The Dangers of Dehydration for Seniors

The Dangers of Dehydration for Seniors

As summer temperatures start to soar, so do the concerns around dehydration particularly in seniors. Family members and caregivers who check in on elderly parents or relatives should be aware of prevention measures, how to recognize the signs, and properly handle dehydration.

“When our bodies are not consuming enough fluid to balance the water lost (i.e. through exercise, illness, increased urination, drinking alcohol, etc.), we can become dehydrated. The importance of drinking water every day cannot be over emphasized, especially during hot days,” explained Dr. Lynn Swisher, NHA, Vice President pf Health Services at Moravian Manor Communities. “Our body is 60% water and we must remember to keep our water intake in balance and not become dehydrated.”

Dr. Swisher pointed out several signs of dehydration as:

  • Reduced cognitive processing
  • Thirst
  • Dry mouth
  • Dizziness
  • Infrequent urination & dark colored urine
  • Confused or dazed state of awareness 

“Another more concerning fact is that dehydration can place those with clotting disorders at increased risk for a stroke,” she continued.

What Can Cause Dehydration in Seniors

While many cases of dehydration in seniors occurs when someone does not drink enough water, it may happen for other reasons including diarrhea, increased excessive sweating, loss of blood, and underlying health issues such as diabetes. Many prescribed over-the-counter medications can also cause dehydration as a side effects, such as diuretics, blood pressure and anti-depression medications.

For seniors, there are also physical changes with an aging body that can make them more at risk for dehydration. Older adults often have a reduced physical sense of thirst, so even if their body needs more fluids, they might not realize it. By the time they feel thirsty, that’s already an indication of early dehydration. Seniors also have less lean tissue in their body composition, where the body stores water,

In addition, body composition changes that come with aging can impact seniors and proper hydration. The body is made up of around 60% water, mostly stored in lean tissue. Because seniors have less lean tissue due to these physical changes, they already have less stored water in their bodies to start with than younger adults.

Mobility also comes into play, as seniors may have a more difficult time getting up to get something to drink or it’s too much of an effort to visit the restroom frequently if they are properly hydrating. Kidney function also can deteriorate as we age, making it harder to conserve fluids.

Another common cause of dehydration is the fact that many of the early symptoms can be attributed to medical conditions, medication side effects or others reasons that get dismissed as something other than dehydration.

How Dehydration Affects Seniors

Regardless of age, our bodies need water for a variety of functions. Water helps regulate our body temperature through sweating, carries nutrients to cells, pumps blood to muscles, supports mental performance, lubricates and cushions joints, and eliminates bodily waste. This is why even becoming mildly dehydrated can have serious consequences for seniors.

Without proper hydration, memory and attention can be impacted, and seniors may have slower reaction times in addition to low blood pressure, weakness, dizziness and the increased risk of falls. In addition, dehydration can lead to an increased risk for kidney stones, urinary tract infections, constipation and respiratory tract infections. Underlying health conditions like cardiac or renal problems can also be impacted by poor hydration and lead to unexpected hospital stays.

Recognizing Common Signs & Symptoms

Detecting when a senior is dehydrated is not always easy as the symptoms can be subtle. In addition to the list provided above, these are other signs to watch for in seniors.

  • Dry or sticky mouth and tongue
  • Decreased urination or constipation or trouble using the bathroom; dark or deep yellow urine
  • Cramping in limbs
  • Headaches
  • Low sweat production
  • Exhaustion or change in mood
  • Weakness, general feeling of being unwell
  • Sleepiness or irritability
  • Drop in blood pressure 
  • Rapid heart rate
  • Breathing faster than normal
  • Convulsions
  • Severe cramping and muscle contractions in limbs, back and stomach
  • Difficulty walking
  • Mental confusion or disorientation
  • Bloated stomach
  • Rapid but weak pulse
  • Dry skin
  • Sunken eyes with few or no tears
  • Skin that doesn’t bounce back/less skin elasticity

Recovering from Dehydration

It’s imperative that seniors who are dehydrated and showing symptoms seek the advice of their physician. Individuals with mild cases may be directed to drink water or electrolyte drinks such as Gatorade to replenish lost water and minerals. Severe cases require medical intervention and will most likely be hospitalized and rehydrated intravenously.

