Aging well isn’t just about physical health. Mental health is crucial as well. After all, physical health and mental health are closely related and one can easily influence the other.
This is why home care services are so important, as they provide support in both arenas, sometimes in unexpected ways.
Such services are becoming increasingly critical, with roughly 9 in 10 adults of retirement age wanting to remain in their own homes as they grow older. As such, providing in-residence services that are supportive of seniors’ mental health is of utmost importance.
It is only by doing so that we can help seniors to not just age safely, but to also emotionally thrive while they are doing so.
What Seniors Need From Home Care Services
So, how can home care services help seniors?
The services are most often associated with independent living. In particular, they can help seniors to remain safe and functional in their own homes.
Even a little support can sometimes be enough to help seniors stay at home safely for much longer.
The WHO reviewed the support needs of older people in its international classification, disability, and health framework (ICF). In doing so, they identified activities and services that can promote improved physical and psychological health for seniors.
Mobility, self-care, and domestic life were the three main identified areas.
These all play crucial roles in senior health, helping to promote independence and wellbeing. Here are how these three services can contribute meaningfully to the mental health of seniors aging at home.
Home care services can seem overwhelming to seniors who prefer to remain independent as long as possible. Yet, these services actually keep seniors at home longer. Otherwise, there’s a risk that the senior needs to enter a facility because they need help in one specific area, like bathing or meal prep.
With Company Comes Contentment
Social connection is a crucial part of our day-to-day lives. Yet, it’s something we often overlook, perhaps because it is so common.
In fact, the way that social connection promotes health remains crucial throughout our lives. It’s why we form so many friendships and why they matter so much to us.
Social connection isn’t just a nice thing to have. Instead, it’s crucial.
Some theories suggest that being profoundly isolated could be as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes per day and can have dramatic physical health impacts.
Why Seniors Struggle with Social Connection
Aging often disrupts current social connections, as seniors are no longer working a regular job. This means they lose the stable social connections found from going to work every day.
At the same time, some seniors end up being less active and less engaged in life. This is partly because they are no longer able to participate in some of the activities of their youth and haven’t found new ones to replace them.
Some seniors find their health takes a knock. Suddenly it’s more difficult, if not impossible, to travel regularly and visit friends. Even leaving the home can become an ordeal, making the senior reliant on visitors who may or may not come.
Plus, seniors often find themselves losing friends through illness and death.
No longer having a job, being less physically capable, and losing friends can all take a toll on a senior’s social connections. It’s not surprising, then, that some seniors end up very lonely, with few tools to resolve the situation.
How Home Care Services Can Help
Because seniors are often physically isolated, visits from friends, family, and home care services can have a huge impact.
Professional home care services are particularly interesting here, as many have companion-related programs, where the goal is to simply provide companionship, rather than helping with any practical needs.
Some volunteer organizations offer similar services too, which may mean that seniors and caregivers don’t need to pay.
Possible activities include sharing tea and a cake together, having a game of cards, or even going out to visit a local park or garden (if the senior is mobile enough).
When such in-person services aren’t possible or realistic, some mental health home care services offer phone calls to check in on seniors.
Even a simple phone call can make a huge difference to someone who lives alone.
Cleaning Mind and Matter
Cleaning isn’t just a task to make the house look nice. It’s also highly relevant for physical and mental health.
In particular, recent medical research suggests a link between cognitive conditions involving memory loss and environmental toxins. It was found that constant exposure to metals, biotoxins, bacteria, and molds that may increase the risk of the onset of neurodegenerative disease.
A dirty house can affect physical health in other ways too, like increasing the risk of breathing problems, allergies, and infections.
There’s also a mental health side of things.
Most of us feel more settled emotionally when the home is clean and things have been put away. This is one reason why minimalism has become such a popular movement.
This doesn’t mean that a house needs to be spotless to be healthy, not at all. The ideal amount of cleanliness and organization varies from person to person.
However, keeping the environment clean and tidy is a powerful aspect of physical and mental health.
The Role Of Cleaning Services
Professional home cleaning services can help, offering a way to keep the senior’s home clean, even when they can’t do so themselves. This is powerful, helping to promote their physical and mental health.
Cleaning services are helpful for seniors with cognitive challenges too. Seniors in this position may not remember to clean regularly and mightn’t recognize that the house needs cleaning. Having someone come in to do this for them can make the world of difference.
We’re not just talking about small weekly cleans either.
Sometimes having a regular and professional deep cleaning of the home can be powerful for improving the space, improving mental health, and lowering disease risk considerably.
Adult children can help aging parents with cleaning as well, but doing so often isn’t wise. It’s easy to get burned out, especially when you have a busy life of your own too.
Why not focus on the areas where your parents really need you instead? Hiring cleaners isn’t unusual or overwhelmingly expensive.
Having a cleaning service could even make a senior feel more independent, as they’re not relying on family for minor tasks.
Nourishing Body and Mind
Then there’s nutrition.
It’s no secret that food impacts physical health. But, it doesn’t stop there. Food is just as vital for mental health. Eating well and keeping junk food low can even decrease the risk of depression and promote mental health in other ways.
Where Seniors Can Struggle
While we all know the importance of eating well, doing so isn’t always easy. It can become more difficult with age too.
There are multiple reasons for this, including:
- Loss of appetite, which makes seniors less willing to eat, even when they need the protein and nutrients.
- Difficulty chewing or swallowing, perhaps due to the loss of teeth or a health condition.
- Physical challenges that make it difficult to shop for food, to prep meals, or to cook.
- Depression or low mood, which can make all aspects of planning, preparing, and eating food more difficult.
- Decreased energy and stamina.
Ways to Improve Senior Nutrition
Improving senior nutrition often means finding alternatives to them cooking meals independently.
Some home care services do this by delivering freshly prepared healthy meals can contribute greatly to a senior’s mental health. Meal delivery services often serve the dual purpose of supplying no-fuss, nutrient rich, and enjoyable foods to people in their homes, and checking on the welfare of the occupant while doing so.
Final Thoughts
When we talk about aging in place, we often highlight medical and personal services, ones that help seniors with tasks like going to the bathroom, changing dressings, and medication management.
Sometimes, though, we forget the value of simple home care services – including those that help with home cleaning, companionship, and healthy food. These areas are all critical to physical and mental health for seniors. They may even make the difference between a senior being able to stay at home and needing to leave.
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