Geriatric disease prevention publicity activities

There is never a "standard answer" for geriatric disease prevention that applies to everyone. Rather than copying general health guidelines online, only intervention plans customized based on individual physical conditions and living habits can truly reduce the risk of disability and serious illness.

To be honest, we have run into this kind of publicity event before. We printed hundreds of leaflets on the "Top Ten Principles of Health for the Elderly" and handed them out, and then they were used by the elderly to place vegetable baskets. They read PPT on the loudspeaker for two hours, while half of the people in the audience were dozing off and the other half were watching short health videos. This time we simply set up the stall directly under the big banyan tree in the small community square. As soon as we set up the blood pressure measuring equipment, the table was blocked by the elderly people who came around: Aunt Zhang clutched three or four "Vascular Scavenger" health products bought on WeChat Moments, and asked if they should be eaten together to be effective. ； Uncle Li held up the popular video on his mobile phone "Walking 10,000 steps a day to live to 99", frowned and said that he had been walking for three months and his knees were so painful that he could even tremble when walking down the stairs. ； There is also the 70-year-old Aunt Liu. She said that she would add too much salt to her meals, but she went to the emergency room dizzy last month and was diagnosed with hyponatremia.

In fact, there have been two different ideas in the industry regarding the direction of geriatric disease prevention. Scholars in the field of public health are more inclined to implement universal intervention guidelines, such as reducing salt and oil, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol, and exercising regularly. These general directions are certainly correct, but when it comes to specific elderly people, it is easy for "implementation to be out of shape" - just like Aunt Liu, who listened to the propaganda of "no more than 5 grams of salt per day" and even touched soy sauce and pickles. She even did not dare to add seasonings when cooking noodles. She originally had a poor appetite, and finally lacked sodium and suffered an electrolyte disorder. Most doctors specializing in geriatric clinical medicine are more supportive of individualized adjustments. We deliberately did not give a unified presentation at this event. We first measured grip strength and walking speed, two internationally accepted frailty screening indicators, for each elderly person who came, and then gave advice based on their underlying diseases: 72-year-old Aunt Wang’s walking speed is only 0.6 meters/second, and her grip strength is only 17 kilograms, which is a sign of frailty. For the weak and high-risk group, we did not teach her the squatting movements required in Baduanjin. We first taught her ankle pump exercises and grip ball training that can be done while sitting, and told her to eat more eggs and milk in daily life, and not to deliberately pursue "losing weight with age" - current clinical data also shows that people over 75 years old have a BMI between 22 and 26, and all-cause mortality is lower. Uncle Chen, who usually likes to climb Baiyun Mountain, has good cardiopulmonary function and can walk at a speed of 1.1 meters per second. We did not stop him from climbing the mountain. We only reminded him not to go at the hottest time at noon, not to drink ice water after climbing, and to remember to check his blood pressure after each climb. It is much more useful than a general statement that "elderly people should not exercise strenuously."

At the event, we also set up a display stand for "salt-hiding foods", displaying plums, soda biscuits, dried noodles, and soaked dried shrimps that are not salty but have high sodium content. We posted the sodium content per 100 grams converted into table salt. Many elderly people gathered around and were speechless after reading it. They said that they ate noodles and boiled vegetables every day and thought they didn't eat enough salt. Unexpectedly, a handful of dried noodles contained almost 2 grams of salt. In the past, some colleagues did not approve of our "fragmented" publicity method, and felt that it was impossible to count the number of people covered uniformly, and to publish a neatly formatted press release. However, I squatted in front of the stall and calculated the upper limit of his daily steps for Uncle Li. I watched him delete the "10,000-step walking guide" saved in his mobile phone on the spot. He said that from now on, he would walk around the community twice every day, as long as his knees did not hurt. I felt that this was more real than any beautiful activity data.

After this event, we set up a community health consultation group. Now every day there are elderly people taking pictures of their own diet and asking if it is appropriate. There are also people taking videos of themselves exercising and asking if their movements are standard. In fact, there is no 100% correct standard of health care? The promotion of geriatric disease prevention has never been about putting a uniform health shackle on the elderly, but helping them find the most comfortable and safest balance in their own living habits. This is much more effective than shouting a hundred slogans about "paying attention to the health of the elderly."