5 Independent Living Tips for Seniors: Staying Active

Independent Living Tips for Seniors? You’ve just retired and you’re ready to move forward with your next stage of life. Living independently might be a new experience for you, so how do you make the adjustment?

5 Independent Living Tips for Seniors: Staying Active

Living on your own can be rewarding, but it does require some adjustments. Here are 5 independent living tips that will help seniors stay active in their daily lives and continue to live an engaged lifestyle.

5 Independent Living Tips for Seniors: Staying Active

My five independent living tips for seniors are important to follow for a better quality of life. These five independent living tips for seniors involve dependence on others outside the home, yet can help those less likely to have to live in a retirement home or other less than ideal situation.

These five independent living tips for seniors are in no particular order. Deciding whether to live alone, with relatives, or in another setting is one where all factors should be considered carefully.

Have A Call and Stop-By List In Place

Living alone doesn’t mean living lonely. For seniors, you must have at least a couple of people outside your home watching your back every week. Have them call you or stop by your house once or twice a week to make sure you are alright, and to provide some human contact. Owning a pet can also provide companionship and protection.

This is the most important thing to do and will help you maintain a higher quality of life.

Independent Living Tips for Seniors

Hire Out or Find Volunteers For Strenuous and/or Risky Household Chores

Unless you’re fit and agile and have even discussed doing strenuous or risky household chores with your doctor, find a volunteer to do this or hire someone for these tasks.

What kind of chores are we talking about?

Heavy lifting, moving furniture, shoveling snow in the winter, getting on a ladder and cleaning out the storm gutters, and taking out the trash.

There are many people who would be happy to help you with these chores in exchange for food or money, or they might do it because they want to lend a hand and feel like part of your family.

These chores aren’t worth breaking a bone or having a heart attack over. If you do decide to take on these tasks, at the very least, have someone help you.

Hire Out or Find Volunteers

Create a Home Evacuation Plan

No matter if you live alone or with others, fires and other natural disasters can create a difficult situation when trying to immediately evacuate a home. This is especially true for fires.

Call your local fire department official(s) (a city, county, or state fire agency) and have them visit your home to advise you on making it safer and more ready-made for safe evacuation.

And make sure that you have a list of the medications and other medical supplies you use handy, and give a copy of this list to a trusted person who can advise medical staff in the event of an emergency.

Make Sure Your Legal Affairs Are In Order

Being independent means being smart when it comes to managing your personal affairs of financial, property, and medical aspects of your life. Consult a lawyer about powers of attorney, especially for health care and finances (in the event of incapacitation).

Make Sure Your Legal Affairs Are In Order

Make sure you have a will and that it’s updated to reflect your wishes. Don’t leave your family and loved ones in the lurch in the event of your passing or incapacitation.

We can go into the legal ramifications of what a will or living trust is later, but it is important to talk to your financial planner or lawyer and get this taken care of. If you don’t currently have either of those people handy, check with your local bank and see if they can help you.

If Possible, Have a “Life Alert” Type of System Set-Up in Your Home

Falling is the number cause of accidental injury for people 65 and older who are at home. What happens if you fall and can’t get up and aren’t near a phone nor are people nearby to hear you?

If you can afford to do so or can find a locally-based program that covers the cost, set up a “Life Alert” type of system that lets you immediately alert emergency personnel in the event of an accident or other emergency via a worn point of contact gadget.

Independent Living Tips for Seniors

One of the best ways to stay independent is by staying active. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean being physically fit, it means keeping your mind and body busy through activities like reading books, playing board games or cards with friends and family members (or strangers!), going on walks outside amongst nature – there’s so much more than just gardening, taking classes, learning a new skill and keeping your brain busy by learning to play an instrument.

Some of these activities you can do on your own time, but others might require some help from family members or friends.

No matter what activity you choose, make sure that it keeps both the mind and body active! Living independently doesn’t mean just staying at home and going on a walk once in a while.

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Gifts for Seniors – 10 Great Ideas

The holidays are coming up, and you may be wondering what gifts to get for the seniors in your life. It can be difficult during these busy times of year to find gifts that they will enjoy.

Gifts for Seniors - 10 Great Ideas

We have compiled a list of 10 great gifts for seniors– including ones for those who live independently or with family, as well as gifts for nursing home residents.

