Drinking water may boost health of elderly

Healthcare News
26/06/2008
It has been suggested that drinking more water may improve the health of elderly people.

Drinking more water may improve the health of elderly people, it is reported.

Since residents at a Suffolk care home were encouraged to increase their intake when a water club was set up last summer, they have felt their overall wellbeing improve, according to the report from Medical News Today.

It says that the residents were given a jug of water in their rooms and encouraged to drink eight to ten glasses of water a day, while water coolers were placed around the home.

Resident Jean Lavender, 88, is said to feel 20 years younger as a result of upping her water intake, commenting: "I feel more alert - more cheerful too. I'm not a miserable person, but it's added a sort of zest."

Cross-bench peer Baroness Greengross is reported to be supporting the initiative in the belief that too little water is adversely affecting the health of many elderly people.

Meanwhile, a new Barchester care home in Suffolk enjoyed a celebrity atmosphere earlier this week, when Ipswich Town footballers Alan Lee, Danny Haynes and David Wright opened the 84-bed Alice Grange care home in Ropes Drive, Kesgrave.

Please click here for more information about Barchester's approach to hospitality.