6 Ageing Issues You Should Address For Better Health of Elderly
Ageing is a natural process, but once you have spent your life being independent, ageing becomes one of life's harsh realities. You don't have the same stamina to perform activities at this phase whilst you are also in denial that you need help. Our ageing parents go through the same thought process while we are desperate to help them.
If your parents are stubborn about receiving any sort of assistance, you are not alone. At Least 70% of the adults complain about ageing parent’s safety and health while older people reject all the offers.
In the beginning, it will be hard getting your parents to receive help. However, you can help your parents spend a safe and sound day by discussing several aspects of ageing.
So, what are the issues that you should address in the early stages of ageing to help your parents manage healthy and active lifestyles as much as possible?
Acceptance:
The first issue that appears with ageing is acceptance. Our parents are often in denial that they need help with certain activities even if it's as minor as lifting a box to the shelf. Helping your ageing parents understand that ageing is a part of life, and receiving help is essential and is a significant factor towards a healthy lifestyle.
Ageing people can maintain a better lifestyle if they do not pressure their body into activities that require strength and stamina of a youthful person.
Use of Mobility Aids:
Health Precautions:
As we age, our immune systems get weaker day by day, and we are prone to diseases and infections. It is essential to address your ageing pals that any medical conditions symptoms should be treated in the early stages for better health. To keep track of health and occurring symptoms, discuss monthly doctor appointments with a general physician, encourage health precautions all sorts of daily activities.
Nutrition Intake:
Nutrition intake is one of the significant issues of ageing that you should address as soon as possible. As we age, our body starts absorbing fewer nutrients as well as our appetite decreases. Two of the most common complaints you will hear from ageing people is about facing hardship in chewing or swallowing food, no longer like a specific food, is experiencing digestion issues etc.
Everyone can eventually notice the decrease in appetite, and as the body absorbs fewer nutrients, the body gets weaker. Adequate intake of nutrition can help ageing people dodge a lot of diseases.
Since as a matter of age, your parents will refuse to take proper meals, you need different measures to maintain the nutrient intake such as:
- Encourage nutrition intake through fruits and snacks in portions throughout the days.
- Tackle the chewing and swallowing problem by making healthy fruits and vegetable shakes.
Safety:
All of the cruel aspects of ageing, including a decrease in memory, vision, activity, and strength are the reason to talk about safety concerns with your parents. Once the children are grown up and have moved out of the nest, most of the ageing parents want to live alone peacefully in retirement.
However, the aspects of ageing make an individual weak enough to tackle any emergency successfully. These situations can exist anywhere from medical emergencies to a burglary. Older adults are often targets of exploitation by several individuals.
There is an 80% positive chance that your parents will deny moving in with you. So, it is better to prepare for the safety talk. Safety should be maintained inside and out of the house. The couple of safety measures you can take is:
- Install easy mechanism cameras at home and install the app on your phone as well.
- Track on tracking device mode on your ageing parent's phone to stay updated.
- Adopt a guard dog to keep the intruders away. Dogs are great companions as well.
Palliative Care:
The last but not least issues that you should address with your ageing parents is palliative care. In the home health services sector, palliative care is a sensitive issue and refers to the care provided at the end of life when treatments of progressive diseases are no longer working.