Gifts for Seniors – 10 Great Ideas

Are you having a hard time buying a gift for a senior loved one? Gifts are really hard to buy for people as they get older, but gifting a senior citizen doesn’t have to be hard, it just needs to come from the heart.

The easiest way to gift a senior citizen is to give something that the senior citizen could not so easily buy. Here are ten gift ideas for your favorite senior citizen:

Homemade bread.

A senior citizen often likes something sweet with coffee for afternoon snacks, so why not whip up a loaf of homemade banana bread or homemade apple bread for your favorite senior citizen? Wrap it in foil or plastic wrap and top it with a bow. This makes a perfect anytime gift for your favorite senior citizen.

You can try a variety of baked goods to keep things fresh – like some of these great ideas we found:

Gifts for Seniors - 10 Great Ideas

A Casserole.

Cooking a meal is sometimes exhausting for a senior citizen, so why not bake a delicious one-meal casserole and deliver it up as a gift for your favorite senior citizen. You can leave the casserole dish as part of the gift, or you can offer ongoing refills on a weekly/monthly basis just for your favorite senior citizen returning the dish each time.

May I suggest breaking it down into smaller portions first? That way a few can go into the freezer for later use. Who wants to eat the same thing night after night? If you did this for a few months with different casseroles, eventually they would have a freezer full of a nice variety.

Lawn mowing.

It’s a tough job to mow the lawn in the heat, especially for a senior citizen. So, why not save your favorite senior citizen the trouble by gifting a lawn mowing? Not only will this serve as a helpful gift for your favorite senior citizen, but it’ll also make you feel better about yourself, and you might even get a glass of tea out of the deal.

Lawn mowing

Trip to the beauty/barbershop.

Is your favorite senior citizen on a fixed income? If so, he/she might not be able to afford that special attention from a beauty shop/barbershop. So, why not take your favorite senior citizen for a haircut, hairstyle, or a permanent one? You drive; you pay. This is one of the best senior citizen gifts as it helps their self-esteem too!

Even a manicure or pedicure could be a huge treat – pedicures are great if they have diabetes, it helps you subtly keep an eye on their health.

A hand-delivered meal.

A senior citizen often enjoys getting a home-cooked plate of food cooked by someone else, so why not dish out a plate for your favorite senior citizen when you cook your own family a meal? You might want to be careful with the spices. As a person ages, spices tend to agree less with the digestive system.

It can be nice to whip up a few that only need a quick zap in their microwave – and they often taste better than the options from meals on wheels.

A hand-delivered meal

Outing to a senior dance.

Give your favorite senior citizen the chance to mingle with people his/her own age by taking your favorite senior citizen to a senior citizen dance. You can dance, too. The evening will provide both of you with some good exercise and some good company.

Trust me – some of those seniors might easily out dance you – after all, they know every step!

A Night at bingo.

A night at bingo can really pep up the spirits of your favorite senior citizen. Bingo helps with thinking/reaction skills, and the good news is that it doesn’t cost a lot to spend an afternoon at bingo. Play a card or two while you both sip on sodas, and your favorite senior citizen will walk away with a smile stretched across his/her face.

If it is at your local casino? Go for the buffet too!

A Night at bingo

Visit the senior citizen center.

Many towns provide senior citizen centers, and these centers offer a variety of activities, so treat your senior citizen to a ride to your local senior citizen center. Your favorite senior citizen will have the chance to play dominoes, shuffleboard, or other activities during the visit.

If you don’t have a senior center, check our local parks and recreation guide for different activities. Often they have great bargaining power and get amazing deals for all participants.

Dominoes.

Want a fun time with your favorite senior citizen? Why not gift your favorite senior citizen with a nice set of dominoes and then set up a weekly domino night. You can build on that gift by baking a loaf of banana bread, etc, and run on over one night a week for some good clean fun with your favorite senior citizen.

If Dominoes aren’t your thing – there are so many other great games for 2 people to play: GO is a great example. It originated in China in ancient times. It was considered one of the four essential arts of a cultured Chinese scholar in antiquity and is described as a worthy pastime for a gentleman in the Analects of Confucius. Maybe Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Cribbage? Maybe try a new game every month!

Dominoes

Day of housecleaning.

Even a senior citizen who lives in a small apartment might have a hard time keeping a clean house due to mobility/energy issues. Worse yet, with declining eye issues they fail to see how bad things might really be getting.

