Follow These Tips To Take Care Of Elderly During Winter Season

During the winter season, it is important to take extra care of elderly. Your body is more prone infections and diseases in cold weather. Cold, flu and other winter ailments are common among all age groups. Joint pain is another common issue faced by elderly with a drop in temperature. Cold weather - along with pollution - poses a serious health risk, especially to the elderly. From sitting under the sun to a healthy diet, you can follow various guidelines to safeguard elders from the harsh weather. Here are some tips you should follow.

Winter care for elderly: Follow these tips

• While going out, make sure that they are wearing warm clothes and that their clothes or jackets should be waterproof. Whenever they go out, choose woolen clothes and also keep in mind that they have hats and socks on.
• It is very important to have a balanced diet during winter to avoid cold and other related problems. Make sure to give a balanced diet to both the elderly and children, which involves fruits and vegetables containing vitamins. And also ensure that they eat less outside food.

Eat a well balanced diet to stay healthy during the winter season
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• Stock up on all the necessary medicines of the elderly and feed them small meals throughout the day.
• You should ensure that they are not dehydrated. Ensure enough water intake. You can also give them other liquids such as soup or hot milk with honey or turmeric.
• You can also give green tea or ginger tea to the elderly, it helps in lowering the cholesterol level, increases the density of bones and also increases metabolism.

Drink herbal tea during the winter season for better health
Photo Credit: iStock

• Motivate both children and the elderly to do pranayama and yoga. Pranayama helps the body's immune system to revive cells that fight diseases and other infections. Pranayama also helps in curing heart diseases. Yoga helps both children and the elderly and makes the immune system strong.
• During winter the skin becomes thin, therefore, it is mandatory to wear light layers. Humidifiers in the home are a great way to keep the air moist and consume clean air. It also helps to keep the skin cracking and redness at bay.
• Exposure to sunlight is also necessary to ensure optimum levels of vitamin D for healthy bones and joints. You should ensure enough intake of vitamin D through diet.

(Dr. G. Prakash, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jindal Naturecure Institute)

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