What To Expect After A Senior Parent Has A Heart Attack

It’s very frightening when your senior parent has a heart attack. But after the worst has passed and your senior parent is ready to be released from the hospital there are still a lot of things that family members need to concerned about. Seniors who have had one heart attack have an increased risk of having another one. And if your senior loved one had bypass surgery or other invasive surgery they could need eight weeks or more of additional recovery. Some things that families should know about caring for a senior parent after that parent has a heart attack are:

Recovery Is A Process

When your senior parent is released from the hospital they may still have a long road of recovery ahead of them. It’s important to remember that recovery is a process. It’s not going to happen all at once. If you remember that you can help your senior parent remember that. There will be bad days when they feel like they’re not making any progress but you can be supportive and remind them that it takes time and consistent effort to recover from such a huge medical event.

Help Is Available

Seniors will need help at home while they recover, and probably after that too. They will need help with things like getting in and out of bed, getting to the bathroom, and so on. They will also need help getting the mail, doing the shopping, cooking meals, doing laundry, and doing other household tasks. Post-hospital care for seniors can provide the kind of practical day to day support that will make recovery safer and easier for seniors. Post-hospital care will ensure that seniors are safe and comfortable while they recover at home.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Recovery isn’t linear. Your senior parent may have more health setbacks. They could have a hard time recovering surgery. And they could have complications from other conditions after surgery. It often happens that seniors have a setback after having a period of progress. Try to not get discouraged by any setbacks, and help your senior parent not be discouraged too. Setbacks are going to happen unfortunately. They are part of the recovery and healing process. But seniors can choose to focus on making positive changes and not get mired down in the negativity that accompanies setbacks.

Focus On Making Positive Changes

After a heart attack seniors will have to make some lifestyle changes to prevent another heart attack. It can be very difficult for seniors to make big changes to their diet and lifestyle. You can provide support for your senior parent and encourage them to start will small changes. Consistent choices that are more in line with a healthy lifestyle are the best way for seniors to build sustainable healthy habits. So family member should encourage seniors to do things like walk every day and choose vegetables over rice and pasta and bread with their meals.