Long-Term Home Care and the Key to Happiness and Health

The decision to enroll yourself or a loved one in long-term home care is not always the easiest choice to make. You may have trepidation about home caregiving because you feel as though it stifles personal independence. In fact, the opposite is true — opting for this service can increase one's sense of personal fulfillment and motivation in a variety of ways that connect to health and happiness.

Physical Health

A home caregiver can help your loved ones to better address certain medical concerns. For example, seniors may lack the ability to go up and down the stairs without causing injury to themselves, or they may generally prove unstable on their feet. When individuals are elderly, a simple fall can prove serious or even fatal. Therefore, a home caregiver can monitor and assist in these situations. Furthermore, the caregiver can help the clients to get out of the home.

Some seniors need to take certain medications at the right times of the day. Due to declining health, they may forget or dole out the incorrect amount of medication. Home care professionals can help to ensure that the correct amount of medication is taken at the right time. Other seniors are in need of serious medical help. They may have a serious illness, or they may be in need of hospice services.

Mental Health

Building up mental health is sometimes even more important for people than physical health. When people age, they may find that they are not as astute as they once were. A home caregiving team can help to revive that vigor and intellect. For example, individuals who live alone may have no one to compete with them in board games or to build puzzles with them. Home caregivers can sit down and work on these projects with their clients.

Many elderly people do end up living alone because their significant others have passed on, and as a result, they may lack real conversation on a regular basis. Simply having someone to sit down and talk to can make a tremendous difference. Some clients may want to engage in conversations about current events, and others may want to have an ear to listen to their tales of the past. Recalling the events from the past may even help a person to build up memory skills again.

Emotional Health

Working on both physical health and mental health can help to increase emotional health. Imagine that you were unable to leave the house because of physical ailments or that you had spent months, years or decades living without the love of your life. Imagine if cherished memories from the past were really starting to fade or if you did not have someone to talk to. You might begin to feel a great deal of anxiety, depression or other negative emotions. The same can hold true for senior citizens who are in those predicaments.

Home caregivers can help seniors to overcome these hurdles. When seniors start to find joy in the art of living again, whether they are reclaiming a skill that they thought was long gone or simply enjoying conversations with another individual, they may feel motivated to pursue other hobbies and interests. Instead of feeling as though the best days of their lives have passed them by and that there is nothing left to live for, they may begin to seek out other opportunities. For example, seniors may decide to join a club since they know they have their caregiver to help get them there.

Social Health

As these clients begin to build up their self-esteem and confidence, they may begin to seek opportunities outside of the home. Some of them may want to attend community activities or start to go out for coffee with old friends again. The support of a home caregiver can make these opportunities possible. Others may even decide that they want to date. Their caregivers might show them some of the new technology for meeting people online, or they may suggest places they can go, such as a senior center, where they can meet other individuals of their age.

You may wonder how social health can improve for individuals who are truly home-bound, and you may doubt if it is even possible. Fortunately, these individuals do not have to spend their time home-bound alone. Some care providers will live with the clients if the situation requires it. Therefore, the client is never by him or herself. Also, these caregivers can help to facilitate visits from relatives and friends. Working with someone who can schedule visits with loved ones and let them into the house can make a major difference in the social lives of clients.

Spiritual Health

Some individuals become hindered spiritually when they can no longer safely leave the house alone to attend services at their religious institutions. Therefore, home caregivers can help them to travel to and from these services, allowing the clients to feel a renewed sense of spirituality at a vulnerable time in their lives. For home-bound clients, caregivers can reach out to representatives at the client's religious institution to see what types of services are offered for individuals in their houses.

Happiness and health are two interconnected parts of life. When seniors and people with disabilities have the chance to improve their health in all of these different areas, they can then also have the opportunity to feel happier overall.

If you'd like more information about home care services, please get in touch with our team of caregiving professionals at Alegre Home Care.