Living alone comes with a whole host of dangers for seniors–especially if they are dealing with physical or cognitive disabilities.
It’s estimated that more than 26 million people that are age 50 or older live by themselves in the United States. If statistics hold true for this segment, about 4 million of those individuals are struggling through some stage of dementia. Women, impoverished people, and those who don’t have a partner are the most likely individuals to live on their own as they age.
When an elderly person struggling with dementia or another disability is living on their own, the risk of injury, medication mistakes, and self-neglect goes up considerably. Unfortunately, this is the situation that a lot of people find themselves in.
While it is certainly a very real issue, there’s also a very simple solution to the problem: improving the quality of attention and care that people aging alone experience. This can be done through the support of family and friends, but a lot of this population lives on their own because they either don’t live near their loved ones, or because they don’t have these community connections. Connecting people to help when there’s no one that knows they need help is downright impossible. The solution might be simple, but that doesn’t make it easy.
This isn’t a situation that anyone wants to find themselves in. Putting aside all of the health and safety risks that I’ve talked about above, being alone is just bad for your mental health. Even the biggest of introverts needs their time around other people–especially other people that they really care about and love.
The idea of needing senior care can confound all of this. As physical health fails, getting help with the activities of daily living can become a nonnegotiable. In order to survive, some older people require the assistance of other people.
No one deserves to be alone when they need help. Everyone deserves access to high quality care. This is a segment of the population that is at a higher risk than others of not getting this help, though.
For those that crave their privacy and solitude, the thought of going into a nursing home is terrifying. Luckily, that’s not the only type of senior care that can help promote community for seniors in need. In fact, there are professional types of care that do not require those in need to even leave their homes. In-home care is dedicated to providing this high quality of care that seniors deserve, all while allowing them to stay in the place that they want to stay.
In-home care is what we do. If you’d like to learn more about how in-home care might be able to benefit you and your family, please feel free to reach out. Our professional caregivers are here to help. They can answer questions and get you pointed in the right direction. We even offer free consultation sessions to dive deeper into this topic.
If you have questions or want to learn more, please feel free to reach out. One of our caregivers would be happy to help get the ball rolling.
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