How To Keep Your Loved Ones Independent

INDEPENDENCE AND AGING

Being Independent and aging is not an easy task. With aging, the health and independence of our parents take a back seat. And they seem to become increasingly dependent on others for their daily tasks. Illness and accidents can cause a sudden loss of independence. And make your parents feel hopeless and depressed. Such forms of emotions can seriously trick their brain. And convince them that they are no longer capable of carrying out their daily tasks by alone. Such an event causes our elderly to become more and more dependent on their caregivers. In many cases, this dependence becomes an inevitable phenomenon. And in some cases, it occurs by choice.

BEING INDEPENDENT AND THE SUDDEN DETERIORATION OF HEALTH

As family caregivers, it becomes difficult for us to witness the sudden deterioration of health in our aging parents. On the other hand, research has also shown. Senior parents often show inhibition in moving out of their home. The caregivers are also equally concerned about their parents living alone. And express their fear about their parent’s emotional and physical well-being.

Ensuring safety of your loved ones at home

WAYS TO HELP OUR PARENTS STAY INDEPENDENT

Focus on the health of your senior parents and keep them healthy.

Adopting ways to keep your senior parents healthy. This can go a long way in preventing various disease conditions. Here are some suggestions that can be of help.

  1. Take care of their dietary habits.  A healthy diet is the key to healthy aging. And can also prevent your parents from an array of lifestyle diseases. Focus on complex carbohydrates. And do not give them simple sugars and refined or processed foods. Moreover, you also need to take into account their fluid intake. An adequate fluid intake is extremely essential to flush out the toxins from our body. Limit their coffee intake as caffeinated beverages are not grateful to our body.
  2. Exercise. Exercising regularly would not only help them to become physically active. But also improve their cognitive functioning, which usually deteriorates as we age. Encourage them to go for walks and engage in light exercises.
  3. Health check-ups.  Getting the health of your aging parents regularly. Check-ups are very important to help in the timely diagnosis of any disease

Ensure safety at home and outside

Ensuring safety of your loved ones at home and when they are outside. This can go a long way in preventing accidents from taking place. Here are a few tips that would help to keep your home fall proof and safe for your senior parents.

  1. Prepare your home. You need to prepare your home in a way that, your senior parents feel confident and safe in their home. In order to make home a safe place for your aging parents. Here are some suggestions.
  2. You need to first remove all rugs. Rugs can become a major reason for accidental falls. If there are children at home, make sure there are no toys lying on the floor. Make every possible effort to make your home, senior-friendly for your aging parents.
  3. The bathroom is another area that needs special attention.  As our elderly loved ones may trip and fall due to water on the floor. It is, therefore, necessary that you install rails and grab bars in the bathroom so that our elderly can hold on to for support. Shower benches are another necessity that you need to provide for. You also need to ensure that the rooms are well lit so that your parents can properly see everything. With age, the vision goes down a bit. Causing inability of our parents to appropriately see in the dark and in dim light.

Have a smartphone-based monitoring system.  

Which ensures us the safety of our parents even when we are not with them. Making use of such technologies can go a long way in making the home safe for our parents.

Lend a helping hand.  

Consider helping your aging parents with their daily chores and errands. Accompany them for grocery shopping and also help them with laundry. Allow them to the light tasks such as, making a grocery list, folding laundry, etc.,  all by themselves. You can help by doing the tasks that require physical labor, which your parents might not be able to accomplish alone.

Offer emotional support.  

Depression is almost an inevitable occurrence in old age. The need for a companion, loneliness, can pose serious health risks for our aging parents. Furthermore, the inability to carry out their daily tasks is a cause of emotional stress. Therefore it is necessary, that we also offer emotional support to our parents. Listening to them, taking an active part in their discussions. all can have a positive impact on their emotional well-being.

Conclusion

All the above-mentioned tips and suggestions, can help you keep your loved ones independent and living a long and happy life.