Tips for Seniors to Stay Hydrated 

One of the most important aspect for seniors to know is to drink even when they don’t feel thirsty. While they may not be able to drink a full 8 ounces at a time, sipping on water throughout the day can support their health. Perhaps keeping a glass or bottle of water near a favorite chair, on the kitchen counter, or by the bed can remind them to take little sips throughout the entire day. 

While water is best, drinking only water can be boring. Adding some fruit or flavoring to water can help tempt the taste buds to keep drinking. Juice can be very high in sugar, so try a 50/50 mixture of juice and water if desired. Tea and coffee with caffeine, as well as alcohol, can have a diuretic effect, which leads to loss of body water, and thus should not be considered toward the daily fluid intake goal. Herbal teas or noncaffeinated beverages would be better choices to support proper hydration.

There are also plenty of foods that are high in water content that can help seniors reach their goal. Water-rich foods include watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, peaches, oranges, grapes, cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, celery, yogurt, coconut water, broths and soup, skim milk, and more.

To help determine how much water you need each day, a good formula to take one-third of your weight and drink that number of ounces in water daily (160-lb person would need 60 ounces of water daily).

Seniors with certain medical conditions, particularly heart failure, may have more specific water needs, and should always consult with their doctor before changing liquid intake goals.

3 Reasons Why Aging in Place May Not Be Cheaper

3 Reasons Why Aging in Place May Not Be Cheaper

A common perception today is that it’s cheaper for aging adults to stay in their home as long as possible versus moving to a community-based setting. However, that is not always the case. Here are three reasons why:

1. Home modifications and upkeep

Depending on the layout of your home, modifications may be necessary as you age in order to make the home safer and more navigable when mobility declines. Basic home modifications such installing grab bars, sturdying rails, replacing dangerous rugs, and putting in better lighting can cost up to $10,000. More extensive modifications such as removing (or reducing the height of) steps, widening hallways, adding a ramp, lowering cabinets or appliances, installing no-step showers, and possibly even installing a generator to protect against power loss–particularly in the extreme summer or winter months–could easily add up to $100,000 or more, depending on the size of the house and whether it is one or two stories.

Check out our blog from earlier this month, “Aging in Place: How Much Will Those Renovations Cost?,” where EGStoltzfus Custom Homes and Remodeling Division shares how much typical home renovations may cost to make your home compatible with your needs as you age.

Not doing the necessary modifications could put you or a loved one at risk for an accident that could ultimately cost more than the modification, and could result in significant health issues.

In addition to home modification, there also is the cost of occasional repairs. Home ownership is expensive and can be even more so if a house becomes neglected over time. Replacing a roof or heating system can easily cost $6,000 or more. Other unforeseen expenses will inevitably pop up that can easily exceed $1,000 each time.

Then there are the ongoing maintenance and living costs such as housekeeping, yard maintenance, gutter cleaning, groceries, increasing property taxes, lightbulbs, air filters, utilities, and more. These expenses can easily total several thousand dollars or more each month. If you still have a mortgage payment, which is far more common for seniors today than in the past, this adds to the cost.

2. Care services may cost more than you think

Between 50 and 70 percent of people over the age of 65 will eventually need significant help with their day-to-day tasks and overall care. The national average cost of in-home care is around $3,800 per month, based on 44 hours of care per week, or around 6 hours per day. Some seniors will need less than 6 hours of care per day, while others may need more. But when you consider that you may need homemaker services as well as home healthcare services, the hours may add up to more than you think, particularly as your needs progress. 

Plus, there are other paid services that you may need, such as monitoring services, adult daycare, bill paying and recordkeeping, and other assistive technology. These services could easily add up to another $500 – $1,000 per month, depending on which services you need or choose.

By comparison, the national average cost of an assisted living community is actually less at $3,628 per month. To be fair, this, too, could be much higher depending on the level of care you need. Skilled nursing care, the highest form of care, is often provided in a community setting, where it costs $7,000 or $8,000 per month on average. Skilled care typically means 24-hour care, so no matter whether it is provided in a facility or at home, the cost will be substantially higher.

An important point to keep in mind when thinking about the total cost of care and other services while staying in the home is that these expenses are in addition to potential modifications and the other home maintenance costs described above. 

