Most of our attention, rightly and understandably, goes on the younger members of our family. They don’t know what they’re doing with themselves, and need to be subtly guided in the right direction — that doesn’t, however, mean they should get all of our attention. There are other members of our family who need help, too: our parents. They looked after us when we were young, and eventually, we need to look after them a little too. Below, we take a look at a few ways you can make sure that they’re living their best life.
Is Everything OK?
One of the best ways to make sure that the older members of your family are happy is to simply keep an eye on them. Depression and loneliness are two issues that commonly affect people in retirement age, but luckily, the signs are easy to spot. It’s just about keeping a close eye on how they’re doing; taking a proactive approach, essentially. If you notice that they’re becoming more withdrawn or they’re not quite their usual self, then speak to them — they might have something on their mind that would disappear the moment they shared it with someone close to them.
Out of the House
It’s not always as easy for older people to get out of the house as it used to be for them. For virtually all of their lives, they’ve had a reason to get out of their home, be it school, college, or work. Once they hit retirement age, there’s suddenly no fundamental reason for them to not stay inside all day. And this can cause problems — they can become isolated, and a little down about life. As such, an excellent way to help them is to encourage them to get out and do things. If you’re going out, invite them along. They’ll feel much better for it after the trip.
Meeting Friends
When you’re in school, and at work, and well, just doing anything during the prime of your life, you naturally come across other people — meeting friends really isn’t all that difficult, because you’re always in the mix of activity. When you’re older, this isn’t the case: you’re not as involved as you used to be. Studies have shown that some older people go far too long without speaking to another person that isn’t their partner. You can nudge them to meet new people by looking up get-togethers for people of that age. No matter where they live, there will inevitably be an event that they can join.
Handling Issues
It’s not something that we like to think about, but the fact is that there are people in the world who don’t always have the best intentions in the world. And these people can sometimes prey on the more vulnerable members of society, such as the elderly. One common area where this happens is in nursing homes. You want to believe that the workers at a nursing home will always look after your mother or father, but this isn’t always the case. If you suspect that something isn’t quite right, then make sure you’re speaking to your parents to ascertain the truth, and then work with a nursing home abuse attorney to fight for justice. There are a lot of outstanding nursing homes out there, but it is something that you need to keep an eye on. You never know what might be happening behind closed doors.
New Hobbies
We tend to think that it’s not possible for a person to develop new hobbies once they’re reached adulthood. People assume that if you haven’t picked up a hobby by, say, thirty-five, then you probably never will. But this couldn’t be more wrong! It’s never too late to find a new interest. Indeed, there are some hobbies that are specifically tailored to older people. Look at introducing your parents to one of these hobbies — they might just be the activities that spark feelings of joy, and reignite their love for life again.
Helping Out
We’ve talked a lot about how you can handle the big issues related to your parents, but what if there is no major drama, just small issues? Here, the best thing to do is to simply help out. For example, many older people struggle with carrying their heavy shopping from the store to their home. Perhaps you could go along with them, and give them a hand? It’s a small task, but one that will make a subtle improvement to their lives.
