Blog > Tips to Help Seniors Prevent Respiratory Illnesses During Cold Weather

Tips to Help Seniors Prevent Respiratory Illnesses During Cold Weather

Cold weather brings some different challenges for aging adults, especially around respiratory health. Many people believe that it’s the cold weather that makes respiratory illness more common, but it’s actually the fact that people are in more enclosed spaces consistently. Regardless of the reason, it’s essential for families to find ways to help seniors avoid respiratory illnesses if possible. Home care services are one tool that families might want to explore.

Maintain Good Indoor Air Quality

Good indoor air quality means that the air is fresh, well-ventilated, and free of allergens, germs, and respiratory irritants. Periodically opening a window can help, but when the weather is really bad that isn’t a great idea. That’s why it’s important to use things like humidifiers and air purifiers to improve indoor air quality. Some of these devices even have apps that help track indoor air quality. Home care providers can help aging adults to stay on top of indoor air quality.

Stay Hydrated

Another tool seniors can use to avoid respiratory illnesses is to stay hydrated. Lower humidity levels in colder weather means that seniors often experience dryer mucous membranes all throughout the respiratory tract, which is something to avoid. Home care providers can help seniors remember to drink plenty of water and eat foods that are hydrating.

Dress in Layers

Dressing in layers is a great way to help seniors avoid being too cold, which is really important in staying healthy. When seniors are spending a lot of energy keeping their bodies warm, that means that there are bodily resources that aren’t going toward more important things, like keeping the immune system strong. Layers help seniors to add and remove clothing throughout the day to help regulate their comfort.

Practice Good Hygiene

Good hygiene, especially around hand washing, helps seniors to remove germs before they can invade the body and make them sick. Home care providers can help seniors, family caregivers, and other family members to stay on top of proper hygiene. The easiest tools for this purpose are plain soap and water and hand sanitizers for times when soap and water aren’t available.

Get Vaccinated

Vaccinations for illnesses like pneumonia, the flu, and RSV can be important tools in helping seniors to avoid respiratory illnesses during colder weather. Seniors should talk to their doctors about what vaccines are the best options is really important as well. This can help seniors to ensure that they’re doing the most they can to avoid possibly becoming sick.

Home Care Millhopper FL – Tips to Help Seniors Prevent Respiratory Illnesses During Cold Weather

Avoid Exposure to Pollutants and Smoke

Smoke and other pollutants won’t make seniors sick on their own. But they do irritate the respiratory system and they can exacerbate existing respiratory conditions, which can increase the risk of infections. Avoiding these irritants takes first noticing where they show up and then putting a plan in place to work around them.
Cold weather doesn’t have to mean that seniors automatically get sick with respiratory illnesses. Home care providers can help seniors and family caregivers to spot potential contributing factors and then deal with them so that seniors can stay as happy and healthy as they can at home.