3. Impact on the next generation

The majority of caregiving in the home is provided by unpaid family members. Clearly, relying on the care and support of loved ones is cheaper, on the surface, than hiring paid care. But there is often a hidden cost to this approach. Family caregivers often have to take time away from their own careers or even retire early. Research reveals that the average lost lifetime wages and benefits of an unpaid family caregiver is almost $304,000. Therefore, in many cases, the cost of aging in place is essentially passed on to the next generation in the form of lost compensation and future benefits.

Additionally, studies show that approximately half of all family caregivers pay at least $5,000 per year out of pocket, year over year, for things like food, medication, and bills for their aging loved one.

Aside from the loss of wages and benefits, and out-of-pocket costs, unpaid family caregivers experience other non-financial costs including mental, emotional, and even physical strain. Many caregivers report high levels of stress and even depression, which can lead to other health problems…and increased healthcare expenses.

Adding it all up

It is logical that a majority of aging adults would want to stay in their own home for as long as possible –it’s comfortable and familiar to them and likely contains countless fond memories. And while at first blush it seems that aging in place would be the most economical solution for seniors, that isn’t always the case, especially if unforeseen health issues arise. So get that calculator out of the desk drawer and start doing the math to see if it is really that much less expensive (especially in the long term) for you or your loved one to stay in the house.

Meet the Campus Metal Sculptor

Meet the Campus Metal Sculptor

Look around the Founders Campus and you’ll see many original sculptures. But do you know the story behind them, or the man who created them?

Meet Milt Machalek … who has quite a life story as a self-taught mechanic, research physicist, guest of the Soviet State, US-Russian businessman and metal sculptor.

Milt was born into the Czech-Moravian Brethren Church and is 100% ethnic Moravian. Around 1900, his grandparents were part of a 100,000 migration of Czechs, Moravians, and Slovaks to Texas, so Milt grew up in a Czech community where they spoke the Moravian dialect of Czech in their home. At the age of five when his family moved to a 100-acre farm near Belton, 60 miles north of Austin, he was thrust into first grade and quickly needed to learn to speak English.

Milt spent the next 13 years growing up on the farm, disliking it. To pass the time, he took up tractor maintenance. In the ninth grade, Milt decided on his life’s work. Interested in electricity and mechanical things, he was determined to be a research scientist…a physicist. Milt graduated first in his high school class in 1959 and went on to attend Harvard with a generous scholarship.

He met his future wife, Roberta, to whom he’s been married to for 55 years, on a bus going from New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal to Boston. She was returning home to Framingham after having visited a friend in New Jersey. Serendipitously, he was returning for his junior year at Harvard after taking a detour of a day to visit a high school classmate at West Point.

“As we stood waiting to board the bus for Boston, the bus completely filled and we were the only two left standing there. We were advised a second bus would come and Roberta and I were the only two on it…for four plus hours to Boston. Now, Roberta remembers that I came and sat down beside her, but I remember it quite differently. This cute Yankee girl came and sat down beside this naive Texas farm boy, whom she plied with a pastrami sandwich,” something he had never tasted before, Milt said with a chuckle. “After 55 years, we still disagree on the details of that trip. Nonetheless, she gave me her telephone number, we began to date, and then married at Harvard’s Memorial Church two days after I graduated in June 1963.” 

It was his background in physics that protected him from the Vietnam War. “Many of my friends and former classmates either joined up or were drafted, and I was ready to face the reality. However, someone in the government decided I was more valuable doing nuclear physics research than carrying a gun in southeast Asia, and so my deferment was extended.”

While enrolled in the physics graduate program at the University of Texas, he joined the newly formed Center for Plasma Physics and Thermonuclear Research, whose aim was to find peaceful sources of nuclear energy. A rare opportunity, he made a discovery of the detailed physics mechanism that occurs in the earth’s magnetic field to deflect the sun’s radioactive “solar wind” particles from reaching us here on the surface of the earth. 

With a PhD in hand, Milt was immediately offered a position in plasma physics research at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico. Within days of this, they discovered Roberta was pregnant and with Los Alamos being at 8,000 feet, they didn’t want to have her first pregnancy at that elevation. Instead, Milt asked for and received a postdoctoral research position in the Physics Department in Austin, while Los Alamos held his position for a year.

In April 1973, with their three-month-old son, Milt and Roberta headed to Los Alamos, whose mission was to harness the awesome power of the atom for the peaceful production of clean energy. (side note: Los Alamos was the place in the 1940’s where the first atomic bomb was developed in super secrecy. In the 1970s, half the laboratory was engaged in weapons and half in non-weapons scientific research.)

