September Is Healthy Aging Month is here again, and it’s a perfect time to talk with your elderly family member about what healthy aging means to her and what her goals are for aging as healthily as she can.
Healthy Aging Is Different for Every Senior
Every senior faces different health challenges and issues. What amounts to healthy aging for your senior might be a worst-case scenario for someone else, but that doesn’t mean that either situation is necessarily unhealthy. It’s important to address your senior’s situation as an individual rather than attaching arbitrary goals to her plans.
Help Her to Accept Changes
One thing that’s true for everyone as they age is that there are changes occurring all the time. Fighting those changes can sometimes make everything feel worse. Adopting an attitude of acceptance about the things that your senior can’t change can help her to deal with aging in a mentally healthy way.
Help Her to Stay Socially Connected
Social isolation is a big problem for many aging adults and it’s easy for seniors to fall into a pattern that keeps them from being around people. Finding solutions for that issue depends a great deal on your senior’s life and her interests. In some cases, having home care providers stopping by a few times a week can be enough of a social connection. In others, your senior may feel the need to have more interactions with other people so joining a class could be a good idea.
Help Her to Prioritize Her Physical Health
Focusing on positive changes for physical health is also important. Eating healthy foods, moving regularly, and getting quality sleep are all part of that healthy aging plan. Talk to your senior’s doctor about what else your senior should consider as she works toward aging as healthfully as she can.
Revisit Her Plans Periodically Together
Changes happen, and even when your elderly family member is gracefully weathering those changes, she may still need to revisit how her plans support those changes. Having help from senior care providers can make life easier, for instance. Making a commitment to revisit those plans helps you and your elderly family member to do things like hire home care services when they become necessary instead of waiting too long.
Healthy aging is about looking at a variety of different factors and doing what you both can in order to make life as simple and as safe as possible for your senior.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Home Care in Spartanburg, 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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