Tips And Tricks For Successful Senior Independent Living

Whether via independent living communities, a care retirement community, or senior apartments, health care assistance is available in an incredibly diverse assortment of services that are geared towards enabling seniors to live self-reliant and independent lives while receiving a customized level of care that can range from occasional visits to daily care services administered an hour or two each visit. Seniors can pick in-home health care and long-term care services that best suit their individual needs and desires and subsequently design a lifestyle where they are in complete control of the level of care they receive and require.

Assisting greatly with the senior experience are innumerable senior-friendly tech devices that can be used to not only provide entertainment opportunities but, more importantly, serve as essential components of the senior care health blueprint by offering further safety measures that can prove lifesaving in the event of an emergency.

With the profusion of choices available to elderly citizens today, living a successful senior independent life can easily become a relatively stress-free and painless endeavor. Choices exercised in the quality, degree, and frequency of in-home health care services serve as a cornerstone of the successful senior lifestyle while opting for the myriad senior-specific tech devices available on today’s market can strengthen the aspects of security and safety and much more.

Subsequent to addressing home health care and technology decisions and implementing their corresponding action, ensuring a happy, healthy, and secure life for those in their golden years becomes merely a matter of cursory education, the implementation of a few simple steps, and just a bit more decision-making in terms of ensuring safety and sustainability.
If you are interested in learning the simple tips and tricks involved in learning how to confidently and independently live a successful senior life at home, our easy-to-read primer will have you well on your way to designing the happy, safe, and secure lifestyle you deserve!

Successful Senior Independent Living: Our Best Tips and Tricks

Identify Your Needs

Identify the level of assisted care you will require. Wheelchair-bound seniors will require in-home care services that are vastly different in scope than the services provided for a senior experiencing mild to moderate dementia symptoms. To properly identify the level of care you will need, take a pen and paper and write down any illnesses and conditions you have, in addition note the specific items and tasks you think you will need assistance with.

Common In-Home Health Care Assistance can Include:

• Administering medication at specific times throughout the day
• Managing and organizing medical appointments
• Meal preparation and food shopping
• Cleaning, laundry, gardening, trash removal
• Companionship
• Errand-running
• Paying bills and finance management
• Transportation
• Grooming
• Bathing

Choose the Type of In-home Care You Will Need, as Well as the Frequency

Choose the type of in-home assistive care you will require after you have identified your needs by examining your individual health conditions and the various tasks and aspects of life you need help with. Below is a list of the most common types of in-home care assistance providers utilized by seniors. Choose the type of care that is most appropriate for your needs; a visiting doctor is not budget-appropriate or pragmatic for a senior suffering from osteoporosis. Rather, for this type of situation a personal care attendant, home health aide, or even a homemaker would be an ideal choice to provide assistance with various chores, tasks, and more, while remaining a budget-conscious choice.

Conversely, a senior who has recently undergone surgery might best benefit from the services of a physical therapist who can facilitate post-surgical recovery and also perhaps a home health aide who can attend to various domestic tasks and chores while on your recovery journey. Concerning your budget, identify how often you will need your home care professional to assist you and plan accordingly.

Types of Home Care Professionals

$ – Least Costly
$$ – More Costly
$$$ – Most Costly

Have or Acquire the Tech Know-how to Operate A Cell Phone

It is of crucial importance for today’s seniors to obtain at least a cursory understanding of basic technological equipment such as a cell phone. Much more than just a medium to chat, email, or surf the Internet, cell phones for seniors are important technological elements that can one day prove to be lifesaving. The GreatCall Jitterbug line of senior-friendly cell phones includes safety functions such as Urgent Care, which provides 24/7 connectivity with doctors (or nurses) who are able to counsel senior patients, dispense medical advice, and prescribe any necessary medications right over the phone.

Another fantastic feature found on Jitterbug cell phones is an incredibly useful caregiver application that enables family members to log on to any computer, tablet, or smartphone to ensure their senior loved one is healthy, while also providing them with the ability to take advantage of GPS technology to pinpoint the location of the senior in the case of an emergency or accident.

