If your elderly family member has a lung disease, like emphysema or COPD, pulmonary rehabilitation may be something that her doctor recommends for her. It’s a type of therapy that educates her about lung health and that gives the tools she can use to be healthier.
She May Learn How to Deal with Dyspnea
Dyspnea, or shortness of breath, is extremely common for people who have lung illnesses. Managing shortness of breath properly is crucial because it can become a self-fulfilling problem. The anxiety involved in experiencing shortness of breath can feed into breathing becoming more difficult. In pulmonary rehabilitation, participants learn how to manage shortness of breath so that it doesn’t become a bigger problem.
Her Anxiety Levels Might Come Down
Anxiety is a big problem for people with lung illnesses, whether they’re dealing with shortness of breath more frequently or not. Knowing that there are tools and exercises that she can lean on when she needs to can be incredibly helpful for your senior in managing her lung issues. Having more information and feeling more in control, even in small ways, can do a lot to reduce anxiety levels.
She May Be Able to Exercise More
As your elderly family member learns more about managing both shortness of breath and the associated anxiety, she may find that it’s easier to move a little bit more than she used to. Exercising can help her to see that she really can exercise, even if that definition is slightly different than it used to be. Moving more is going to help her to strengthen her lungs a bit, which is also helpful.
She May Be Less Likely to End up Hospitalized
The key reason to learn tricks and tips to manage lung issues, as well as exercising more, is to help reduce the risk of developing infections in the lungs. People with lung problems are at a much higher risk for ending up hospitalized if they develop a lung infection. This is definitely something that you and your senior want to avoid.
She May Be Able to Improve Her Quality of Life
Everything that your senior is doing to improve her health also improves her quality of life. She’s going to find so much more joy in everything that she does when she’s not struggling with her health issues. Being able to live her life to the fullest is really important for your senior and can open her up to new experiences, too, like accepting help from elderly care providers when she may not have been open to that idea before.
Your elderly family member may not see any reason to go to pulmonary rehabilitation at first but understanding the benefits can change her mind.
