Older adult health issues

It seems to me that while older adults face greater vulnerability to a number of health issues, their complaints that might lead to early detection are often ignored. Also the complexities presented by dementia, neuopathy, and depression so common in older adults can confound the efforts at diagnosis and intervention. My father's PAD was ignored despite his continued complaints of heavy feet. His dementia was blamed until a loosened blood clot lodged in his lung. The neuopathy in his arm was diagnosed and measures to enhance the possibility of returning function employed but I wonder if so many in the nursing home setting with decreased function of hands and arms may have failed get the same early prevention provisions. My mother's severe headaches were made light of by the medical professional to the point that she felt that there was no hope. Hospice finally brought relief, but why did she have to wait for comfort until she was closer to death. Bladder incontinence is taken as a fact of aging life with little effort extended to improve function. The solution seems to be to put them in a disposable brief. There is a saying among the pro-life proponents that comes from Dr. Seuss, "a person is a person, no matter how small." We should apply that to our older adults as well. A person is a person, no matter how old.

Decisions in cases of Dementia

The most difficult thing about caregiving is making decisions for others. The most important thing is that the decisions reflect what the person would have decided if they were in the position to make the decision. You know how to make some decisions because you know the person well enough to know what they would have decided, but there are so many things you can not be sure of and others that there is no way to know at all. Sometimes what you believe and feel is right is directly opposed to what you know they want, so you must deny your senses and go with thier wishes. This can be especially difficult.