护理从来都不是一件容易的事，COVID-19让它变得更加困难

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Melia Wilkinson cares for her husband, Kerry, who in 2014 had a massive stroke.

今天, 这位57岁的老人已经不能使用左手了, 左腿活动受限, 依靠拐杖在屋子里走来走去. 克里可以自己做很多事情, 米利亚说, 但她会帮助他进行日常活动, 比如穿衣, 管理他的医疗护理.

While caregiving has always been challenging, the era of COVID-19 is fraught with new anxiety.

“我们没有亲人，”她说. “我担心如果我得了COVID，没有人可以介入."

The couple and their teenage daughter live near Seattle in King County, Washington, an early U.S. 冠状病毒的温床，远离亲人. 自从病毒出现, 梅利亚已经停止了家政服务, and social distancing has put their small network of friends and ex-colleagues out of reach.

Normal support systems have buckled, said clinical psychologist and health care consultant Barry J. 雅可布. For loved ones who need help at home, longtime health aides may now be unavailable. Or families might be torn between allowing outside aides to continue care, 冒着接触冠状病毒的风险, 而不是接管照顾——或者让照顾的缺口得不到填补.

雅各布斯说:“我看到很多家庭在这一切中挣扎. “这些都是非常困难的选择."

For loved ones living alone, whether they are safe and can meet personal needs is a crucial test.

“它们看起来像是在吃东西吗?? 睡觉? 吃药?" said Deborah Dunn, national president of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association. “当药物治疗混乱或臀部有瘀伤时, 现在你必须做出其他选择." Those choices can include moving someone to a senior care facility – or moving them out if COVID-19 occurs there.

“这里没有正确的答案, and in many cases you're charged with making the best decision you can among bad options,雅各布斯说, 谁会为AARP写关于护理的文章. "People shouldn't beat themselves up later for things that didn't turn out ideally. We have to accept that we're doing the best we can with the most love we can muster."

护理人员还必须适应急剧变化的医疗保健系统.

Under stay-at-home orders, Melia had to cancel a half-dozen necessary medical appointments. 她担心无法获得丈夫的药品, 包括一种癫痫药最近在她常去的药房卖光了. “他一天都离不开常规药物，”她说.

在日常护理中, 远程医疗正在填补一些空白, Dunn说, professor and dean of The Graduate School at Madonna University in Livonia, 密歇根. But COVID-19 lockdowns have shifted more of the burden of detecting and triaging health problems to families.

Dunn advises families to compile an easily accessed list of their loved one's conditions, 药物, 医疗保健提供者和药房, 并监测葡萄糖试纸等供应. 她说:“这是一个你永远不需要的准备计划，直到你需要它。.

护理人员也必须对COVID-19保持警惕. 老年人或任何年龄有潜在健康问题的人, 包括肺部疾病, 严重的心脏病或糖尿病, 冠状病毒症状一出现就应该就医吗, 疾病控制和预防中心表示.

以免把病毒带回家, Dunn suggests caregivers take usual precautions plus cluster errands into one trip, then follow the procedures hospital workers do: Discard disposables like gloves after the last errand, 然后洗手(或使用消毒剂)，如果可能的话. Once home, change in the garage, drop clothes in the washer and take a shower. 把鞋子放在外面.

如果在家照顾COVID-19患者, 疾控中心提供了广泛的建议, 包括液体, rest and 药物 like acetaminophen if helpful; avoiding sharing personal items and space such as bathrooms; and disinfecting "high-touch" items such as doorknobs and faucets.

邓恩说，COVID-19可能会微妙地出现——也许是流鼻涕. 行为的改变, 食欲下降, a cough or growing confusion are among symptoms that warrant medical attention. 也, 老年患者, "we don't wait for a 101-degree fever; if it's two degrees above baseline, 担心.“如果呼吸或精神状态下降，就有可能住院.

当看护者带着心爱的人去医院时, 现在游客通常被排除在外, 我的建议是, 把需要事先说的都说出来,雅各布斯说. "You go into that situation with a lot of fear – but also hope everything will be OK."

With the added stressors the coronavirus brings, it's essential caregivers seek help, too. 只要有可能, 招募朋友和家人来获取食物, 药品和其他必需品, 雅各布斯建议.

"If you've ever hesitated in the past about asking for help, now's the time to put that aside. 每个家庭成员都要明白这是一场危机, 我们都需要站出来，为我们所爱的人做更多的事情."

亲戚可以远程管理财务或其他文书工作. 他们也可以更加努力地保持联系. Research shows social isolation and loneliness are physically and mentally unhealthy.

“尤其是老年人更容易抑郁, 感到孤独, not being as capable as they might be if they were feeling better connected to the world,雅各布斯说. "It's important they realize they're being thought of, cared for – they're not alone."

找到 护理小贴士 在冠状病毒大流行期间.

Editor's note: Because of the rapidly evolving events surrounding the coronavirus, the facts and advice presented in this story may have changed since publication. 访问 心.org 获取最新报道, and check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials for the most recent guidance.

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