Protect Your Elderly Parent’s Independence

 

As our parent’s age, they become more dependent on us, and this can eventually lead to them having to go into a care facility. However, if you can, you want to avoid this for as long as possible. Instead, you need to help your parents maintain their independence. It’s a better quality of life and research actually shows that mental and physical conditions may actually worsen in environments like care homes. So, how can you protect the independence of your elderly parents?

Protect Your Elderly Parent's Independence

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Look At Home Care Options
If your elderly parent has mental or physical issues or just lives alone, you might want to consider home care possibilities. Companies like Care Staf provide a wide range of options for patients who want to receive care and support at home rather than in a hospital or at a permanent facility. With support like this, you can guarantee that elderly parents maintain their independence, with a continued structure for support.
The benefit of home care is that there is always someone there to look after your parents and make sure they are okay. So, even if you’re not around, you know that someone is watching over them and checking in occasionally.

Change Their Home

One of the reasons why elderly parents lose their independence is because small things that they used to find easy become incredibly difficult. Even walking up the stairs can potentially be dangerous because they could slip and fall. Now, when you’re young falling down the stairs isn’t an issue. But as your older, it can lead to injuries that could mean a permanent stay in a nursing home. By converting a closet under the stairs into a downstairs bathroom, you can avoid elderly parents having to go up and downstairs quite as frequently. Better yet, you can help them move to a bungalow.

Keeping Things Cosy

One of the main reasons elderly parents get sick is due to low temperatures, even in their home. Don’t forget they are more susceptible to developing viruses and the flu. Again, when you’re older conditions like this can lead to complications that are incredibly dangerous like pneumonia. It is worth looking at your parents home and assessing whether there are ways to improve the insulation, keeping the house warm and avoiding expensive bills.

Move A Little Closer

Perhaps the best way to ensure parents still have their own space while keeping them safe is to move a little closer to them. They don’t have to move in with you but by getting a house closer to them you’ll be near enough to deal with any issues that might arise. For instance, they might need a spot of work completed on their home. Rather than them attempting to do it without any help, you’ll be able to pop round and keep them safe and sound.

We hope you see now that there are a variety of steps you can take to maintain the independence of elderly parents, without leaving them in harm’s way.

 

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