One of the greatest fears for many people as they age is losing their independence. The thought of needing care is frightening, especially if you’ve never had to receive it as a younger person. There are many times when you have to face the reality that you need some help. However, as you age, you can try to maintain your independence as much as possible. There’s a lot you can do to ensure that you can keep some control over your life, even if need some assistance to do it. Before you give up all hope, have a look at some of these tips for maintaining independence for yourself or a loved one.
Ensuring Seniors Get Their Say
One of the most important things, when someone is getting older, is to ensure that they can be in control for as long as possible. If someone needs care, it’s essential that others don’t start making all the decisions. If you’re the one who needs care, it can sometimes be difficult to fight to have your say. Sometimes, your family isn’t as willing to listen to you as you would hope. However, as long as you can make decisions, medical professionals should listen to you. It’s often a good idea to put legal protections in place to ensure you get your wishes. If you are involved in someone’s care, it’s vital to listen to what they want.
Setting Up Advance Directives
One of the ways to guarantee certain treatments as a senior is with an advance directive. These include living wills and durable power of attorney for health care. They allow people to set out their wishes for care and treatment if they are ill or disabled. With a living will, you can write out what you want to happen and what you don’t want to happen. By appointing someone as an agent for your living will, you can make sure your wishes are carried out. A durable power of attorney for health care allows someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. You can set up both of these things without a lawyer, but you might want to hire on just to be safe.
Adapting a Home
Many people are determined to stay in their own home for as long as possible. Moving out into an unfamiliar environment can feel disruptive and be upsetting. Staying somewhere familiar often provides some comfort and makes things a little easier. However, living at home can get harder as you get older. One of the things that will make it simpler to stay home for longer is making some adaptations. Creating a more accessible home makes getting around and completing daily tasks less difficult. For example, you might start in the bathroom, by putting in rails and a walk-in bath. If someone in the home uses a wheelchair, you might need wider doorways.
Available Tools and Gadgets
As well as significant changes you can make to a home, there are smaller aids you can use too. There are lots of tools and gadgets that can make being at home and getting about much easier. They can have a broad range of purposes, from making it easier to pick things up to magnifying text for reading. The items you buy will depend on the needs of the person who needs them. One of the easiest ways to find what you require is to look for a retailer that sells mobility accessible products. You can also find many useful things in general stores. You can also find that TV shopping channels are useful too. They often have lots of items you can order over the phone to be delivered to your home.
Exploring Home Care Options
If you want to stay at home, you might need some care. Having a family member or friend help you is one option, but it’s not always a possibility. A lot of people have to consider looking at hiring some help. With Amana Living and other home care services, you can have someone come to help you out. There are lots of ways you can tailor your home care to your needs. A carer could drop in once a week or every day. Perhaps you already have someone caring for you, but you want them to have a break now and then. These are all possibilities for having someone give you assistance at home. If you have a spare room, you might even consider a live-in carer.
Other Ways to Maintain Independence with Care
Home care isn’t your only option if you want to remain as independent as possible. However, you have to be prepared to move elsewhere. One of the options is moving closer to family. You could be close enough to maintain your own life but still have the support of family members nearby. Some people move into an annexe or self-contained apartment in a family member’s home. Another option is a retirement community. They provide the opportunity to live close to other seniors. They often have social events and communal areas, as well as help for things like maintenance.
An assisted living facility is a possibility for anyone who might need a bit more help. You can still have your own home, but you can access assistance from staff when you need it. They are suitable for people who need the reassurance of care available when they need it. But they can help people to remain independent too. Even some care homes can still provide some independence and privacy. Residents can still have their own room, with space for personal possessions.
Maintaining a Social Life
Becoming disconnected from the world is a real risk for older people. It’s easy to become isolated, especially when it’s a struggle to leave the house. Maintaining a social life is important, and there are several ways to do it. For example, visits from friends and family are usually welcome. There are also charities with volunteers who can perform home visits or speak to people on the phone. You can find community centers and social groups to meet people too. The choice of home affects how social someone can be too.
It can be difficult to maintain complete independence as you get older. However, there are still many things to do to make someone as independent as possible.
