How to Ensure Foreign Travel is Safe for Elderly Family Members
Traveling with older family members presents a few challenges, especially when you’re traveling overseas. Lots of seniors deal with chronic illnesses and need certain medications to prevent complications, so all of this will need to be taken care of. You may also want to look into things like travel health insurance for the elderly.
Travelling requires lots of planning, but you’ll have to spend even more time on planning if you have elderly people with you, whether they’re healthy or not. Let’s take a look at how you can ensure that foreign travel is safe for elderly family members.
Hire a Flight Nurse
If the family member in question requires constant assistance or monitoring, then you might want to hire a flight nurse. Flight nurses can help patients with mobility issues, for instance. Those who are suffering from memory loss or dementia can use the help of a flight nurse. A flight nurse could also help if the family member suffered an injury before the trip but still wants to go. In this case, the flight nurse will be able to provide personal care and assist them in case the injury gets worse.
Prepare Your Itineraries Carefully
You need to start planning what you will do at your destination before you leave. This will allow you to look at different activities and attractions in the area you’ll be visiting and pick the ones that would be the safest for everyone. You also have to start planning itineraries and which transportation options you’re going to use.
You want to pick attractions that are accessible and not too crowded. Even things like temperature and the time of the day you will visit will be very important.
Choose the Right Destination
Some countries are simply safer and better for elderly people. So, before you decide to go on a trip, you have to look at how good the infrastructure is in the country and/or city you’ll be in first. Things like the state of sidewalks might seem like minor details for you, but not for an older person who is starting to have mobility issues or has to walk with a cane or walker.
You should check if accessibility is a priority in the country as well. Accessibility is not just for disabled people; it can help older people who cannot move as well as they used to or those who are experiencing vision issues. Accessible buildings are also better for seniors with diminishing strength. If a country has a high score when it comes to accessibility, then you can be pretty sure that your elderly family member will be able to get around with no issues.
Choose the Proper Accommodation
When it comes to accommodation, we would suggest that you go for a full property instead of hotel rooms. You cannot leave your elderly family member alone if they have health issues, but they might not want you to sleep with them and monitor them 24/7. Most elderly people still like their privacy and don’t want to feel like they’re being babysat.
With a full property, everyone will have their own quarters, but you will still be able to keep a close eye on your relatives. Choose a property with lots of services too, like a cook, a concierge, and a nurse if possible.
Get a Check-Up Before they Leave
It would be a good idea for your relative to have a health check-up performed before the trip. This is especially important if they suffer from things like hypertension, coronary heart disease, or other chronic conditions. They should definitely go for an exam if they recently went under surgery or had some sort of incident.
People with diseases like diabetes will need to speak with a doctor to know how they can stay on schedule while being in a different time zone. They should also talk about dietary changes and how they could affect their condition. This is not limited to diabetes either. People with hypertension can be very sensitive to diet changes and not knowing the characteristics of the cruise or the areas where you’ll be going would be a grave mistake. They should study what kind of foods are commonly eaten and speak with their doctors about healthy options.
Traveling safely with an elderly relative is possible, but it does require more work. The sooner you start preparing for the trip, the smoother it will go, so start early and make sure that your relative is involved in the planning process as well.
