Ten
Warning Signs
Your Older Family Member May Need
Help
For many Americans, the Holiday season is one of the few
times during the year that adults and their older loved ones
spend quality time together. The Holidays may be a time when
families face and discuss the difficult decisions about finding
care for their older relative. Below is a guide of
“10 warning signs” to help families and older Americans
determine if help is needed. Any one of the behaviors listed
may or may not indicate that an action should be taken and your
family member’s physician should be kept informed of physical
or psychological behavior changes.
Has your family member:
- Changed eating habits within the last year resulting in
weight loss, having no appetite, or missed meals?
- Neglected personal hygiene resulting in wearing dirty
clothes, body odor, bad breath, neglected nails and teeth,
sores on the skin?
- Neglected their home so it is not as clean or sanitary
as you remember growing up?
- Exhibited inappropriate behavior by being unusually
loud or quiet, paranoid, agitated, making phone calls at
all hours?
- Changed relationship patterns such that friends and
neighbors have expressed concerns?
- Had physical problems such as burns or injury marks
resulting from general weakness, forgetfulness, or possible
misuse of alcohol or prescribed medications?
- Decreased or stopped participating in activities that
were previously important to them such as bridge or a book
club, dining with friends, or attending religious
services?
- Exhibited forgetfulness resulting in unopened mail,
piling newspapers, not filling their prescriptions, or
missed appointments?
- Mishandled finances such as not paying bills, losing
money, paying bills twice or more, or hiding money?
- Made unusual purchases such as buying more than one
magazine subscription of the same magazine, entered an
unusual amount of contests, increased usage of purchasing
from television advertisements?
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