It’s no surprise that a new report indicates that senior citizens recover far more slowly than others when involved with car crashes. While it might take a few days or weeks for healthy adults to recover from a minor crash, seniors often find themselves in intense pain for months afterward. Some never recover. This has a negative impact upon their quality of life, and it can make just getting through daily tasks a difficult chore. An accident can make life difficult, and it can also make it much more expensive if proper care channels are not already in place.
One of the big takeaways from this study is the obvious necessity of helping seniors to find safe modes of transportation–both before and after any accident that might take place. If travel is necessary, you need to make sure that your loved one is able to drive themselves without hindrance. Try and give them a ride yourself if you are able to, find a trusted friend or another family member to do it, or hire a caregiver that is willing to provide transportation on an occasional basis. Some professional care services do provide this, even for respite care patients. Check with the care service before you begin using them if this is something you are interested in.
Elderly car accidents are far more likely to be using painkillers six months after their accident than younger victims are. About 10 percent become daily opioid users, which is a highly addictive type of drug that has been shown to increase mortality rates. Furthermore, elderly crash victims were more likely to visit the emergency room in the six months following their initial injury. Younger people had a 15% likelihood while the elderly were at 30%.
If your elderly loved one has been in a car accident and they are now unable to care for themselves, the nursing home might not be the best choice for them, especially if a recovery is a possibility. Yes, this might take a while longer than expected, but if they don’t need to spend the rest of their life in a nursing home, they shouldn’t have to. Instead, look for transitional care, and then when they are ready, shift your mom or dad back into a more independent lifestyle, such as what is found at an assisted living facility or even back in their own home with an in-home caregiver.
The big issue at the heart of all of this is the fact that an accident is usually preventable, and if one does occur, the impact upon quality of life is not always resolved in a good way. Instead, seniors find themselves getting inadequate care for their condition, and then find themselves in a situation that they do not want to be in for the rest of their lives. Understaffed nursing homes are a big culprit here, which is often what Medicaid pushes toward. If the accident cannot be prevented completely, other modes of care are often far better, especially if transportation is now available in some way.
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