Five Ways Your Senior Can Make Aging in Place More Likely
If your elderly family member is planning to age in place, it’s important to ask if she has a plan for doing so. It’s okay if she doesn’t have a plan yet, but you’ll need to help her to put one together.
Work with You on a Fall Prevention Plan
Elder Care Palm Beach County, FL: Aging in Place
Millions of aging adults fall every year and of those people who fall, the CDC estimates that one out of five experiences a serious injury. These injuries can have long-term effects for your senior, including shortening her lifespan. Putting together a fall prevention plan is crucial in keeping your senior as safe as possible.
Have a Plan for Keeping Her Brain Active
If your elderly family member isn’t using her brain, she can start to experience changes in how her brain works, and not for the better. Just like with her muscles, your senior needs to use her brain in order to keep it strong and healthy. Eating right helps, but it also helps to have activities planned that keep her brain going.
Start Moving More
Something that she needs to talk to her doctor about is having an exercise plan, too. Her doctor can recommend specific types of exercise that are right for her and for her current health needs. The more your senior moves, the more she’ll be able to move. And preserving her mobility is a crucial aspect of aging in place.
Keep an Open Mind
There may be times when your senior needs to be mentally flexible about what’s happening. Her health can change quickly or there may be other factors that change when she’s not ready. If she’s able to embrace being adaptable, that’s going to go a long way toward helping her to meet her goals.
Get Extra Help to Make Life Easier
When life does get a little more challenging, that doesn’t mean your senior has to give up on aging in place. With the help of elder care services, your senior may be able to stay in her home far past when she thought she would be able to. This can be an important tool for her to access at all points of her journey toward aging in place.
Your senior’s goal to age in place can be more realistic than she thinks, particularly if she’s willing to embrace some of the tools and support that she needs to make that situation work for her.