As a person gets old, as family members one offers complete assistance when needed. This may be because one feels the need to do so or just want the senior citizen to be safe. It can be devastating as well as tempting to step in and take on responsibilities for your loved one as they slow down.
On the other hand, retaining independence is important for upholding the dignity and respect of older citizens. As a family member, it is your responsibility to respect the wishes and engage them.
When you encourage their independence, it will not only promote their mental health but their physical as well. So if you are wondering how to encourage independence in the elderly, then there is no need to worry. Here are a few tips that can help you out.
- Introduce Safety Modifications at Home
Seniors are always anxious that they might fall especially if they have had a falling experience prior. Adding safety features to the house is the first step to encouraging independence and enabling the elderly to complete tasks without assistance.
For instance, you can include ramps, customized cooking utensils, grab rails, chair lifts, and other devices. These can make tasks simpler for your loved ones and ease difficulties. Also, it will help them to understand that they can easily carry out tasks without needing anyone’s help.
- Get a Wheelchair
When the elderly are unable to leave their homes independently, they start to feel lonely and frustrated. If you think that your elderly have physical ailments that restrict them to move around, then provide them with a lightweight wheelchair.
The lightweight wheelchair comes with a folding mechanism which makes it easy to transport. This means you can store it anywhere when not in use.
Also they have cable breaks which ensures safety and can be locked at the time of parking. Having a wheelchair will give senior citizens a chance to move around independently, leave the house and visit their friends.
- Allow them to Make Choices
Elderly people have their own set of preferences and perspectives which may not align with today’s time. However, to encourage their independence, one should let the elderly express their views by making independent decisions.
You can do this by offering your loved ones plenty of options. For instance, you can ask them what they would like to eat for dinner, or which dress they would like to wear and let them make the decision. When you do this, you are supporting their freedom and ensuring that they stay within healthy boundaries.
- Promote Movement
As people age, they tend to develop a variety of health ailments that restricts their movement. And once the mobility decreases, the self-confidence goes away and so does the independence. They may rely on you for every little thing.
In such times, you should look forward to promoting the movement of the elderly by introducing rollator walkers. These are increasingly popular in today’s time as they promote mobility among those who want to stay independent.
The rollator walkers are available in a variety of weights, sizes and colours that you can purchase. These promote confidence and make moving around easier. Additionally, by introducing these walkers, you would be encouraging the loved ones to move every day with strength.
- Encourage Exercise
Regular exercise is essential for leading a happy and healthy lifestyle for people of all ages. When talking precisely about the elderly ones – exercising will make them comfortable and flexible. Make sure that you frequently allow the elderly ones to exercise their mind as well as their body. This can be done in a variety of ways.
For instance, you can enrol your elderly ones at any yoga or meditation centre. Apart from that, you can encourage them to play video games, read, perform crossword puzzles, and enrol in programmes that help them to gain new information.
- Promote Socializing
As people age, they begin to feel isolated and not valued most of the time. This makes them shut down everyone which affects both their confidence as well as independence.
As a result, you can promote socializing for the elderly ones. For this, you can call up other elderly relatives or friends and plan a get-together.
Apart from that, you can let them go to the park alone or take them along for shopping, brunch, and other. Through socializing you would be promoting their independence and making them feel that they are seen and heard.
Support Your Elderly’s Life with the Best
When looking forward to encouraging and supporting your elderly’s life – you can introduce mobility aids to them. At our store Welcome mobility, we have a lot of items that can make life easier. Once you browse our website and order any item, we ensure faster delivery and easy payment options. All the items are of high standards and quality tested. Additionally, all the items available at our store are at affordable rates.
