Choosing an Assisted Living Facility

Senior Living Care Interventions For Diabetic Residents

8 February 2023 by Joe Dixon

A senior citizen assisted living facility can greatly enhance your health if you have diabetes. Keeping tight blood glucose control is important to help prevent hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. Maintaining healthy blood glucose levels can be more challenging as people age, and because of this, they may be at a higher for diabetes-related complications such as vision loss, kidney failure, diabetes-related stasis ulcers, circulation problems, and stroke. Here are some beneficial diabetic care interventions you may receive while you are a resident at a senior living facility.  

Medication Administration And Monitoring

Diabetes mellitus can sometimes be controlled with a healthy diet and exercise alone, however, many patients need to take either oral diabetes medications or daily insulin injections. Elderly people with diabetes may be unable to safely self-administer their medications because of diabetic retinopathy of the eyes, cognitive deficits, or severe medical problems.

The senior living nurses will administer diabetic medications and will also monitor the resident for adverse reactions from the medications and blood sugar dips and spikes. If you develop adverse reactions after taking your diabetes medications such as sweating, nausea, shaking, chest pain, or dizziness, the nurse will notify your primary care physician so that you can get the treatment you need. 

Blood Sugar Testing And Dietary Interventions

The senior living nursing staff will also check your blood sugar levels throughout the day and report any abnormalities to your doctor. If your blood sugar levels are abnormal, your doctor may adjust your medication doses. Further, if your blood glucose levels fall or rise to dangerous levels, your doctor may ask the nurse to call for an ambulance so that you can be evaluated and treated at the hospital.

The dietary staff will prepare therapeutic diabetic meals in accordance with your physician's orders to help maintain a healthy weight and stable blood glucose levels. The dietary staff will also send up nutrient-dense, diabetic-friendly snacks between meals to help make sure that your blood sugar levels remain stable. The dietary manager will talk to you about your food preferences and if you have problems with chewing or swallowing, the kitchen staff can prepare mechanically altered foods such as chopped or pureed foods.

If you have diabetes, consider the above benefits that the senior living staff can provide. When your diabetes is well-managed, you may be less likely to experience unhealthy blood glucose spikes, progressive vision loss, heart attack, stroke, and renal disease. 

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