Aging affects a person in many ways. The body doesn’t have the same strength to carry on different activities. Therefore, it’s easy to develop adverse emotional reactions as the individual goes through this phase.
Taking care of your elderly parents is a challenging role. Include the responsibilities for your work, kids, and expenses, and it will easily bombard you. Assisted Living Thornton CO ensures proper care and socializing opportunities for your senior loved ones.
No senior wants to feel abandoned and forgotten. That’s why in this article, you’ll learn four ways to create a care plan you can adopt for your senior loved ones.
Evaluate Their Medical Conditions
A great way to help aging loved ones is by ensuring good health. Therefore, you must ask about their underlying conditions before you can effectively take good care of them. Here are four standard tests your aging loved one should get:
Vaccinations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests an annual flu shot for everyone. This principle can help those who are chronically ill, especially the elderly.
Your aging loved ones are usually eligible for the pneumococcal vaccine. This remedy can protect the elderly from emerging health issues, such as sinusitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, meningitis, pericarditis, and inner ear infections.
Eye Examination
As individuals reach the age of 40, The American Academy of Ophthalmology suggests receiving an eye baseline screening. This test will give doctors enough information if they need additional follow-ups in the future. Aging increases eye diseases, such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Hearing Examination
Aging can affect a person’s hearing. An audiogram tests your senior loved one’s hearing capacity. While most hearing loss is curable, it’s still essential to check the elderly’s hearing so they can receive necessary treatment.
Blood Pressure Check
Hypertension is common in adults and the elderly. A study from the CDC shows that millions of American adults suffer from high blood pressure.
Hypertension in your aging loved ones may trigger the following health risks:
- Stroke
- Dementia
- Cerebral Hemorrhage
- Congestive Heart Disease
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Chronic Kidney Insufficiency
These risks are enough reasons why you shouldn’t turn a blind eye to their medical conditions. To prevent hypertensive emergencies in the future, you must evaluate their underlying medical conditions. You can read ways to control high blood pressure on Mayo Clinic’s blog.
Assess The Personal Care Competencies
According to the American Association of Retired Persons, over one million American citizens over fifty need assistance to perform basic personal activities. If you’re still planning to send your senior loved one to an assisted living facility, the ADL may help you decide.
The Activities of Daily Living (ADL) are activities relevant for independent living for seniors. Here are six basic ADL categories:
- Getting dressed
- Feeding oneself
- Managing personal hygiene
- Functional mobility
- Controlling bowel and bladder movements
- Going to the toilet safely
While these ADL activities are fundamental in surviving each day, other activities involve higher-order thinking skills. These activities are called Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Before sending a senior loved one to an assisted living facility, here’s a list of the IADL activities you have to check:
- Care of pets
- Care of others
- Shopping
- Child rearing
- Emergency responses and safety procedures
- Communication management
- Religious observances
- Financial management
- Meal preparation and cleanup
- Health maintenance
- Home maintenance
- Community mobility
Although most adults want to stay independent, the truth is aging gives many reasons that require a higher level of supervision. If your senior loved one needs it, you must send them to a facility to assist their daily living. Moreover, this method gives them a safer senior experience.
Create an Ongoing Monitoring Plan
The person must ensure that you receive regular reports about your senior loved one. Therefore, they can utilize new technologies to increase their health monitoring methods. Using these gadgets can produce effective old monitoring outcomes.
If you’re looking for an assisted living facility, you must opt for one that has 24-hour staff services and rounding physicians. This support system will allow you to be more at peace knowing that your senior loved one can receive assistance anytime. Moreover, the staff can attend to their needs, especially when they require emergency support.
Enhance their social experience
Your chosen assisted living facility should also produce these three privileges to enhance their social experience and boost their self-esteem:
- Music and art classes: These classes bring out the creativity of your elder loved one.
- Scheduled outings: These social activities allow the elderly to visit new places that can help them interact with new people.
- Visiting entertainers: These creative individuals may bring fun to their assisted living experience. Therefore, they’ll enjoy their senior years as much as they did during their youth.
Key Takeaway
Planning for your senior loved one’s future is beneficial. This plan should include medical condition evaluation, assessing their personal care competencies, and continuous monitoring. A care plan will help you reduce possible health issues and allow the seniors to enjoy their senior years.