Focus on Your Mom’s Social Needs as She Ages
Senior Home Care in Upper Darby PA
Over 14.7 million older adults live alone. Loneliness and isolation increase a person’s risk of chronic health conditions by an alarming percentage.
- Dementia – 50%
- Stroke – 32%
- Heart Disease – 29%
- Mental Health Disorders – 26%
Experts tie the risks of loneliness and isolation to the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes per day. How often is your mom alone, and does she often say she wishes people visited her more? It’s time to focus on her social needs.
Does She Have a Large Social Circle?
For many years, your mom was focused on raising her kids, and as her friends went off to work, she found herself left behind. Her social circle got smaller and smaller over the years. As friends she had moved to new towns or states with retirement, and that social circle got smaller until there was no one left.
When your mom lives alone and doesn’t have many friends, it’s hard to stay socially active. That’s what’s happening with your mom, and she relies on you to provide socialization. You aren’t close enough to stop by as much as she needs.
Try to enlarge her circle of friends by getting her involved with her area senior center. If she attends luncheons, outings, and fitness programs, she’ll make friends. Community centers and public libraries are other places that offer social programs. Have her look into what’s available and see what appeals to her.
If that doesn’t work, volunteering is a good way to make friends. Look for volunteering opportunities at the hospital, animal shelters, and non-profit agencies.
How Often Do People Visit?
How often do other family members and family friends visit your mom? If she’s not seeing anyone for weeks, she’s more likely to experience loneliness. Talk to others in the family about how often they are available to visit.
Work out a schedule and try to spread out the visits your mom gets so that people are stopping by every few days. Someone can take her shopping, a few of you could bring dinner and have a family dinner together, and someone else can stop by for a lazy Sunday movie day.
How Far Away Are Her Children?
One more factor to consider is how far you live from your mom. If you, your brothers, and your sisters all live in other states, it’s hard to do more than call or video chat. You need to get your mom set up with regular caregiver visits from a senior home care agency.
Senior home care offers the chance to ensure your mom’s social life is active, even when you live hours away. Caregivers help your mom get to social events on time, take her out to area attractions, and keep her company at home. Talk to a senior home care specialist to learn more about the services that help out.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Home Care in Upper Darby, PA, please contact the caring staff at True Direct Home Health Care today (215) 309-3119
Doc, as he is called by everyone - staff, patients and clients - first experienced home health care and hospice care while as a colleg student at King's College as he cared for his mother every day while she first battled COPD and then lung cancer. It was during this time that he came to understand that caring for a patient was more than just clinical expertise.
"Admittedly, my strongest attribute is my communication skills and the simple fact that I love to help people. Even the smallest thing you can do for someone really can mean so much to them long term. In fact, it could change them forever. That's what providing quality personal home health care should be all about."
In his spare time, he cooks for homeless shelters and children's music and arts events. He also is highly involved in his local youth sports soccer academy as a coach and Board member.
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