Despite the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union, both sides were trying to cooperate in the pursuit of Controlled Fusion Energy. Both sides had sent delegations of

scientists back and forth for short exchanges. Unbeknownst to Milt, the US and USSR were devising a pioneering plan for a young, Russian-speaking plasma physicist and his family to travel to the Soviet Union for an extended stay. While at Harvard, Milt learned Russian, close in many ways to his native Czech. And with a young family, Milt was the perfect candidate. He received a two-week, VIP Tour of the Soviet Union and then a year later travelled back, with

Roberta and his three-year-old son, to Leningrad. “Each of our visas said ‘Guest of the Soviet State!’” he explained. For the next four months, they had an adventure of a lifetime.

After six years at Los Alamos, Roberta desired to move back East to be close to her aging parents in Massachusetts. Coincidentally, Milt knew the director of the Office of Fusion Energy as they both were new PhD’s doing post-doctoral assignments at the same time at Texas. A short yet fruitful call to her opened the door at Princeton University’s Plasma Physics Laboratory, where they were constructing the latest and largest fusion energy research machine in the world.

With the fall of the USSR, the funding for fusion research was greatly curtailed. In 1991, Milt began a consulting contract with American Re-Insurance Company, working to make quiet inroads in Russia. He began traveling every few months to Russia, sometimes staying for weeks at a time, overtly looking for intellectual property that Am-Re might acquire and commercialize in the West.

During this time, Milt decided to create his own company, and in 1992, incorporated four companies in the US. He formed an agreement with a Russian physicist and together they started exporting high purity niobium metal (used to make super conducting wire for MRI machines) from Kazakhstan to the US. Around 1995, the business partners turned things around and began shipping reflective building insulation into Russia. This too became a booming business, and in 1997 he and his family bought a ten-acre, historical farm in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County. However, a year later, value of the ruble collapsed, and within 30 days his company was out of business.

After the ruble crisis, Milt was at loose ends. During his “idle time,” he turned to his self-taught mechanic ways working on his classic car collection, a 1935 Bentley, a 1961 Rolls-Royce and a 1965 Ferrari. He repaired just about every component of a car, and invested around 2,000 hours in restoring the Rolls-Royce engine in the ‘35 Bentley. He also began making sculptures, placing them around the farm property, as well as smaller pieces for inside.

In 2001, he joined the newly retired CEO and owner of Thermacore in forming a new company, STAR-H Corporation, based in State College, a tiny high-tech company designing and producing highly specialized radio communications antennas. He’s served as CEO for the past 10 years and still holds this position today.

Milt and Roberta eventually began thinking about moving to a retirement community, realizing that they couldn’t stay on the farm with all the constant maintenance it required. The process took about four years, but in March 2017, Milt and Robert moved into the Garden Court Apartments at Moravian Manor. But Milt had more than 20 pieces of outdoor sculptures on the farm that presented a dilemma. As an unknown artist, he attempted to sell the pieces to no avail. After discussions with David Swartley, the Manor’s CEO and President, a deal was made to bring the pieces to reside on the Manor campus, to share with the community.

“I am deeply grateful for the good fortunes that have come my way, and continue to come my way, in my life,” stated Milt. “Having traveled extensively in the world, particularly in parts of the former Soviet Union and India, I often think, ‘What if I had been born there?’ What if I had no chance whatever for an education, living in squalid poverty, struggling each day simply to find something to eat and dying before I reached even 40? I am deeply grateful and I hope in my several ’lives’ so far, I have made some positive contributions to my fellow human beings, to all of whom I recognized I am connected.”

Milt has a constant reminder about the preciousness of life and his existence. “On the back window of my truck, I have a sticker that says, in my native Moravian language, ‘Nic Netrvá Věčně,’ ‘Nothing Lasts Forever.’ The past is gone forever except in memory. The future exists only in imagination. Only the present moment exists in reality.”

David Swartley COVID Update #22

FROM: David Swartley, President/CEO 
DATE: July 21, 2020 
RE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Update #22

I am writing to give a brief update on the status of Moravian Manor Communities regarding COVID-19. At the time of this writing, we have had no resident cases and remain at two employee positive tests (the two positives were from over a month ago).

