Top 6 Tips to Keep In Mind for Ageing Parents
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Old age comes with a series of baggage. Humans lose their strength, agility, and many essential functions. As a result, seniors often depend on their mature children for basic and major life activities.
Simple day-to-day activities like meal preparation, washing, movement, exercising, etc., might not come easy. This makes it essential to go out of your way and make life comfortable for them. You can care for adults in many ways.
Aging parents deal with stress, loneliness, depression, and other menaces. While you might not take away all these, you can do many things to make life comfortable and care for them. This article will explore six tips to keep in mind as you care for your aging parent:
- Don’t Forget Safety Concern
With old age, people lose strength, and the bones become fragile. This increases the risk of falling. The brain also declines, so there is a significant probability of accident through burn or poison.
Fall is common among seniors, and the Centers for Disease Control reveal that it is the primary cause of injury for seniors. The good news is, you can prevent falls in simple ways. This comes down to adapting the home to reduce risk. Ensure any spilled water is cleaned instantly and install railings everywhere for additional support.
Review the fire safety of the house, and ensure they have an emergency contact on speed dial. Ensure electric cords, outlets, and others are in good condition. Check the smoke detector, and replace the battery at intervals as well.
- Encourage Socialization
Isolation is not suitable for your aged parents. As a result, encourage your senior ones to reach out constantly. It can be as simple as joining the local senior community. Here, they meet people of like mind, communicate, share ideas and see that they are not alone in the aging process.
Imagine how happy they will be after an evening of dancing with fellow seniors. You can get adult diapers for women if they have incontinence issues. This can go a long way to reduce stress, depression and help them age gracefully. Interacting with others will lift their mood and provide a series of benefits.
Even if going out seems out of the question, ensure they always have access to a caregiver, while friends and families can pay a visit once in a while. This will lift their mood and prevent them from giving in to depression.
- Keep them Active
Your parents can age smoothly without depression, stress, and other menaces of old age if they are physically fit. Old age is not an excuse not to exercise, as it can help strengthen their joints, bones, and muscles.
Exercise can even reduce the risk of falls, keeping them happy by flooding their brain with serotonin. As a result, they will have no time to give in to depression and have a positive outlook about themselves. Exercise can be as simple as taking a walk, brisk walking. Safety is essential, so they need not overexert themselves.
It comes with other benefits like reducing the risk of dementia, fixing memory issues and mental decline, and many others. They can even consider joining an adult fitness class where they will be motivated by seeing other adults.
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- Keep their brain Active.
Mental decline is expected at one age. Stress, lack of some nutrients in food, and many others might be responsible for this. As a result, it is common for many adults to deal with Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and others.
However, one can do many things to help keep their memory sharp. Exercise is one way to ensure senior ones stay sharp. In addition, you can stimulate their brain by reading to them, engaging them in brain games like puzzles, Sudoku, and others.
- Be Respectful
Understand that seniors are humans, and they deserve respect. Honor their wishes and respect their space. While you might be eager to help, ensure they allow you. For instance, don’t talk to them when they have a doctor’s appointment. Ensure you get their permission before you come in, let alone speak for them.
Even though aging might be giving them a tough time, don’t forget they remain your parents. Their dignity and respect should not be reduced no matter how you feel about them.
Yes, caring for them could be frustrating, but put your emotions in check and avoid being critical. Growing old could be hard on your parents, so they have no intention to be difficult on purpose. Avoid insisting, so you will not be met with solid resistance from them.
- Plan for Finances
Even though talking about finances might seem uncomfortable, you cannot escape it. Ensure you are aware of their self-worth. You should know their income sources like pensions, assets, debts, social security, etc. Will the money last them, or will they need additional funds? What about insurance to cover medical expenses?
Check if they can manage their finances and ensure they don’t give loopholes for a scam. Examine if you need to track their spending habits. Are there unpaid bills that keep piling up?
You should discuss who will make crucial decisions when they can no longer do that – power of attorney. Such a person should be trusted to make decisions for their benefit. Now might be the time for your parents to give instructions on how they want their finances handled.
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Conclusion
Caring for your older parents does not have to be overwhelming. The tips discussed here can guide you in giving them the best care.
