What to Do While Your Senior Is in the Hospital After a Heart Attack

Home Care in East Quogue NY

A heart attack can be a truly life-changing experience for your elderly parent and for you as their family caregiver. In this one moment your senior can go from living their life to being in the hospital receiving life-saving treatment to stabilize their heart, manage the damage that might have occurred during the attack, and then help strengthen their body so that they do not suffer another heart attack. As soon as you find out that your parent has experienced a heart attack, your care efforts must begin. While they are still in the hospital you can take many steps to help them make the most of their recovery and prepare them to move forward in a healthier way of life.

Some things that you should do while your senior is in the hospital after a heart attack include:

• Stay organized. Caring for an elderly adult after a heart attack can be complex and confusing. Staying organized with all of the information about your parent, their medical team, their current care, specialists, and more is essential to enabling you to keep your parent’s care under control. Establish a care notebook, take thorough notes, and never hesitate to ask for copies of information, test results, and prescriptions.
• Ask questions. You are your parent’s advocate, support, and leader of their care. Knowing everything that you can about their care needs is critical to ensuring that they are safe, getting the proper care, and are prepared for the continued needs of their recovery. Do not hesitate to ask questions about what your parent is going through, the care and treatment that they are receiving, and what you can do for them once they leave the hospital and return home.
• Create a care environment at home. Depending on the severity of the heart attack, recovery can be long and arduous. You want to make sure that your parent’s home is properly equipped to ensure that they get the care that they need when they return home. This includes considering moving their bed downstairs, ensuring there is healthy, easy food available, and creating a clean, accessible environment.

Starting home care for your elderly loved one can be one of the best decisions that you make for them throughout your care journey with them. Particularly if your aging parent is at increased risk for a heart attack or has recently suffered a heart attack, the highly personalized services of an in-home senior care services provider can help your senior to manage their needs and stay healthier and stronger throughout their later years. By recognizing your parent’s individual care needs, this care provider can help your parent to address their needs in the way that is right for them according to their thoughts, beliefs, goals, and lifestyle. This means that they stay healthier, manage their challenges effectively, and enjoy a quality of life that is fulfilling and customized to them as an individual. While they are recovering from a heart attack, this care provider can handle tasks around your parent’s home so that they can get the rest that they need, as well as provide valuable reminders to encourage your parent to remain compliant with the prescriptions and guidelines from their doctor.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional home care in East Quogue, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.

Sources:

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000063.htm

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/WarningSignsofaHeartAttack/Warning-Signs-of-a-Heart-Attack_UCM_002039_Article.jsp#.WHEDHPkrK00