The quality of life for your loved ones is a priority for you. When it comes to senior care, this still holds true, although it can be a lot more difficult at times to give an elderly family member the quality of life that they deserve. There are a lot of things that you can do to help make sure that the people you care about have the lifestyles that they want, but when it comes to senior citizens, oftentimes, the best thing you can do for them is find the best senior care possible.
There was a study released recently that outlined yet another way that you can help a loved one improve the quality of their life. It’s surprisingly simple, and it revolves around whether or not a chronic illness is accepted or not. When someone has a tough time accepting the fact that they have an illness, their quality of life deteriorates. This specific study looked at chronic heart issues, but there have been other indications in the past that this is true of other chronic health problems, too. 100 people were looked at, and quality of life was measured by how well they functioned across a few different standards. These included six things that were part of everyday living. Quality of life was measured by things like amounts of energy, pain levels, quality and amount of sleep, mobility, and a few other things. Researchers found that there was a direct link between how able patients were to accept their medical condition and how high their quality of life was.
It makes a lot of sense, actually, and it goes far beyond chronic heart disease. If you cannot accept the fact that you are struggling with something like diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease, you are far less likely to take treatments seriously and will not be likely to be proactive with your medical care. It will worsen symptoms eventually, and contribute to poor mental health.
Senior care, and in particular, a good in-home care service, can help improve your loved one’s quality of life. A caregiver will be able to help with many of the things that this study measured, such as mobility and sleep quality, if these are issues. The best caregivers can set up ways for the person you love to get where they need to be in the home, help you schedule their days so sleep can be achieved more easily, and keep track of things like medication dispensation, doctors appointments, and anything else that can help ward off the effects poor illness management.
How chronic disease is handled mentally will vary from person to person, and you might find that there’s not much you alone can do to help an elderly family member get past their mental barriers, but there are others that can, such as therapists and senior care specialists. Enlisting their help, plus the help of a top caregiver, are all good steps toward making sure that your loved one’s quality of life is not impaired.
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