Seniors will feel immediately secure when they discover the 5-star Medical Alert functionality on Jitterbug cell phones, which provides instant connectivity to an agent within the National Academy of Emergency Dispatchers who will provide any type of emergency or non-emergency help or assistance possible (example: if the senior is lost, confused, feeling unsafe, or needs some sort of assistance).

With their large-font print, easy-to-use speed dial functionality, and extra-high volume ability to assist with senior-level hearing, Greatcall Jitterbug cell phones are highly recommended to any senior considering independent living. Providing critically important safety functions that can assist in a variety of situations (emergency and non-emergency), the life of any senior will be vastly safer and more secure with the addition of a cell phone packed full of senior-specific apps.

Make Necessary Safety Modifications to Your Living Environment

Crucially essential to creating a successful senior lifestyle at home is the creation and maintenance of a safe, functional, and healthy living environment. Safe and functional environments for seniors often begin with the removal of clutter, unnecessary furniture, and any other item(s) that impede the easy flow of movement from room to room. Using a pen and paper, carefully consider all the rooms in your home from the front door to the bathroom, your bedroom, living area, and more.

Note items that can be removed or donated to create a more open space that allows for free and uninhibited movement. Additionally, identify hazardous items that could potentially result in falls or trips such as slippery rugs and cords on the ground. As you make your careful analysis of all the rooms of your home, list what can be donated or tossed and what needs to be bought as an investment to ensure safety throughout your home. Common basic safety items for seniors can include the following:

• High-quality, durable non-skid rug slip pads
• Grab bars installed in showers, tubs, and by toilets
• Toilet risers
• Portable LED light devices which can provide an instant source of bright light

Invest in Basic Medical Safety Items

 Medical alert systems (also called personal emergency response systems) are essential items for senior citizens and help to provide peace of mind to both the wearer and family members as well as fostering an increased level of independence and self-reliance. With models available in a vast range of options, there are simple medical alert systems that merely require a push button operation to instantly connect with a 24/7 on-call response center in the event of emergency, accident, or injury.

These valuable medical devices enable seniors to not only call for help when it is critically needed but also provides fall detection and fall prevention functionality, medical monitoring software, and crucial GPS location tracking, along with the ability for family members to connect with the device to check your current status. In addition to a medical alert system, all seniors should have a medical pendant or bracelet clearly indicating any diseases or conditions they suffer from, in addition to listing any critical medicines-related information.

Checklist for Creating a Happy, Healthy, and Successful Senior Life

Conclusion

Today’s senior citizens are now more than ever making the choice to live independently within the comfort and familiarity of their own home. What may have been a dubious and precarious decision in the past has now become an option that is not only immensely viable but also financially pragmatic.

Through a modicum of planning, seniors are able to craft and fine-tune their future into happy, healthy, and safe existences that are hardily reinforced by the implementation of basic security investments, a bit of tech know-how, and making a few simple changes to their living environments to ensure maximum levels of safety at all locations within their home.

By employing the assistive care offered by in-home care professionals, seniors can necessarily “fill in the gaps” by obtaining individualized care that meets their unique needs, schedule, and budget to ultimately refine their health planning blueprint into a highly cultivated end result providing optimal results and immense satisfaction.

Opting to remain at home is a decision you can be proud of; connoting dignity, grace, and independence. This self-reliant approach to senior living commands respect and affords you the control and confidence that you deserve as you navigate your way through new and uncharted territory.

Sources:

www.glynndevins.com/app/uploads/2013/07/GD-22918-1.8_100-Tips-List.pdf
www.h2h4seniors.com/blog/articles/Tips-for-a-Successful-and-Smooth-Transition-into-a-Senior-Living-Community
www.agingcare.com/articles/assisted-living-transition-for-elderly-parents-136537.htm
www.brightviewseniorliving.com/getting-started/planning-your-move