As we age, the necessary requirements for a healthy life change. What has healthy behaviour in our thirties may no longer be to our benefit by the time we are in our seventies. There will be new things that we will have to do to stay healthy when we reach our golden years. Here are some senior health care tips you can use if you yourself are a senior, or which you can give as suggestions to the seniors in your life.
Keep active
That exercise is a benefit to our bodies does not change regardless of how old we get. Regular exercise is a good thing for every human body. However, how we exercise will change over time. As young people, we may have been able to bench press 300 lbs or do 100 Hindu squats. That is unlikely to continue into our senior years (nor should it).
As a senior, the most important thing to remember is that it’s not important to try to keep up with what we could do or what other, younger people, can do, but rather to do the right amount of exercise for our bodies, with the appropriate degree of intensity. For many seniors, a brisk walk every morning is the best kind of exercise they can get. It elevates the heart rate a bit and gets blood pumping; and fresh air and sunlight is always great, too. Swimming can also be a great exercise for seniors.
Of course, many seniors have conditions that make a jog every morning impractical. If you’ve an elderly family member with physical or mobility limitations, it’s best not to push them into a type of exercise that could be painful and deleterious to their health. A prescribed exercise plan created as part of a detailed Plan of Care would be best. At Executive Home Care, we offer such a service with our Personal Care plans.
Mental health
Far too many articles on health care tips, for both seniors and all other age groups, focus solely on physical health. Mental and emotional health are just as important and indeed affect our physical health, too (and vice versa). It’s important not to neglect mental health. One of the biggest threats to the mental health of seniors is depression, which is often brought on or exacerbated by loneliness and isolation. Seniors should try to maintain contact with friends and family should always try to be a big part in the lives of their elderly relatives. But this isn’t always practical nor enough. That’s why Companion Care programs can be a great enhancement to the lives of seniors.
Cleanliness is next to godliness
Living in a home that is in disrepair or unsanitary can be very dangerous for the health of seniors. But it doesn’t even have to be horrible to have a negative effect. Even if a home has not got to the point of being unsanitary, if it is merely cluttered and dusty, and if a senior can no longer clean their home like they would want to, this can have a grave affect on them emotionally. This is why Homemaking Services should not be overlooked when it comes to senior health care.
Executive Home Care
If you’ve any questions or would like some more senior health care tips, please contact us today.