Three Ways to Help Your Parents Stay Independent

Elder Care in Plainsboro NJ

An AARP survey found that 76 percent of the men and women 50 or older want to age at home. However, only 46 percent believe that will happen. How do your parents feel? Do they want to move to a new neighborhood or community? Is their goal to remain in their home for the rest of their lives?

How do you support your parents’ wishes? You want to make sure they are able to stay in their home, but you also worry about their safety. They aren’t close to the city, so you also worry about them being isolated and lonely. What can you do to ensure their wishes are met without risking their mental and physical health?

Make Sure They Exercise

Daily exercise helps keep the bones, muscles, and joints strong. That lowers the risk of a fall and improves balance. Ideally, your parents should get 30 minutes or more of moderate activity. Moderate activity needs to increase the heart rate and includes exercises like a brisk walk at a steady pace or half an hour of swimming laps.

Investigate the Cost of Necessary Modifications

Your parents have a two-level home. For now, they both handle the stairs well, but your dad has arthritis. If it worsens to the point that he struggles on the stairs, would he be able to get outside? Could he get to his bedroom, the kitchen, and the bathroom?

If not, the home’s layout may need rearrangement. For example, he’d need to have the entry, a bedroom, the kitchen, and a bathroom on the same floor. If he tried to use the stairs and fell, he could be seriously injured. If you can’t redesign his layout to work, consider having a stairlift or elevator installed to help him get from one floor to the next.

Would elder care aides help? If your dad can’t get up and down the stairs on his own, could he with the support of a caregiver? Caregivers can also help with laundry and household chores that take place on other levels of the home.

Arrange Help From an Elder Care Agency

Call an elder care expert at a local agency. First, talk about your mom and dad’s housing situation and abilities. Then, go through a list of activities of daily living and pinpoint the areas where they need the most assistance.

Make sure you only arrange elder care services that they need. Things they do well on their own should be left to them to complete. That’s the key to helping them maintain their independence.

Sources:
https://www.aarp.org/research/topics/community/info-2018/2018-home-community-preference.html

If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Plainsboro, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care today. Call (732) 607-8870.

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Care Street Home Care Staff

Care Street Home Health Care LLC is a division of Ocean Healthcare, a network of New Jersey-based healthcare centers and services founded in 1973 by Melvin and Debbie Feigenbaum. Melvin and Debbie both came from warm, close-knit backgrounds that emphasize the centrality of family. The values of respect, responsibility, and dignity run deep in the Feigenbaum family; they share a strong sensitivity to the importance of caring for others, particularly the elderly and disabled.

The Care Street mission is straightforward and compelling: to provide a comprehensive range of the highest quality home health services in a professional and efficient manner that will enhance our clients' quality of life and empower families to keep their loved one at home.

Care Street has earned a reputation of excellence among hundreds of families, and is recommended by medical professionals and hospital discharge planners throughout the State.

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