The risk of having diabetes is high especially for people above 60 years. Diabetes stops the production of insulin in the body, therefore there is a complete change in lifestyle to stay healthy. For older adults, a need for attentive care increases, and in most cases, caregivers can’t meet up.
This is where senior living comes in, they help manage this condition to help your loved ones live comfortably. The followings are ways assisted living can help manage older adults with diabetes:
Healthy Dietary Plan
A meal plan is important for an older adult with diabetes. This is why a lot of assisted living communities have nutritionists as part of their team members to customize meal plans. These communities offer special dietary plans with healthy meals. In addition, helps control things like saturated fats and sodium in the diet.
However, in the absence of a full-time nutritionist, communities have experts who they consult to create a food menu.
Fitness and Wellness Program
Fitness programs are as important as a healthy diet to help your older loved ones stay healthy. Engaging in exercises will your diabetic loved ones control their weight. Also, consistently engaging in physical activities helps control their blood sugar.
Your loved ones develop a body system that is sensitive to insulin when they participate in activities. Assisted living communities offer scheduled activities and fitness programs to help your loved ones maintain a healthy weight.
Your older adult has the choice of choosing the most appropriate for them. They can decide to swim, walk around, or stretch. When you are confused about the right one to choose there are always team members around to guide you.
Comprehensive Diabetes Treatment
One of the reasons, assisted living communities are suitable for managing diabetics is experience. These communities have had a couple of experiences helping diabetic older adults live healthy life. They mostly have care tailored to the individual needs of residents.
When you are moving your loved ones into assisted living, the centers will evaluate the severity of diabetes. This is to help them know the type of care to administer to your loved one.
They will closely monitor their lifestyles, diet, and participation in activities to help them manage diabetes. Another crucial thing they monitor is the blood sugar level. This can lead to many complications for your older adults, so it must not be too low or high.
Monitoring symptoms
Monitoring symptoms is important while managing diabetes in older adults. However, some symptoms are obvious and subject to overlooking. Members in assisted living communities will perform a detailed check into the medical report to prevent any complications.
This check will allow them to understand the condition of your loved one and know the type of care to help lower their blood sugar level.
Checking of Blood Glucose level
Blood sugar level as mentioned above is essential for people with diabetes. It must not be too low or high as it might lead to health issues. When the blood sugar level is not properly managed, your loved ones will start having issues with the heart, kidney, and blood circulation. All these happen especially when the blood glucose level is too high.
On the other hand, when it drops too low your loved one’s experience weariness, restlessness, and dizziness. To prevent these from happening assisted living communities to have medical personnel on-ground and also assist with medication.
