Family Wellness Month comes around every May, and it’s a great opportunity for you as your senior’s family caregiver to see what might help her overall wellness. There are both big and small changes that can have some serious impacts on her overall well-being. Addressing those issues together can help you to fully understand what your senior needs and how you can best help her now and in the future.
Take a Look at What Checkups Your Senior Might Have Missed
Not everyone likes to keep up with going to the eye doctor or dentist, and your senior might fall into that category. Likewise, if she’s been healthy for most of her life, she might have been skipping yearly doctor’s visits, too. Talk to your senior about the last time she’s had various checkups and start scheduling the ones that seem most urgent first.
Assess Exercise Options
Exercise has huge benefits for your senior, on multiple levels. Exercise can help with physical issues, of course, but it also has huge benefits mentally and emotionally. One of the things that she can talk to her doctor about could be what types of exercise are best for her and how often she should be moving. If she’s just getting back to moving more, she needs to start out slowly and build up her strength and endurance.
Family Wellness Month: Talk about Dietary Changes
Much of health and wellness relies on nutrition. If your senior’s current diet is not as nutritionally dense as it could be, there are likely some small changes that could help quite a bit. Branching out a bit and trying some new fruits and vegetables, swapping unhealthy fats for healthier ones like avocado oil, and adding more fiber can all be beneficial.
Family Wellness Month: Address Solutions for Better Mental Health
It’s not just your senior’s physical health that matters, though. Her emotional and mental health needs tending as well. Issues like loneliness and isolation may have been overlooked in the earlier stages. If those aren’t addressed, they can quickly lead to depression and other issues. Older adults can also start to feel emotional repercussions as their physical abilities change. Having help from senior care providers offers companionship and assistance with necessary tasks.
Talk to your senior about what other plans you and she can put into place to assist her with her overall well-being during family wellness month. There may be areas that you don’t think about at first that are big priorities for her.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Care in Saratoga, CA, please contact the caring staff at Reachpoint Home Care & Resources Inc. today. (408) 692-4110
