At Home Care Pros, we value the physical and mental health of our clients. We strive to provide our clients and their family with research-based recommendations that can enhance their well-being. Many seniors in the United States live alone, which is not always the ideal situation for human beings as we are social creatures who stay mentally, physically, and emotionally at our best when we are supported by others on a regular basis.
Our team at Home Care Pros takes an active role in ensuring that our clients have many different opportunities for socialization when receiving at-home care. This focus on socialization is in order to enhance their emotional health, mental well-being, and overall physical condition.
It’s easy to feel that seniors need their independence in order to be happy, and while it is important to allow seniors as much independence as it is safe for them, this is not the same thing as isolation.
Encouraging the elderly to perform activities they are comfortable with and can do themselves such as dressing or preparing a simple meal are great ways to help them keep their stamina. In fact, simply providing a caregiver in an in-home setting allows patients to stay in their own homes and maintain that very important sense of accomplishment.
Isolation however, is damaging when seniors do not get the social interaction that they need to maintain a healthy mind and spirit. Whether visiting with friends, playing a game with a caregiver, or spending time with family, each of those simple interactions is vitally important for older people to maintain a connection to their social networks and society as a whole.
Although it can be difficult to define and measure the effects of loneliness on a person’s health, many scientific studies have aimed to do so. Their findings are strikingly similar in concluding that prolonged periods of loneliness in people over the age of 50 have significant negative health impacts both mentally and physically.
Loneliness has been linked again and again to:
The Center for Disease Control discovered that more than a fourth of seniors in the US regularly experience loneliness, and yet another study done by the UCSF Division of Geriatrics showed that 43% of the seniors they interviewed felt lonely.
Being proactive about helping seniors to avoid loneliness and encouraging them to reach out to others is extremely important. Also, creating a loose schedule and filling their day with activities or interactions with people can be very helpful, especially when they can no longer organize and make plans easily on their own.
Even if a relative or friend is receiving at-home care they can and should be included in social activities such as:
At Home Care Pros in Alameda we believe that the best way to encourage emotional, mental, and physical wellness among our clients is to provide companionship care. Our caregivers go beyond the typical tasks of helping with medications, mobility, dressing and bathing to actually spend time with and build relationships with the people they care for.
By spending time in conversation, interacting while doing household chores like preparing a meal or folding laundry together, playing a game, driving to a doctor’s appointment with a companion, or going on a walk or short outings, our caregivers make it a priority to build relationships.
This focus not only helps stave off loneliness, but encourages a healthy level of physical activity, helps keep the mind sharp, and often gives the elderly individual a more positive outlook on the future.
Give us a call today at (888) 777-4690 to set up a time to meet with our friendly, professional staff members and learn how we can enhance the lives of you and your loved one through compassionate, companionship home care.