For older people to succeed, they need a strong support system and a secure place to age. Make early plans and include family members to accomplish this goal.
Family members should lend their assistance and participate in planning for a secure residence and a caring neighborhood for their elderly loved ones.
This article will give you an idea of how you or your family members might assist them in realizing their goal of aging peacefully and safely, including easy methods to demonstrate your concern for them and the potential types of assistance or support you could provide.
Read also: (Aging In Place: A Guide To Everything You Need To Know)
Simple Ways To Help A Family Member Aging In Place
- Visit them regularly. Regularly visiting elderly family members will significantly improve their mental health since they will know that there are individuals out there who care about them.
- Keep in touch with them as much as you can. Make sure you develop the habit of calling elders who live alone since, for many of them, your call may be the only communication they receive that day.
- Encourage them to participate in social activities. You may quickly search Google for neighborhood events that might be a wonderful opportunity for them to get outside and interact with other elderly citizens.
- Find helpers for them. You must take action to make sure your elderly loved one is getting the greatest care if you’ve noticed a downturn in their health.
- Get other family members involved. It may be helpful to consult siblings or other family members on best practices if you are unsure how to care for your older family members. You can acquire more support for your elder family members by talking to other family members.
- Make plans with your aging parents. Try to spend more time with your elderly loved ones to avoid isolation, which is one of the main problems of aging in place. Making arrangements with them might help people feel heard and taken into account. Try taking your parents to local events or entertainment locations that elderly folks won’t want to miss.
- Teach your parents how to use modern technology. Many elderly parents are not accustomed to the contemporary technologies of the twenty-first century. Even when you are extremely busy, you may maintain contact with them thanks to technology. Their benefit is the second reason you should educate them on how to use current technologies that will help them age at home comfortably.
- Try to help ease some of their financial burdens. Besides being there for them physically, helping them with some of their financial expenses can go a long way since they would need aging care that involves a lot of money. You may think of it as giving back to them for raising you.
- Always lend them an ear. Most of the time, older people’s emotional needs are overlooked, and it’s easy for them to feel neglected, given that their younger family members are also focused on living their life or building their own families. But try to always be there for them when they feel troubled or sad.
Ways To Stay Connected With Older Loved Ones
To give you further ideas on how you may help your aging loved ones successfully, here’s a list of things you could do to stay connected with them.
- Take a trip with them.
- Exercise together.
- Skype or FaceTime them to say hi whenever you have free time.
- Use social media and email by sharing with them some photos of your recent vacation or a pic of a delicious dish you tried during the day.
- Host a party or a family reunion.
- Kindly ask them if they want to babysit since grandparents love being with their grandkids most of the time.
- Watch their favorite game together.
- Take them on dates or to their favorite places.
- Share your favorite recipes with them as a way of bonding, and eating together offers time for catching up and having fun and meaningful conversations.
The Importance of Family Support In Senior Life
In a senior’s life, family is true of incomparable value. In addition to serving as a reliable social network, evidence suggests that a senior’s relationship with their family directly impacts their general standard of living.
According to research, seniors with strong family ties live longer than those with less positive relationships. If the prospect of living longer doesn’t motivate you to spend time with your loved ones, here are some further arguments in favor of doing so:
- As time passes, social ties will likely shift, with family being the most consistent.
- There is a strong correlation between health and the strength of one’s family relationships, including:
- Longer life. The American Sociological Association found that seniors who had stronger ties to their family members were less likely than other seniors to pass away during the next five years.
- Stronger immune system. The immune systems of social seniors are frequently stronger.
- Improved mental health. It has also been suggested that seniors who live near their families have greater mental health than those who do not.
- Brain health. The level of cognitive function is often higher in older adults who are more socially active.
- Older people are very prone to loneliness which often leads to more serious mental health problems like depression.
Bottomline
An act of love is providing at-home care for the elderly. You can find it challenging to always be present for your aging loved ones. It’s crucial to do everything you can to support, love, and help senior family members as they age since nobody wants to think about them feeling alone and lonely.
More significantly, chances are you’ll require assistance and resources along the way whether you lead a hectic lifestyle, have an active family, or have more time to devote to your parents. Therefore, it’s crucial to make an effort to research and comprehend how you might support and assist your elderly loved ones during their prime.
As a family member, there are many ways for you to connect and support your older loved ones. Many would benefit every member greatly and are incredibly simple to implement. Family relationships need to be strengthened because doing so will improve their health.