Worst-case scenario? They have bugs in their pantry and aren’t even aware that they are getting extra protein with their daily cereal. I only mention this as it is something we had to deal with. Even the couch my mother-in-law practically lived in had little creatures living off the crumbs she had dropped.

So, why not share your abundant mobility/energy by helping out with some household chores. You don’t even have to completely clean the house. Just do the dishes or vacuum the floors.

Day of housecleaning

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How To Help Aging Parents Stay In Their Home

As our parents and those around their age group gets older, they have a passion for living at home instead of opting for a senior care home. They feel the confidence that if they are home, they will be happier thus live longer. However, it is not always as easy as it sounds because, at times, they require extensive care to stay in their home and don’t have anyone around.

How To Help Aging Parents Stay In Their Home

Reaching 65 and over is the point where they have the hardest adjustments to make as they ponder their fate of staying at home or not.

How To Help Aging Parents Stay In Their Home

Based on reports from the American Associated of Retired Persons (AARP), even low-income earners or those living along the line of poverty prefer to stay at the place they called home for all those years.

However, children and others responsible for their elderly family members have noted the importance of keeping them where they are used to though it comes with lots of challenges. The question is often asked, “If they are to stay at home, what is required?” In keeping them at home, some individual decisions and plans must be put in place to ensure all is well. These include:

Providing Nutritious Meals Helps Stay in Their Home

When they plan to stay at home, plans have to be made to provide them with nutritious meals that their bodies will need to function. If they don’t have a set meal provider, connecting with a food-feeding program or ministry like “Meals on Wheels” should be considered.

Bear in mind their bodies can no longer produce the needed proactive cells to fight back viruses and other negative forces, and as such, the various nutrients will be needed to do the job effectively.

How can I help my elderly parent stay at home?

Supervised Medication

When they are at home, someone must keep abreast of their medication and ensure they always take them. Messing up medication schedules can harm the body and eventually be fatal.

As they go up in age, most elderly tend to lose their sense of memory, so they may even misplace their pills. Also, some take injections and will need assistance in performing the relevant processes. There should be an assigned help or arrange for an in-house nursing service to assist them.

Don’t Let Them Overwork

When looking at having them stay in their home, you have to step in and keep them from doing too much. There is always work to be done in the home from mopping the floors to dusting the tables and windows.

With your parents at home, you would not want them to be consumed with the household chores that will cause them to become overwhelmed and drained. You have to reduce or eliminate the workload by hiring a house cleaner to take care of the cleaning, washing, and sometimes cooking.

Also, getting the assistance of a landscaper will be great to take care of the weeding and mowing, and shoveling of snow in the winter. Of course, you may not be successful in taking it all away from them because they tend to have that level of “independence” in trying to do their work themselves.

Don’t Let Them Pay The Bills

In a time when scammers are on the rise, you may want to keep an eye on all those mail they pick up. Scammers have a way of making the “common bills look real” by addressing the phone or electricity company, and the elderly may not be able to tell the difference efficiently.

How can we help aging parents?

Millions are duped from the elderly each year because they are not aware of what they are spending their money on. Having someone around will provide guidance, or you can arrange for online payment so they won’t have to handle any cash.

After all, all that waste is bad for their finances, especially as they will need their money for future medical and other purposes.

Get Their Homes Senior proofed

There is nothing as hard as having a broken bone or hip to recover from, especially at such tender age. When your parents decide to keep living at home, one of the significant things you should consider is getting the house senior proofed.

By this, you can install rails on the stairs or sidebars along the walls for support. You may also want to fit elevated toilet seats so they won’t be pressured to sit low and put their selves at risk of falling.

If you live in a home with stairs, allowing them to stay on the lower ground may also be safer as it reduces the pressure to climb the excessive staircase.

The bottom line? We want them to be a safe as possible with diminishing physical capabilities. My dad couldn’t eventually walk three steps without resting, stairs were a nightmare for him.

Reduce Their Driving

Driving is one of the independent things that they never wish to give up because they always want to be mobile. However, at the rate drivers are now, it may not be so safe for them to be out there on their own. Just know getting the keys away from them won’t be so easy!

What do seniors need to stay in their homes?

But, initiating a conversation before a serious accident happens is the key. There is a way to lighten their key grip: let them understand the reasons you are doing what you think is best. Make sure you offer alternatives. You can offer to take them on their appointments or hire a driver to take them around.

