What challenges do older adults face with staying hydrated?

[horseless carriage]

Older adults: What do you find helpful or challenging about staying hydrated? Are there specific times or situations where it’s easier or harder to remember to drink? Any thoughts on changes you’ve made that work well?

About twenty years ago I quit all alcohol. A diuretic, it causes your body to remove fluids from your blood through your renal system, which includes the kidneys, ureters, and bladder, at a much quicker rate than other liquids. Alcohol, can make you become dehydrated quickly. We still go to the pub, they are more restaurants these days, where I would have had a beer I now just have water.

Alcohol often affects a man's ability to get an erection because it affects the hormone levels, nervous system, and circulation. Long-term drinking may also lead to chronic erectile dysfunction. Whilst alcohol can cause dehydration which in turn can result in sexual dysfunction because a low volume of red blood cells and plasma prevents the corpus cavernosum (chambers inside the p-enis) from getting enough oxygen and nutrient-rich blood necessary to maintain an erection.

 

[Aneeda72]

I’m researching the specific challenges older adults face with hydration, how it affects health, and the strategies people use to address it. Staying hydrated is essential, yet older adults often encounter unique barriers—whether due to health issues, mobility challenges, medications, or simply lower awareness of thirst.

For caregivers, I’d love to hear about your observations, challenges, and any routines you’ve found useful for encouraging hydration. What reminders, schedules, or tools have made a difference? Have you seen any changes in health or well-being that you feel relate to hydration?

Older adults: What do you find helpful or challenging about staying hydrated? Are there specific times or situations where it’s easier or harder to remember to drink? Any thoughts on changes you’ve made that work well?

Insights on these topics can help build a broader understanding of hydration needs, the day-to-day difficulties older adults face, and practical solutions. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!

So are you an older person joining the forum, or a younger person doing a research paper for college or some other such reason?

 

[Rose65]

I rarely feel thirst so I have my own strategy. I have established a routine where I take a water bottle up to bed and sip from it whenever I wake, even if it means trips to the bathroom.
During the day I begin with a glass of water first thing, another late morning and another late afternoon - whether thirsty or not.
I drink very little tea but I do like soups, salads and fruit, so all those count.

If I have a headache my first actions are to drink water and relax. I just keep in mind that dehydration is really bad. I do add squash to my drinks but only enough to make them more palatable because just water is quite boring!

 

[David777]

Adding to my earlier post as to possibly why I seem to be unusually healthy despite drinking far less fluids than recommended.

What challenges do older adults face with staying hydrated?

I suspect other reasons I don't drink fluids as often or as much daily is because I infrequently eat more than one meal a day plus minor snacks. Helping digestion requires more fluids. I'm also a thin person with less body mass bulk. And I probably have better kidneys necessary to filter out body fluids because over my adult lifetime, don't have diabetes despite consuming higher amounts of sugar and salt, have never smoke cigarettes, drink little alcohol, don't consume caffeine, avoided using medicines, nor use a long list of popular rec drugs, all of which may negatively affect kidneys.

 

[MACKTEXAS]

Insights on these topics can help build a broader understanding of hydration needs, the day-to-day difficulties older adults face, and practical solutions. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.

I fill a 16 ounce glass with ice water every morning and keep it in a convenient location, then I take a drink from time to time when I go by, refill it before noon, and keep repeating through the day. It's become such a habit, that I hardly think about it anymore, and would miss it if I didn't get the constant refreshment.