Staying healthy can help seniors remain independent and boost their physical, mental, and emotional health. Aging adults can start by making significant lifestyle changes, including letting go of bad habits and making their health a priority. Take a look at some of the lifestyle changes your senior loved one should make to stay healthy.
1. Exercise More
Staying physically active could lower your parent’s risk of slips, falls, traumas, fractures, and infections. Your loved one can work out various parts of his or her body, ensuring his or her systems function normally. If your parent has reduced mobility, look for fun and challenging ways to get moving and raise the heart rate.
If you usually help your elderly loved one exercise but need a break now and then, consider enlisting the help of a professional caregiver. If your senior loved one needs hourly or live-in care, Montgomery Home Care Assistance can help. Our caregivers can assist with exercise and mobility, prepare nutritious meals, provide timely medication reminders, and help with a wide array of other important daily tasks.
2. Manage Medications
Many aging adults take multiple prescriptions, increasing their odds of medication mishaps. However, encouraging your loved one to use apps and tools such as pillboxes and charts could prevent him or her from overmedicating or skipping a dosage, which can reduce the chance of a hospital admission.
3. Eat Healthy
Giving up sugary foods and bad fats and eating more lean meats, fatty fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains should become a part of your loved one’s lifestyle. The foods your loved one eats could lower the odds of a stroke or heart attack and stave off conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
Professional caregivers with training in nutrition and healthy habits can be a wonderful source of information and encouragement for seniors. Though you may be researching multiple agencies that provide senior home care, Home Care Assistance has much to offer your family and your elderly loved one. We are leaders in the senior home care industry, offering proprietary programs like our holistic Balanced Care Method and around-the-clock assistance from reliable, experienced caregivers. Trust Home Care Assistance to help your loved one enjoy a happier and healthier life in the golden years.
4. Stop Smoking
Cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products could cause heart disease and vision impairment in older adults, which is why they should stop smoking. Letting go of this bad habit could increase longevity and boost your loved one’s independence.
5. Stay Busy
Your parent doesn’t need to have a full-time job to stay mentally active. He or she could volunteer with a nonprofit organization or take up purposeful hobbies such as gardening, drawing, and cooking. Staying busy in the golden years can enhance cognitive health and overall wellbeing.
6. Learn Something New
Many seniors enroll in online classes or attend adult courses at local universities to stave off memory loss and cognitive impairment. Your loved one should commit to learning something new as often as possible, whether it’s learning a new song or dance or trying different recipes from time to time. The objective is to stay mentally and emotionally engaged. In some cases, learning something new can also boost physical health.
7. Develop Good Sleeping Patterns
As adults continue to age, it becomes difficult to avoid long naps during the day, which often leads to restless nights. Seniors need to get plenty of rest to clear the body of dangerous toxins and enhance their quality of life. Developing a good bedtime routine could benefit your loved one’s heart health, boost his or her immune system, and enhance his or her cognitive function.
8. Go to the Doctor Regularly
Preventive care is the best way for older adults to stave off age-related conditions such as dementia, osteoporosis, and some cancers. However, many seniors fail to visit their primary care physicians regularly, so they don’t receive the tips, testing, and assistance they need. Encouraging your parent to visit the doctor and dentist at least twice per year could benefit his or her physical and mental health in the senior years.
Montgomery homecare services professionals can be a wonderful boon to seniors. Whether they require around-the-clock supervision or just need assistance with exercise and household tasks a few days a week, seniors can enjoy a higher quality of life with the help of trusted in-home caregivers. Home Care Assistance can be your trusted partner when your loved one needs help with the challenges of aging. Call us today at (334) 593-3988 to learn about our high-quality in-home care services.