5 Signs That Your Ageing Parent Needs 24-Hour Care at Home
Old age is not an easy time in life. Our muscles lose strength, our joints become less flexible, our memory fails and we become more and more exhausted. This is completely normal. It has always been this way, but now we have more opportunities to make this time more comfortable. Wondering if the time has come to arrange help for your loved ones? When is it worth considering elderly parents’ care? What are the advantages of home help for the elderly? And how do you recognise the signs that your ageing parent needs 24-hour care at home? You will learn all this today, so sit back and figure out if it’s time to take some action.
Why look for signs of a need for help for elderly parents?
Once they took care of us, now it’s our turn to take care of them. Seniors are not always able to talk openly about their problems and pains when they live alone. They often feel ashamed or do not want to become a burden to their loved ones. Your elderly relative may not want you to worry about their health problems or troubles.
Seniors also tend to fear that they will be forced to move out of their homes and into a special facility for the elderly. Unfortunately, just because an elderly person does not talk about their problems does not mean they do not have them. Therefore, if you care about the comfort and safety of your ageing parents, uncles or grandparents, you need to be vigilant and supportive before they ask for home help for the elderly themselves. Watch out for the following signs to see if help for elderly parents is necessary now. Then you will react quickly and when 24-hour care at home is needed, you will be ready to start helping.
5 signs that your ageing parent may need 24-hour care at home
Here are the most important and serious signs that your elderly loved one, parent, grandparent or uncle requires 24-hour care at home. Remember each of them and be alert to their occurrence, and then you can be sure to get the right home help for the elderly in time.
Health problems
24-hour care at home is especially important for seniors with minor health problems. This is especially true for memory, mobility or heart problems.
Elderly parent’s care provider will help when a senior needs to be reminded to take their medication or when they need help with daily activities such as cleaning the house or getting dressed, and will always be alert in case the senior’s health deteriorates. By providing your loved one with 24-hour at-home care, you know that in the event of a heart attack or stroke, there will be someone to call for help, which could save their life.
Untidy appearance
We love loved ones no matter what they look like, but there comes a point when you have to start worrying about a senior who stops caring about their appearance. It is not a matter of fresh make-up or wearing a suit everyday. The issue is more mundane. It relates, in particular, to personal hygiene. Failure to be meticulous about personal hygiene can signal health problems, difficulties in getting around, as well as mental disorders such as depression.
The issue of hygiene is a sensitive topic, so make sure you bring it up one-on-one with the person concerned as gently and tactfully as possible. Sit down with the seniors and simply ask them if they have trouble bathing or are worried about falling in the bathroom, but do not start the conversation with “we need to talk” as this may startle them. If the senior admits to having trouble with these activities, gently suggest hiring home help for the elderly.
Empty fridge
As we get older, we eat less and less, but that does not mean that an elderly person’s larder and fridge should not be well supplied. Thus, this is another sign that you might want to think about hiring 24-hour at-home care.
Your senior loved one’s pantry may be empty for several reasons. The senior may be avoiding grocery shopping as a result of a reluctance to drive or a social phobia. There is a chance that they are hindered from shopping by mobility issues or lack of strength. A naked larder could also mean that memory loss is affecting the ability to make decisions and do everyday chores.
In this case, the way out again is to find elderly parents’ care professionals. Help for elderly parents will help manage grocery shopping and ensure your loved one always have something healthy to eat – improving their health and quality of life.
Cluttered space
A messy home is another sign that your parent may require 24-hour care at home. A lot here depends on the person’s habits and preferences.
If the person has never been a pedant and has always lived happily with a bit of clutter, then there is no need to worry. However, it is important to notice major changes in your parent’s home cleaning routine.
Ubiquitous dust, dirty dishes, messy bathrooms and rubbish on the floor are all signs that your loved one may need 24-hour care at home because they cannot cope with daily responsibilities.
Home help for elderly parents in this case, would help clean up the living environment, improve the senior’s mood and eliminate health risks.
Forgotten things
Next on our list are forgotten doctor’s appointments and unpaid bills, which may indicate memory problems due to senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
If their utilities are turned off due to non-payment, seniors can be left in a dangerous situation. This is especially true in the winter when turning off the electricity or heating can expose them to undue cold. The same applies to forgotten doctor’s appointments, a neglected burner turned on or lost keys.
If your senior loved one can afford to pay the bills but is not doing so, they may be experiencing memory loss so it is worth talking to them about it. 24 hours at-home care provider will remind your beloved senior about getting things done such as doctor’s appointments or paying gas bills can prevent embarrassing incidents and danger.
If you notice any of these signs in a senior in your life, consider hiring 24-hour care at home from a proven agency and rest assured that your senior will be safe.