Last week, our facility participated in the mandated testing ordered by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH). All skilled care, personal care, and assisted living facilities are required to participate in universal screening. Moravian Manor Communities tested three-hundred-seventy-three (373) staff and residents. It was a busy week! We have had no residents or staff members who tested positive (however, there are still six tests that have not yet been resulted). These results mean our team is being incredibly careful and diligent (and fortunate)! We are blessed thus far. We are eagerly awaiting the last six test results.

Following the universal testing exercise, we will continue to test approximately twenty percent of our residents and staff. We feel this is the best way to keep our residents and team members safe.

Today, Moravian Manor Communities participated in a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) audit and logistics survey provided by Lancaster County. Our team met with several individuals to discuss PPE challenges and best practices. While PPE procurement is still vexing with specific items (i.e., gowns), the meeting went well, and the representatives were impressed that we are doing everything we should be doing to acquire adequate PPE. They will issue a written report in two weeks.

We are amid summer vacations and travel, and as such Moravian Manor Communities has implemented a new Travel/Vacation policy for all employees. Our team members are required to fill out a vacation questionnaire. We will test team members upon their return, dependent upon their destination.

Hopefully, as residents, you recognize and appreciate the diligent work of our team. They are awesome. The best way you can show appreciation is to remain compliant in your activities. Wearing masks in public places and handwashing are two actions most beneficial. If all of us are diligent, it results in more businesses able to open, and the economy can recover more quickly.

Our news cycle is covering hot spots in our country. Areas that were non-compliant with the “small stuff” are struggling. Pennsylvania’s cases are also increasing; the metropolitan regions of our Commonwealth are driving most of that increase.

We continue to move toward the time when our residents can have visitors in our care areas. Our “Reopening Team” is working on the logistics of this process. Residents (in our care areas) will be able to have visits from their Power of Attorney and/or spouse. Visitors will need to be compliant with our entry temperature testing, questionnaire, and contact tracing information. Visitors will need to appear in our log for approved visitation and a photo ID will be required to visit. We will begin these visits in a highly controlled environment that will require scheduling and limiting the length of the visit. Our complete guidelines will be posted on our website in the coming weeks.

One factor that everyone needs to understand is that “if” anyone tests positive (any resident or team member), our reopening cannot occur until two weeks after that time. This is mandated by DOH.

I have included a one-page COVID-19 Risk Index below that nicely summarizes the risks of various activities.

With proper planning, mask-wearing, and social distancing, there are many things that you can enjoy in your life. One day at a time!

Thanks for your ongoing support of Moravian Manor Communities. It is appreciated, and it takes each one of us to make the whole community successful! To end on a humorous note, I found the following comment in my file.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has gone on so long that I saw my neighbor outside talking to her cat this morning. It was obvious that she thought her cat understood her. I came into my house and told my dog…we both had a good laugh about it!”

Native Plant Garden Project Flourishes with Seasonal Delights

Native Plant Garden Project Flourishes with Seasonal Delights

Every year, a beacon of life and hope blooms in the Founders Campus’ Café Courtyard native plant garden, with showy flowers, abundant colorful fruits and seeds, and brilliant seasonal changes in colors from the pale, thin greens of early spring, to the vibrant yellows and reds of autumn. 

The garden, a cooperative project between the Lancaster County Conservancy and Moravian Manor Communities, was initiated by resident Mark Hirschman and Ron Deifenthaler, former Grounds Supervisor. Ron recruited residents Elaine Bell and Fran Hirschman for the garden planning, citing “they speak the same language … Latin plant names!” Together with Conservancy Plant Stewards, 16 species of flowers were selected that would be pleasing to all creatures, including two-legged (humans) and those with wings. 

Elaine, pleased she was invited to be involved in the project, commented, “When I moved to Moravian Manor Communities, I thought gardening was something I had given up…I never dreamed I’d be involved in it again.”

In addition to being low maintenance, native gardens help wildlife by providing a vital habitat for birds; nectar for pollinators including hummingbirds, native bees, butterflies, moths, and bats; essential seeds and fruits for other animals; and shelter for mammals. Native plants also benefit the environment and climate, needing less water and storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

This calming little haven is a favorite retreat on campus, for staff, residents, and visitors alike for spotting butterflies and bunnies, enjoying the varied melodies of songbirds, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Thanks to the Lancaster Conservancy for helping us with this gardening project, protecting our fragile ecosystem and saving nature one project and one community at a time.