The Importance of Good Hand Hygiene for Seniors
The Importance Of Good Hand Hygiene For Seniors Summary:
- Good hand hygiene is essential to the well-being of seniors in Littleton, CO and surrounding areas and how our home care specialists can help your loved one keep their hands clean.
- Eating healthy foods and staying physically active is important, but since germs that cause the common cold are usually spread by hands it is necessary that your parent keeps their hands clean.
- Every time your parent is handling food, emptying trash, using the toilet or handling pets or their waste, they are spreading germs on their hands.
- In the absence of water and soap, your loved one can use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
- Visiting Angels Littleton home care specialists can make sure your parent washes their hands properly.
Here’s why good hand hygiene is essential to the well-being of seniors in Littleton, CO and surrounding areas and how our home care specialists can help your loved one keep their hands clean
Although there are vaccines for all kinds of diseases, there is still not one for the common cold. To ensure your loved one’s well-being and help them age independently at home, finding ways to reduce cold risks is important. The easiest and most effective way to keep themselves protected from the germs that cause colds is washing their hands regularly.
Our home care specialists at Visiting Angels Littleton can make sure your aging loved one maintains their personal hygiene and help them with personal tasks whenever needed.
Colds Can be Serious for Seniors
Maybe the fact that your parent often struggles with a common cold doesn’t concern you, but keep in mind that the effects of this condition on your loved one should not be overlooked. Seniors can easily develop serious conditions such as pneumonia, asthma and heart disease as a result of complications from the flu. Making sure your loved one eats healthy foods and stays physically active is important, but since germs that cause the common cold are usually spread by hands it is necessary that your parent keeps their hands clean.
Every time your parent is handling food, emptying trash, using the toilet or handling pets or their waste, they are spreading germs on their hands. Washing them regularly is a great prevention technique to decrease the spread of germs.
Hand Hygiene Facts
Washing their hands for a few seconds won’t kill the germs. In fact, your loved one should wash them for at least 20 seconds with clean water and soap. It is also important that they clean the backs of their hands, between fingers and under nails. At Visiting Angels Littleton, our home care specialists can make sure your parent washes their hands properly.
When you are entering your loved one’s home, make sure you also wash your hands and cover your nose and mouth while sneezing.
Use Hand Sanitizer in a Pinch
In case there is no water and soap, your loved one can use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol. They should make sure to cover the entire hand area and rub their hands until they are dry. However, your loved one should not use a sanitizer as a substitute for handwashing at all times. Soap and water are still the best weapons against germs.
Our Home Care Specialists in Littleton Are Trained in Good Hand Hygiene
Our caregivers can make sure your loved one keeps their hands clean and help them with personal tasks. They can also disinfect surfaces and wipe down high-traffic spots in your parent’s home to stop the spread of the germs.
If you wish to learn more about our in-home senior care services, please contact our office in Littleton, CO.