Battling an illness, lack of sleep and strange surroundings can make any hospital patient feel out of sorts. Medical advocacy is key when having a senior in this condition. Hospitalization not only jeopardizes the general wellness of a senior but his/her dignity and self-confidence. Besides getting sicker at some point, seniors are usually placed on diapers to avoid labor-intensive trips to the bathroom and usually when confused, they are misunderstood on their needs. This article about how confused they can be and how memory loss occurs is the icing on the cake.
As we said, for seniors, hospitalizations actually may cause temporary memory loss and difficulty in understanding discharge instructions, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.
The cited study found that seniors go back to normal one month after the hospital stay. But immediately following a hospitalization, it is a critical time in which seniors may need extra support from professionals and family, according to Lee Lindquist, the lead author of the study, published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, March 2011.
