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Month: January 2024

What Helps Seniors to Stay Well Emotionally?

Posted on by ltcep2023

Emotional well-being is a bigger part of overall health and wellness than many people realize. Seniors in particular need to focus on emotional wellness in order to help improve their quality of life. Taking a variety of approaches, including increasing socialization with companion care at home, makes a huge difference for aging adults.

Boost Creativity

Encouraging seniors to find ways to express their creativity seriously improves emotional well-being. Activities like painting, writing, making music, or even gardening can all provide avenues for self-expression, creativity, and joy. Engaging in creative pursuits is also incredibly important for mental stimulation and cognitive function. Seniors feel a huge sense of accomplishment when they engage in creative pursuits, too, making this even more important to engage in regularly.

Consider an Exercise Routine

Regular physical activity boosts overall physical health, but it also boosts emotional health. Seniors should always talk to their medical providers before starting a new exercise program, just to make sure that they’re able to start a new exercise program. Exercising releases endorphins and other brain chemicals that enhance mood and improve emotional wellness. Activities like walking, yoga, swimming, or chair exercises are all good options.

Make Social Connections Easy

When it’s easy to be socially active, seniors get lots of benefits. Finding ways to make it easy for family members and friends to stay in touch with seniors is important. It’s also helpful to consider options like elder care providers who can offer hands-on help along with companionship. The easier it is to socialize, the less likely it will be that seniors have to deal with isolation and feelings of loneliness. Companion care at home can be there with seniors to engage in all sorts of activities or simply to be a friendly conversational partner.

Support Relaxation

Incorporating relaxation techniques into everyday routines can help seniors to improve their emotional wellness. Activities like deep breathing exercises, meditation, and gentle stretching help to relieve stress and promote relaxation. They can also help to boost moods and make it easier to sleep well. Mindfulness activities help seniors to focus on what’s happening right now in the present moment, which can be a huge help for seniors who are battling anxiety and depression.

Offer a Strong Support System

Having a strong support system is essential for seniors. When they feel less alone, they’re more likely to express their concerns, emotions, and needs. This helps family caregivers to offer even more of the support that seniors need in order to live their best lives. Home care services can also be there to offer not only companionship but also support with daily activities and needs.

Maintaining emotional well-being for seniors involves taking a holistic approach to daily activities as much as possible. Using as many different strategies as possible to improve emotional wellness helps aging adults to get their needs met and get invaluable support. Companion care at home helps seniors to navigate the various challenges of aging without having to worry that they’re being a burden to anyone.

If you or an aging loved one is considering companion care at home in Moraga, CA, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Walnut Creek. (925) 203-3039.

Six Tips to Help Seniors Stay Active All Year Long

Posted on by ltcep2023

Staying active is a huge part of helping seniors to stay healthy and vital as they grow older. Once seniors become more physically active, they need to keep going. But when the weather is bad or during the winter it’s all too easy for seniors to back off of being more physically active. Home care assistance can offer seniors a lot of support in their goal to stay active all year long.

Find Indoor Exercise Options

Indoor exercise options mean that seniors can stick with their workout plans no matter what is going on outside. This could mean joining fitness classes, enjoying workout videos at home, or using a home gym on a daily basis. Working out inside means that there’s a climate-controlled environment. If seniors are working out at home, they don’t have to worry about getting to another location at all. Also, it’s important for seniors to talk with their doctors about what exercise options are healthiest for them.

Explore More Low-impact Activities

Sometimes the weather wouldn’t keep seniors from exercising, but it does something else, like cause discomfort in joints, that makes exercising more difficult. That means that it’s also a good idea to ensure that exercises are low-impact and support complications seniors might encounter. Activities like walking, yoga, Pilates, and more can all offer serious benefits for seniors.

Emphasize Strength Training

As seniors age, they lose muscle tone gradually. It’s really important to slow muscle loss as much as possible and strength training can help seniors to do this. This can be as simple as using resistance training or bodyweight exercises to maintain and build muscles.

Prioritize Balance and Flexibility

Another common problem is that seniors lose flexibility and balance over time. Both of these skills help to prevent falls, so it’s important to improve them as much as possible. Some of the exercises that can help to build strength can also help with both balance and flexibility. Yoga, tai chi, Pilates, and more can all be great options.

Find a Fitness Buddy

Working out with someone else can be tremendously motivating for seniors. It can also help to serve as a distraction for seniors who don’t like to exercise. This fitness buddy could be a friend, a family member, or even senior care providers. Having that layer of companionship ensures that seniors stick with their exercise routine and that they meet their socializing needs at the same time.

Set Realistic Goals

When fitness goals aren’t realistic, they’re really difficult to meet. The right goal is going to help seniors stay motivated and consistent, even when they can’t get outside to get that workout in. Starting out with smaller goals can help seniors to build up their stamina as well as the mindset around working out on a daily basis.

Staying active all year long is tremendously helpful for aging adults. Home care assistance can offer support that seniors need in order to keep working out, even when the weather outside doesn’t support being physically active. The key is finding activities that feel good and that move the needle toward being healthier.

If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in San Ramon, CA, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Walnut Creek. (925) 203-3039.