Elder Care: When Are Sleep Issues a Big Problem for Your Senior?

By James Hughes | January 21, 2022 |

Elder Care: Sleep does so much for the human body and brain.

If your elderly family member isn’t getting the best sleep or the amount of sleep that she needs, it’s going to impact her well-being. An elder care provider can help with sleep tips for your senior.

Elder Care: Sleep Issues

She’s Sleepy During the Day

Daytime sleepiness is a huge indicator that your elderly family member may be having sleep issues at night. Sleeping during the day often means that your elderly family member either can’t get to sleep at night or she wakes up overnight. These sleep interruptions leave her feeling less than rested, which manifests as daytime sleepiness and possibly extended daytime naps. That compounds the problem because the naps interfere with her ability to sleep at night.

She’s Having Mood Regulation Issues

Regulating moods is often a sign of a bigger issue. Your elderly family member might have issues regulating her moods because of health issues, but it can also happen because of more temporary concerns, including sleep disorders. Mood dysregulation could look like your senior being more irritable than usual or more emotional in other ways than she usually is.

Or She’s Having More Trouble Concentrating or with Her Memory

Brain function is also impacted by sleep irregularities. It’s easy to worry that there’s something worse going on, too. Sleep problems can affect your senior’s memory and cause her to have trouble concentrating, both of which can feel like a warning sign of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Keeping a sleep log is just one way to narrow down whether memory and cognitive issues are sleep-related.

Chronic Pain and Other Health Issues Are Worse

Many people don’t realize that how they feel is often affected by how much sleep they’re getting and whether that sleep is of decent quality or not. Pain, in particular, can be much worse if your senior is sleep-deprived. Techniques that may work at other times may not work as well to manage her health or her pain.

Elder Care: She Tells You Sleeping Is a Problem

The most obvious way to know that sleep is an issue, of course, is for your elderly family member to outright tell you that she’s having trouble sleeping. Once she does, it’s time to take a closer look at what’s going on. Keeping a sleep diary and having help from you and from elder care providers can be two ways to figure out how to get better sleep for your senior. Elderly care providers can offer companionship, help you’re senior to spend her energy wisely, and remind her what her goals are.

Between the help that you and elder care providers can offer as well as advice from your senior’s doctor, figuring out her sleep issues can be easier than you think.

If you or someone you know needs Elder Care in Foley, AL, please contact the friendly caregivers at  Hughes Home Care. We provide quality and affordable care for your elderly loved ones in our community. Call Us Today at 251-517-9901. Serving Mobile & Baldwin County.

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James Hughes

Owner at Hughes Home Care

James Hughes is a graduate of The University of Alabama (Health Care Administration), the University Of Alabama, Birmingham (Physical Therapy) and is a Navy veteran.

He has three teenage children and are actively involved in their church and community – James coach’s youth football, basketball and baseball and serves at 3 Circle Church. He is a member of the Fairhope Youth Football Board and the Rock Creek POA Board.

It is his passion and commitment to providing quality and responsive service that has made their company the fastest growing home care agency in South Alabama.

He believes that being an independently owned and operated company gives him the flexibility to manage his business in a way that better serves their clients.

He understands that you have a choice of care providers and he will do his utmost to earn your trust.