isn’t chronically dehydrated.