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Caregiver guide · adults age 65 and older

Caring for an Older Adult: Everyday Things to Keep in Mind

Good care begins with dignity, patience, and attention to what has changed for this individual—not assumptions about age. Support independence where it is safe, ask before helping, and make the environment easier to see, hear, understand, and navigate.

Written and reviewed by Nick Anderson, PharmD · Reviewed September 24, 2026

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About your visit
Three quick medication-safety questions

1. A complete medicine list should include nonprescription products, vitamins, and supplements.

2. It is safe to suddenly stop any medicine that might cause dizziness.

3. A pharmacist can help check for duplicate medicines and interactions.

How confident are you about using a medicine list and asking medication-safety questions?

Privacy: no name, email address, birth date, diagnosis, medicine, provider, or caregiver-record entry is collected. An anonymous code on this device connects the starting and follow-up checks.

Start with respect and independence

Ask, do not assume

  • Speak directly to the older adult, even when a family member is present.
  • Ask which name and terms they prefer, and include them in decisions.
  • Offer help before taking over. Allow extra time for tasks they can still do safely.
  • Explain what you are about to do before touching, moving, bathing, or assisting with personal care.
  • Protect privacy, routines, cultural preferences, and personal choices.

Notice changes from their usual

  • Learn the person's normal alertness, appetite, walking, sleep, mood, bathroom pattern, and communication.
  • Write down new symptoms, when they began, and any recent medicine or dose change.
  • Do not dismiss sudden confusion, weakness, poor intake, or behavior change as “just aging.”
  • Share important changes promptly with the healthcare team.

Make communication easier

Help the person hear you

  • Get their attention, face them, maintain eye contact, and keep your mouth visible.
  • Turn off the television and reduce competing conversations or background noise.
  • Speak clearly at a natural pace and tone. A slightly lower pitch may be easier for some people to hear.
  • Speak a little louder only if needed—do not shout, which can distort words and sound angry.
  • Check that hearing aids are in place, working, and comfortable.

Help the person understand

  • Use short sentences and one question or direction at a time.
  • Give enough time to answer without interrupting or finishing every sentence.
  • Use large-print notes, pictures, gestures, or demonstrations when helpful.
  • Check understanding by asking the person to explain the plan in their own words.
  • If communication changes suddenly, contact the healthcare team.

Meals, taste, smell, and hydration

When food seems less appealing

Taste and especially smell may become less sharp with age. Food can seem bland, and illness, dry mouth, dental problems, or medicines can also change taste.

  • Ask what tastes and textures the person enjoys instead of assuming all older adults prefer sweets.
  • Use color, texture, herbs, spices, lemon, or other seasonings that fit the person's medical plan.
  • Do not automatically add extra sugar or salt; diabetes, heart failure, kidney disease, or other conditions may require limits.
  • Check food dates and storage carefully because reduced smell can make spoiled food harder to notice.

Watch eating and drinking

  • Offer regular drinks if fluids are not restricted by the healthcare team.
  • Watch for dry mouth, dark urine, dizziness, unusual sleepiness, or much less urination.
  • Report ongoing poor appetite, unplanned weight loss, mouth pain, or trouble preparing or feeding oneself.
  • Seek prompt advice for coughing or choking during meals, a wet-sounding voice after swallowing, or food repeatedly getting stuck.

Support safety without taking away dignity

Movement and fall prevention

  • Keep walking paths clear, provide bright lighting, and secure loose rugs and cords.
  • Place frequently used items within easy reach and use grab bars or prescribed mobility aids correctly.
  • Encourage the person to rise slowly and pause before walking.
  • Report a fall, near-fall, new dizziness, or new unsteadiness; ask for a medication and vision review.
  • Do not pull on an arm to lift someone. Ask a clinician or therapist to teach safe transfer techniques.

Medicines and appointments

  • Keep one current list of prescriptions, nonprescription medicines, vitamins, supplements, allergies, and reactions.
  • Use one clear system for doses and record each dose immediately when supervision is needed.
  • Ask before crushing, splitting, opening, or hiding a medicine in food.
  • Review medicines after a fall, hospital stay, new symptom, or dose change.
  • Never stop or change a medicine without guidance from the prescriber or pharmacist.

Comfort, connection, and caregiver wellbeing

Protect daily quality of life

  • Keep familiar routines while allowing flexibility for fatigue, pain, and appointments.
  • Support safe activity, daylight, restful sleep, and social connection.
  • Ask about pain; it may appear as withdrawal, irritability, poor sleep, or reduced movement.
  • Treat bladder or bowel accidents calmly and privately. Report pain, blood, fever, or a sudden change.
  • Check skin regularly when mobility is limited and report persistent redness, open areas, or swelling.

Care for the caregiver, too

  • Share responsibilities and keep an emergency backup plan.
  • Write down key contacts, medicines, routines, and the care plan so another person can step in safely.
  • Schedule breaks, medical care, sleep, meals, and support for yourself.
  • Ask for help before exhaustion becomes a crisis; respite care can give caregivers time to recover.
  • If care is becoming unsafe for either person, contact the healthcare team or a local aging-services organization.

Get urgent help for sudden or severe changes

Call 911 in the United States for trouble breathing, chest pain, stroke signs, loss of consciousness, severe bleeding, a serious fall or head injury, or suspected overdose. Contact a healthcare professional promptly for sudden confusion, rapidly worsening weakness, repeated vomiting, very poor fluid intake, new hallucinations, fever or infection symptoms, or a major change from the person's usual condition.

Trusted resources

General education only. This page does not replace individualized advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine without guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Finished this guide? Record what you learned

Your anonymous answers help evaluate medication-safety knowledge, confidence, and intended next steps.

Three quick medication-safety questions

1. A complete medicine list should include nonprescription products, vitamins, and supplements.

2. It is safe to suddenly stop any medicine that might cause dizziness.

3. A pharmacist can help check for duplicate medicines and interactions.

How confident are you about using a medicine list and asking medication-safety questions?
What do you plan to do?

After submitting, you can use the same anonymous code for the optional 30-day action check.

Nick Anderson, PharmDClinical referenceNick Anderson, PharmDBCGP certification lapsed · View professional profile

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