When it comes to health and wellness, there’s one aspect that sometimes gets overlooked: the feet! However, if you ask any Certified Foot Care Specialist, they’ll tell you that whole body wellness truly does start from the ground up. While foot care is important at any age, it’s especially beneficial to older adults for a variety of reasons. Proper foot care for seniors can prevent a range of issues help older adults maintain their independence.

As we age, it can become more difficult to care for our feet ourselves. That’s why Certified Foot Care Specialists play a crucial role in seniors’ clinical care team. Their expertise and training allow them to provide safe and effective foot care services, which can prevent a range of foot-related issues.

We recently spoke with our own Certified Foot Care Specialist, Dolores Gifford, MSN, RN, CFCS, the owner of Caring Nurses Footcare LLC, to discuss the importance of foot care for senior living residents.

What are the benefits of foot care for seniors?

Regular foot care can help older adults maintain mobility and decrease the risk of falls. Additionally, foot care promotes overall well-being by keeping older adults’ feet pain-free. Keeping feet healthy can help to prevent pain, infection, and falls.

Can you describe what a typical foot care visit looks like for a resident?

Each visit, I assess the feet and lower extremities for any changes from the last visit, any open areas, abnormalities, redness, etc.  I trim the nails, file, reduce corns, calluses, and ingrown nails as needed.

What kinds of issues do you typically treat or help prevent?

Fungal nails, thickened nails, calluses, corns, ingrown nails, are the most common nail and foot problems I treat.  I also supply items to help with reddened areas from hammer toes, or toes that cross over, like toe covers and lambs wool.

Why is routine foot care so important for seniors?

Routine foot care visits involving trimming, thinning and filing of toenails are designed to improve a patient’s mobility, decrease fall risk, provide overall foot comfort and promote better shoe fit.

How do residents usually respond to the service?

Most of the residents love coming to see me!  Many fall asleep and enjoy getting their feet taken care of, especially the foot massage at the end.

Have you noticed any improvements in mobility, comfort, or overall well-being as a result of regular foot care?

Yes! There is nothing better than when a resident says, “Oh, my feet feel so good now, and they don’t hurt.”

Do any resident stories stand out to you?

The best part of my day is talking to the residents!  There is one lady I speak to about flowers and I take time to show her pictures of the roses from my garden.  To see her smile makes me smile as well.  But the best story was from a lady who asked me if I had heard that putting the toenails in the garden was great fertilizer!  I admitted to her that I had not ever heard that but that I didn’t think I was going to save all the cleanup to do that…. we laughed … and I tell that story to my foot care group at the American Foot Care Nurses Association!

What’s something you wish more people understood about foot care for seniors?

This is easy… I really wish people would stop soaking elderly people’s feet.  I try to educate everywhere I go that it is not healthy, it dries them out, promotes fungal growth and should not be done.

Foot Care Services At Rockingham County

We understand that happy feet means happy residents. By offering complimentary foot care services, we’re proud to support residents’ comfort, mobility, and quality of life every step of the way. Learn more: www.rockinghamcountyseniorliving.com