Dad and mom might begin showing some signs of requiring more help and slowing down. As their adult child, giving them a hand might seem challenging.
Besides, knowing what your aging parents need every day might be perplexing, particularly if you don’t live nearby. An involved and compassionate approach is to discuss their needs and wishes with them. Having this conversation is important before you take any step in helping them maintain their health. Elderly parents may turn down the offers of their grown kids. However, if your parents agree to it, here are tips to help you make them lead a healthy lifestyle:
1. Let Your Parents Lead
If possible do things alongside your elderly parents. Although this approach may take more time, you will allow your dad and mom to retain their independence by giving them a chance to take the lead. This might be helpful to the self-esteem of your parents and keep their mental abilities sharp. Some elderly people stop taking part in daily routines and expect a family caregiver to take over. However, the adage of ‘if you cannot use it, you lose it,’ usually applies here.
This places a greater responsibility on the family caregiver and sets your elderly parents up for a decline in mental and physical functioning too. So your main goal needs to focus on extending your parents’ independence and not encouraging their dependency on you.
2. Get the Best Home Care Service
The advantages of seniors living in their own houses are undeniable. However, when aging loved ones start to struggle with ADLs (activities of daily living) and household tasks, it will be your main source of worry. Seeking elderly care services in Washington DC is the best option, enabling your parents to age in a healthy, comfortable, and safe place.
Professional and experienced in-home care providers offer seniors hands-on care and help with their daily lives’ routine and emotional aspects.
3. Keep an Eye on their Wellbeing
Caring for your elderly parents at home might be as easy as a daily or weekly phone call, assessing their conversational tidbits for details on how they are faring, and checking on their goings. In most cases, this is not enough. Elderly parents that are struggling need physical monitoring so as to determine how well your parents are doing.
4. Encourage Them to Get Plenty of Sleep
Sleep helps to reduce stress levels and allows the body to repair itself. For that reason, encouraging your parents to have enough rest and sleep will lead to a stronger immune system, making it simple for their bodies to fight off diseases and viruses. Sleep is also vital as they grow older. As long as they aim for eight or more hours of sleep, it will improve their concentration and memory.
Final Thoughts!
Becoming a caretaker of your elderly parents might be challenging. Taking full responsibility also requires a lot of time, work, and sacrifice. So learning when you need to step in and setting some goals can help a lot.