*Teach Them To Use Modern Technology

Technology is taking over the world and keeping your parents in the know is the best way going forward. With the use of technology, they will be able to stay in touch with friends and family through different platforms.

It also keeps them in the loop with the news, weather, their favorite games, and so much more. Technology will provide some level of comfort for them as if they can’t get to go out to get their papers or magazines; they can easily access from a tablet or computer.

The hard part of aging is being able to do it with dignity. If they truly want to stay in the home they grew up in then make it suit their needs. If not? look at moving them into one of their children’s houses. Being around family gives them comfort and lets them feel safe knowing they are around people who care for them. But that is a topic for another day.

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Enabling Aging Parents to Age In Place

Adult children caring for aging parents can feel more confident and less burdened if they know what to expect. This primer on slow medicine and how to help them age in place can help.

The principles of “aging in place” and Dr. Dennis McCullough’s “slow medicine” can help adult children get unstuck from difficult relational issues when caring for aging parents.

age in place article cover image

Age in Place: What Those Caring for Aging Parents Should Know

Aging in place is a movement to help aging parents stay in their homes for as long as possible.

To achieve this, adult children and their aging parents need to overcome the prevailing belief in society that discussing illness and death is akin to bringing it on. Like any other goal in life, aging in place requires forethought, planning, and discussion.

Age in Place: What Those Caring for Aging Parents Can Do

Adult children can initiate conversations with aging parents early on by asking them about their experience of aging and their view of the future.

They can research legal and financial planning that will help achieve the goals of everyone involved, instead of waiting for a crisis that can take choices away.

Adult children can research and understand communities like Beacon Hill that provide the services people need to age in place.

Slow Medicine: What Those Caring for Aging Parents Should Know

Adult children caring for aging parents need to understand how to prevent medical crises.

Slow medicine teaches that the current medical protocols in our society are often not in the best interests of the elderly. In most cases, they cater to the needs of doctors, insurers, and younger people.

The prevailing medical paradigm teaches that everything that can be tried should be tried at all costs. This ignores the fact that death is a natural part of life, and an individual is more than just an illness.

Elderly individuals have needs unique to their age that are not taken into account in health care. For example, it can take an older adult twice as long to recover from a simple procedure than a person at mid-life. Yet insurers do not honor this.

Slow Medicine: What Adult Children Caring for Aging Parents Can Do

Slow medicine emphasizes developing a “Circle of Concern” – the friends, neighbors, adult children, doctors, nurses, and other support persons aging parents must rely upon to prevent crises and help them stay in their homes longer.

Adult children can help this type of trust develop over time by starting a conversation about health care early on and listening instead of pushing. Aging parents will be more likely to confide in adult children and doctors if they see them as collaborators and not dictators who will push difficult and taxing medical procedures on them.

When an elderly parent complains of being tired or slowing down, adult children need not tell their parents that he or she is “giving in” or “giving up.” Adult children need to accept the facts of aging.

Aging parents have slowed down cognitively. There may be hearing and vision loss. They are more apt to withdraw than to open up in a crowd of visitors. Adult children may need to spend one-on-one time with each parent to truly understand what is going on.

If adult children understand what to expect practically and medically, the latter part of their aging parents’ lives can be a healing time of connection, rather than a terrible burden being carried by an adult child alone. Slow medicine and aging in place resources can help.

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10 Great Books On Aging Parents

Great Books On Aging Parents? Whoever said it was easy to care for your elderly parents may never have experienced the real deal when it comes to their demand and overall – living! They can either prove to be difficult, be restrained, segregate themselves, or cooperate and let life takes its course.

Either way, you will need help as a child who is taking care of your elderly parent. As such, those who have dealt with it or are dealing with it have put their feelings into words to help guide you and let you know what is happening.

10 Great Books on Aging Parents

Here are a few books you can consider reading through to help you along the way…

How to Care for Aging Parents

This book will help you get all the answers you need to questions you wished you didn’t have to ask. How to Care for Aging Parents is a resourceful material prepared by Family Caregiver Alliance and is a strong source of information, support, and stability.

It is regarded as a compassionate and comprehensive caregiver’s bible that guides you through the changes to be expected, the adjustments you must make, how to avoid being “a parent to your parent,” as well as how to deal with any potential difficult issue or crisis that may arise. If you have the time for only one of the Great Books On Aging Parents, this would be it.

Reading this book will guide you on how to cope with chronic issues such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other memory loss illnesses. They will not easily adjust to you (even if they lived with you), and this book provide a guide on how to work through this.

