The Importance of Good Hand Hygiene for Seniors in Westminster, CO and Surrounding Areas

Learn how our senior home care services encourage older adults in Westminster, Broomfield, Northglenn and surrounding areas in Colorado maintain good hand hygiene

Does your elderly loved one often struggle with a cold? If so, boosting their immune system is one way to ensure their health. Another way is to keep them protected from the germs that cause common colds. The best way to do this is to ensure they maintain good hand hygiene. Since our senior home care services at Visiting Angels Westminster include personal care, your loved one’s caregiver can help them with bathing, grooming as well as washing their hands.

Hand Hygiene Tips

But why is it important that your loved one doesn’t catch a cold? Although younger adults can also suffer from a common cold, older adults are those who can end up with severe health problems. In fact, seniors with diabetes and other chronic conditions are at greater risk of serious complications from the flu and can end up with pneumonia, asthma, and heart disease.

Germs are those that cause the common cold and they are mostly spread by our hands. When your parent is eating, taking out the trash, using the toilet or playing with their pet, they can get infected with germs that are invisible to detect.  Handwashing is the easiest and effective way to decrease the spread of germs.

Our senior caregivers can ensure your loved one washes their hands properly. That means washing them for at least 20 seconds with clean water and soap, and rubbing the backs of their hands, between fingers and under nails.

You should also make sure you wash your hands every time you are entering and leaving your loved one’s home.

Use Hand Sanitizer in a Pinch

When your loved one doesn’t have access to soap and water, using a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol is a good strategy. In fact, this is a good option for seniors who suffer from mobility loss and find it difficult to go to the bathroom to wash their hands multiple times a day.

However, using a sanitizer is not a permanent substitute for handwashing, so if your parent needs help with moving around their home and maintaining personal hygiene, our senior home care services can help.

Visiting Angels Westminster’s Caregivers Are Trained in Good Hand Hygiene

At Visiting Angels Westminster, our caregivers understand the importance of good hand hygiene and are trained to reduce the chance of spreading germs among clients. They can clean surfaces in your loved one’s home and wipe high-traffic spots such as phones, doorknobs and bedrails.

If you wish to learn more about senior home care services we provide in Westminster, CO, and surrounding areas, do not hesitate to contact our office.