Sleep issues

Pain, poor health, and medications can all play a major role in the quality of sleep for seniors. It is easy to assume that pain and poor health would lead to sleep issues, and as a caregiver it is your challenge to see that they are as comfortable as possible. One non-medication step may be the use of a hospital bed.  All to often the pain and/or poor health need medication(s) to help with the issue(s).  Many medications can have side effects that diminish sleep quality.  If the senior is having continuous and chronic sleep problems you should consult a physician. The two questions that should be addressed are: 1) can the current medication effect sleep and 2) is there another medication that does not have this same side effect.