Things That Can Help Your Elderly Relatives Live Fuller Lives
As your relatives get older you will often see a role reversal. Whereas once your parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents looked after you, now will come a time when it is your job to look after them and make sure they are safe and happy. This can be hard of course when you have all of the pressures of being an adult yourself and they perhaps are struggling with illness and living alone.
There are though things that we can do fortunately. Here we will look at some of them that you can use to help your elderly relatives live happier and fuller lives without it impeding on your own happiness and freedom.
Homecare: Using homecare agencies you can get someone sent around to your elderly relative on a regular basis in order to check that they are okay, to help them with general household chores and to give them some conversation and variation in their day. This can be a huge help to your relatives who might not be physically able to do things like washing up anymore but who of course don’t want to have to live with squalor either. Homecare can even help you to avoid having to send your elderly relatives into a care home.
Medical Attention: None of us likes going to the doctor and will normally put it off for as long as possible. This goes doubly for elderly relatives who are often quite stubborn about such issues and less concerned about their health which means they can end up living with unnecessary illnesses and pains. Make sure that you encourage your relatives to see a doctor when they need to and that you help them to stick to any course of exercise or medication. You also need to ensure that they are generally looking after themselves and that means turning the heating on and eating well – and this is something else homecare agencies can help with.
Exercise: Exercise in general is very important for your older relatives so make sure they are getting some. Whether this means getting them to join a club like bowls, or just to do more walking or even some calisthenics at home it will help them in any case to develop their strength and prevent injury and joint pain.
Socializing: Many people once they reach old age will stop socializing and going out which is of course a huge shame and will cause them to become much older much faster. Show your loved ones that just because they are older, they don’t necessarily have to shut themselves away and there are still plenty of ways they can socialize going out for coffee or to the pub as they would have used to. If they don’t know many people anymore then suggest they join a class or a club or even that they volunteer somewhere.
Disabled Access: If your Mum or Dad is starting to struggle to get around then putting a handrail in the bathroom or widening the corridors for a wheelchair can make a world of difference. This is something else you need to encourage without condescending.
Homecare Stratford CT can help to improve your elderly relative’s quality of life to a great degree. Click here to lean more.