If your senior’s home is gradually getting a lot more cluttered, there might be some underlying reasons. Understanding what the clutter is really telling you can help you to solve those underlying issues.

Her Social Life Might not Be What You Think

Clutter often causes people to shut others out. That might definitely be the case for your senior, but you might not have noticed that evolution. It’s difficult to have people over, either in a planned sense or in a spontaneous way, when the house is extremely cluttered. You might even find that your senior doesn’t have you over nearly as often as she did in the past.

She Might Be Experiencing Emotional Changes
There’s more to clutter than just the things themselves taking up space. Your senior might be experiencing emotional changes that are pretty big. Depression is common for people who are surrounded by cluttered environments, plus your elderly family member may be experiencing depression because she’s unable to do anything about the clutter on her own.

She Might Be Experiencing Cognitive Changes
How your elderly family member’s brain works and functions can change, too. That might mean that she doesn’t intellectually understand the clutter she’s dealing with in the same way that she once did. She may see nothing wrong at all with having much more clutter than she’s ever had before. Or she might see everything, even trash, as something valuable that she has to keep.

It Might Be More Difficult for Her to Keep up with Some Tasks
Clutter tells you two different things about your senior’s ability to keep up with regular tasks and chores. First, it tells you that she’s probably not able to keep up with the situation as it stands right now or correct it on her own. Second, she may have gotten into this situation because she’s unable to do more. Regardless, it might be time to bring in senior care providers to assist with those daily chores.

She Needs More Help than You Realize
Overall the big lesson for you might be that your elderly family member needs more assistance, period. There may be more attention and time that she needs from you in order to help her to manage what’s going on in her life. Talk with her about what she needs and what you can do for her in order to be more help to her.

Cleaning up the clutter is just the beginning. It’s really important for you and your senior to understand what the clutter means and how it will impact her life moving forward.

Excerpt: What does your senior’s clutter situation really mean?

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Senior Care in Mauldin, SC, contact Heart of the Carolinas Home Care at 864-991-3116. Providing Home Care Services in Greenville, Simpsonville, Greer, Anderson, Spartanburg, Mauldin, Seneca, Laurens, Charleston, Columbia and the surrounding areas.

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Edward Harrison

Founder at Heart of the Carolinas

Edward Harrison founded the Heart of the Carolinas Homecare in 2007 when he saw there was a need for caregivers that provide non-medical home care services, at a price that most people could afford. It was standard in the industry to require hourly minimums and it was common to be assigned a caregiver, not matched with one based on your individual personal needs. Edward understood that to make a successful relationship between caregiver and client, skills were not enough, personality and compatibility plays as much a role as do skills.

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