3 Ways To Help Maintain Your Parent's Health

29 March 2019
 Categories: , Blog


If your parent is advancing in age and you help take care of him or her, there are lots of healthy habits you can help your parent cultivate that will benefit both of you. Some of them are listed below.

#1 Create a Bedroom Space Made for Sleep

Insomnia is a serious issue in the senior community. Make sure your parent's bedroom is set up to facilitate sleep. To start with, make sure their bedroom is where they sleep, not where they hang out and spend the day. Saving the bed for resting time can help make it easier to sleep.

Install black-out curtains in the bedroom to make it really dark at night. Get your parent a sleeping mask. These come in all kinds of different materials to help create a dark environment.

Make sure your parents have nice, warm blankets, such as a down comforter or an electric blanket. At the same time, be sure to turn down the temperature a few degrees at night to make sleeping easier. Sleeping in a cool environment is more comfortable. Making these changes can make it easier for your parent to get needed sleep.

#2 Help Them Stay Active

Next, help your parent stay active. He or she doesn't need to run a marathon, but stop by and go on a walk with your mother or father every evening. Socializing and exercising at the same time offer your parent two benefits at once.

See if there is a swimming pool he or she can take advantage of. Swimming is a great activity for your elderly parent because it doesn't put the same stress on the body, but it still allows them to get in a variety of different types of exercise, from simply swimming to strength training to aerobics classes.

If your parent needs help socializing, you can hire senior caregivers to assist your parents with exercise or even provide transportation to and from exercise activities.

#3 Help Keep Their Mind Active

One of the most valuable resources your parent has is their mind. Help them keep your mother or father's mind active with activities that stimulate the mind. For example, crossword puzzles are a common activity suggested to keep one's mind sharp as you age. Reading books and magazines, learning about a new topic, learning a new language, listening to music, and even creating art are also good ways to engage in one's mind.

If your elderly parent lives with you, make sure you are taking care of all his or her health needs. Work to create an environment that fosters sleep. Help your parent stay active both physically and mentally. Get help taking care of your parent; hire senior care services to take your parent to and from activities, pay for exercise classes, or just get general help with senior care.


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