Coping with Your Difficult Older Parent

If you have to deal with a parent who always blamed you, doesn’t want to be alone, is obsessed with sickness, or finds pleasure in pulling your legs the wrong way, then you need this book. Of course, it is stressful to deal with an aging parent who does not find it easy to adjust to life because of the crisis health or other conditions may bring.

You can aid in helping them to transition from one stage of life to another and dealing with anger, guilt, frustration, and blame. This book is seen as a “common-sense guide” from a team of professionals who have had firsthand experience in dealing with people who go through this condition. Reading this book also helps you to:

  • Have the talk with your parents about not being able to live with you
  • Handle negativity from your parents
  • Deal with a parent who is impaired from one condition or the other
  • Decide the best options for living when your parents can no longer live alone.  

A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents–and Ourselves

When you are thrown in the position of taking up an instance caregiver role, you will understand how difficult and stressful it can be to take care of your aging parent(s).

Writer Jane Gross was put in a similar situation and is the ultimate reason which prompted her to write her book, A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents and Ourselves. The book tackles issues such as:

  • Dealing with their health conditions and which medical providers may be the best.
  • The truth about assisted living and how to handle hard situations.
  • Family medicines and therapeutic aids for selected health conditions.

Tips for Helping Your Aging Parents: (without losing your mind)

When looking for Great Books On Aging Parents, it is because you realize Caring for your aging parents is a job all by itself, so if you have a full-time job while doing this…it is inevitable for you to become overwhelmed. In the book Tips for Helping Your Aging Parents: (without losing your mind), the writer made it straightforward what it is like to live and deal with them. The book guides you on how to:

  • Deal with their medication
  • Create a safe environment to protect them from hurting themselves
  • Not become overwhelmed while caring for them
  • Deal with a crisis should one arise
  • Have critical discussions with your parents
  • Deal with parents who refuse getting paid assisted help at home.  

Holding the Net: Caring for My Mother on the Tightrope of Aging

If you dealt with caring for an aging parent or you are going through it, this book will be perfect for giving you the solace you need to keep going. It can be a challenge to care for them, especially if you don’t understand the needs and conditions that come with being old.

This amazing book, Holding the Net, provides a full practical guide on how to prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally to deal with health decisions, rehab, living arrangements, and so much more. It encourages you and advises from experts on how to handle and manage every situation.

Role Reversal: How to Take Care of Yourself and Your Aging Parents

This book is designed to give the best advice to caregivers and potential caregivers who are faced with the reality of caring for their elderly family. It guides you on how to care for your loved one amidst the challenging pressure you are facing. There is valuable information on critical topics you will need to guide to guide you along the way.

The Caregiving Season: Finding Grace to Honor Your Aging Parents

Caring for your elderly parents is stressful, hard, and challenging, and it is a season of your life that will never be normal and will forever change your life. The Caregiving Season: Finding Grace to Honor Your Aging Parents details every practical advice you will need to cope and handle the situation at hand.

Dementia or Alzheimer’s?: A Daughter’s Guide to Home Care from the Early Signs and Onset of Dementia through the Various Alzheimer Stages

While there are many suggestions and references for others to use, the book never falls into a dull recounting of lists of books or items to pursue. Instead, as Ms. Gail recounts her memories, she shares the helpful things she found that aided her mother during what can be a difficult time for everyone.

This loving memoir is a touching reminder to all of us that even though it can be painful watching a loved one go through this difficult time, there are rewards in helping them in whatever way we are able.

Children of the Aging Self-Absorbed: A Guide to Coping with Difficult, Narcissistic Parents and Grandparents

This book provides you with awareness on how to deal with your parent’s self-absorbed behaviors and attitudes as they get older. It shows you how to develop strategies in dealing with your parents based on the current situations you face while caring for them. Also, it shows you how to set limits with your parents for you to remain focus and sane during the process.

30 Days of Hope When Caring for Aging Parents (Gifts of Hope)

30 Days of Hope When Caring for Aging Parents (Gifts of Hope) gives you a chance to live and maintain stability while you care for your elderly parents. It has a spiritual guide to it in terms of caring for your parents in a way that is pleasing to God and at least shows honor to them amidst the possible stress they are causing. You will maintain dignity and sanity with the guidelines presented in this book, and, of course, they are easy to implement.

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