Summer seems to linger longer than ever these days, so it’s important to continue to stay on top of how hot your senior’s home is and how well-prepared she is to keep as cool as possible.
Develop a Plan and Post it Somewhere
It might sound odd, but having a plan for when temperatures and heat indices hit a certain point can be important for your senior. She might argue otherwise that she is just fine, no matter how hot it is or how hot it feels. But if you’ve got a plan that you’ve ironed out in advance, it’s more difficult for her to argue with that plan. It’s also important to remember that often seniors have more trouble regulating body temperature and recognizing when they’re really too hot.
Humidity and Temperature Monitors Can Help
If you’re going to have a plan, you need to have a way to quantify things. There’s always the temperature monitor on the thermostat, but it can help to have another temperature monitor in the same room that your senior spends a lot of time in. You can get an inexpensive version that also displays the humidity, which is another important number to keep track of for her comfort. Many will also show you what the low and high numbers have been throughout the last 24 to 48 hours. That makes it a little more difficult for your senior to try to “cheat” on the plan you devise.
Keep Tabs on What’s Happening
You need to do your best to keep tabs on not just the weather, but on what’s going on specifically in your senior’s home. Checking on her in person is a crucial part of this goal, but that’s not always possible depending on the responsibilities in your life. Hiring homecare providers to check in on her too gives you an objective second set of eyes and ears that can let you know if there’s a problem.
Use All the Tools Your Senior Has
Lots of times people don’t want to run the air conditioner too much because that sends the power bill shooting up. While that makes sense, your senior needs to be safe and comfortable, which means she may need to go ahead and use the air conditioner. Some other tools can help, though. Dehumidifiers pull moisture out of the air and can make the room much more comfortable. Fans are another tool that can circulate cooler air and help the AC to work more efficiently.
When it’s too hot outside, that makes conditions dangerous for your family member even if she’s inside. Make sure that you do what you can to keep her cool and safe in the heat.