Sweden has often been hailed as the best place in the world to grow old. There are a few big reasons for that, some of which we will discuss below. Long story short, though, Sweden has led the world in a lot of aspects when it comes to longevity and caring for the elderly, and as such, there are definitely some things that we here in the United States can learn and apply to our own senior care methods.
High Life Expectancy
Sweden has the highest life expectancy in the world right now, with an average age of almost 82 years old. The U.S. has an average of 78.7 years, to put this in comparison, and the U.S. ranks 26th in the world. Some of the reasons why this happens have to do with their diet (rich in Omega 3 fatty acids from fish), an environment relatively free of pollution, and a lifestyle rich in physical exercise.
Happiness
Sweden ranks 5th in the world when it comes to happiness. This is something that a lot of people overlook when it comes to the senior population, but it’s extremely important. The happier your mom or dad is while they receive senior care, the better. There are ways to tweak this at times–such as offering in-home care if your parent doesn’t want to leave the home–but a lot of people fail to take advantage of this.
Unique Senior Care
Sweden has an advanced senior care system; one popular method involves independent living that is extremely rare in the U.S. Care is always available, but the seniors that live in these communities have a high degree of independence. They are able to garden, prepare their own meals, and create their own daytime schedules, if they desire. All of this happens while they are highly supervised and kept safe. In other words, they get the best of both worlds here.
What We Can Learn
They are some big takeaways for us here. Sweden has a large percentage of elderly people in their population, yet they are happier and healthier than most of the rest of the world. They exercise and eat right, and they are given a higher degree of freedom when it comes to doing the things that they want to do in their latter years. We should strive to give our loved ones this if we are able to. Right now, in-home care is the closest thing we have to their independent communities. Keep them well cared for and happy, and you will look back at the senior care process as something that allowed them to maximize their years as senior citizens, not as a handicap as many people think that elderly living needs to be. Sweden might not be an economic powerhouse like the U.S. is, and they might not have the huge population that other countries do, but they have seniors that are healthy and enjoying their lives–and this says a lot about their society. Hopefully, we can get our senior care system to this level someday soon.
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