Tips for Taking Care of Your Elderly Parents
Important tips that you should keep in mind to give your elderly parents the care they need.
19/06/2020
Ageing is a natural part of life, and we are all likely to witness its effects firsthand as our parents slowly become senior adults requiring our care. Old age affects parents in different ways depending on their medical history, regular diet, and fitness levels, among other factors. If you are looking for tips on how to take care of your ageing parents, you have come to the right place.
Read on for some of the most important tips that you should keep in mind to give your elderly parents the care they need.
Arrange Appropriate Accommodation
The first thing to consider is to prepare appropriate accommodation for your elderly parents so that they can live peacefully after their retirement. You can consider a place like a granny flat with facilities that can easily enable the elderly to perform tasks like bathing, eating, and dressing while also allowing them to move freely. If your parents have some chronic condition but you want them to live at home, then you can consider getting assistance from a professional caregiver. But first, you need to understand the level of care that your parents need so that you can get them the right help. This also helps take some of the pressure and responsibility off your shoulders, which could, otherwise, stress you out and affect your health.
Make Sure They Take Their Medication on Time
If you decide to live with your parents, then there are certain things that you should take into consideration. If they take prescribed medication, it is essential to ensure that they take it at the right time, especially after meals. You should not assume that your parents will always remember to take medication since ageing comes with other conditions like memory lapse. You should also make sure that they take their medication in the right doses.
Help Them Maintain Proper Hygiene
Hygiene encompasses elements like bathing,
toilet hygiene, general cleanliness, shaving,
and other grooming activities. When it comes to
toilet hygiene, the folks over at
Uplifting
Mobility recommend investing in a raised toilet
seat, as it can go a long way in improving your
parent’s quality of life. You see, traditional
toilet heights are usually low and they make it
difficult for people with joint problems,
particularly the elderly, to stand or sit down.
This problem can be fixed by getting a raised
toilet seat that can reduce the effort one may
require to sit or stand when using the toilet.
Apart from getting your parents a raised
toilet seat, you can also improve their mobility
by getting a special wheelchair that is easy to
operate. You should also make sure that the
house allows for free movement using a
wheelchair without hindrance or overcrowding.
The other aspect pertains to maintaining a clean
home so that your parents can live in a clean
and healthy environment. You need to ensure that
the place is free of the clutter that can
obstruct free movement in and around the home.
Preparing Meals
Whether you or a caregiver are staying with
your elderly parents, make sure their meals are
prepared on time so that they can rest after
eating. More importantly, you should ensure that
you maintain a good diet for your ageing parents
to improve their health. Certain health
conditions are worsened by the type of food
consumed by the elderly, arthritis, for example—
a common condition likely to affect the
elderly—, is characterized by inflammation of
the joints, which can be combated by specific
anti-inflammatory foods.
A
good diet does
not only help to combat arthritis, but it also
helps with other different conditions. Thus, to
maintain a good diet, you should know which
types of foods are bad for your ageing parents.
In the same vein, you also need to know the
right type of foods that you can prepare for
them. Processed foods, food with high sugar
content, and Omega-6 fatty acids can
significantly contribute to arthritis. On the
other hand, foods like fish, ginger, broccoli,
garlic, spinach as well as fruits are good for
the overall health of elderly people. It is
crucial to ensure that your ageing parents get
the right nutrients so that they can live
healthier lives in their twilight years. You can
also encourage your parents to reduce their
alcohol consumption and quit other habits like
smoking, which is definitely not good for their
health.
Caring for elderly parents can seem to be a daunting task for some individuals. However, with the right help, products, and knowledge, you will realize that it is easier than you had initially thought. You need to ensure that your ageing parent is living in secure accommodation with appropriate facilities, like toilets specially designed for the elderly. Maintaining quality hygiene is key to taking care of your elderly parents. Additionally, it is also important to ensure that your parents get timely meals and that they also take all their prescribed medications on time.