What does successful aging look like?
This is a question that I recently came across in an online discussion and I felt like it was worth bringing the discussion over to the Paradise In-Home Care blog because I know that it is a topic that is important to our readers. After all, part of the goal of senior care is to help the elderly successfully navigate through the difficulties of aging and have as high of a quality of life as possible. Yes, there are a lot of different barriers to this, whether it is disability, illness, or dementia. But that’s what senior care seeks to address. Not only do we want to help make people battling these conditions be more comfortable, we want them to thrive when they receive care.
Simply stated, successful aging is going to be defined differently from person to person. What one person deems to be a success another will not. Success is a very subjective term, and because of this, it’s important to be sensitive to the wants and needs of the individual.
This goes for differences between family members, too. What you think successful aging is might be different than what your elderly mom thinks. This can make senior care difficult at times, especially if a need is present that is being ignored. If your mother is dead set on going out to a restaurant once a week, but her doctor has told her that she needs to stay off of her legs for a couple months to recover from a surgery, a conflict has occurred. We want to meet that desire, but also have to figure out how to accommodate the physical need.
The good news is that there are ways to do this. A wheelchair can be used, or you can bring home takeout. It might not be a perfect solution, but there are usually ways to work around the needs to help partially achieve the wants.
Successful aging takes into account the needs of the individual and does what’s needed to help meet them, all while taking the person’s goals and desires into account. This isn’t easy because everyone’s situation is a little different. The physical needs of my mom are going to be different than what your elderly loved one needs. Now, making this even more difficult is the fact that my mom has different interests and goals than what someone else’s will. My mom loves gardening, but your grandfather might be more interested in watching basketball.
If we look at this on a large scale, meeting these conflicting needs and dreams is impossible. If we look at it on a person by person scale, it’s quite easy to accomplish. And this is exactly what in-home care can help accomplish. This type of care supplies one on one assistance, making for a unique type of care that is focused on the individual and not the issues at hand.
We can help you find this. Give us a call today to get started.
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