An accomplished executive in the eldercare industry, Jacob M. Graff draws on decades of experience providing seniors with healthcare and other necessities. Jacob Graff leads an eldercare company in Los Angeles, California, where he manages assisted living facilities for older adults.
It may seem plausible to expect a healthy senior to remain independent since they seem feisty and have no chronic illness, but this may not be the case. Dependency becomes inevitable for most seniors approaching 80 or even a lower age. They have to take a backseat and allow family members or other caregivers to assist them in some areas—the types of assistance in question and the extent to which help is needed vary.
Family caregivers should endeavor to help their aging family members with activities that require moderate to high cognitive capacity. Most such skills are learned in the teenage years and include home maintenance, meal preparation, financial management, shopping, and transportation. Detrimental gradations in cognitive capacity usually affect these skills before moving on to others.
Seniors are also susceptible to chronic illnesses and injuries. Treating these conditions frequently necessitates ongoing health management, which may be impossible to achieve if the senior is isolated. Another crucial consideration is that some serious illnesses, like Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions, impair the ability of seniors to make educated decisions regarding their health. For this reason, their family members may be the ones in the right position to make health decisions for them.
Another way family members can assist older people is by helping them through a supportive environment. Sometimes, the condition of the place in which a senior lives is unsuitable for their age. If this is the case, their family members can figure out what type of environment is suitable for the senior and whether they will have to move in with them to accomplish this or move them to an assisted living facility, among other potential options.
It may seem plausible to expect a healthy senior to remain independent since they seem feisty and have no chronic illness, but this may not be the case. Dependency becomes inevitable for most seniors approaching 80 or even a lower age. They have to take a backseat and allow family members or other caregivers to assist them in some areas—the types of assistance in question and the extent to which help is needed vary.
Family caregivers should endeavor to help their aging family members with activities that require moderate to high cognitive capacity. Most such skills are learned in the teenage years and include home maintenance, meal preparation, financial management, shopping, and transportation. Detrimental gradations in cognitive capacity usually affect these skills before moving on to others.
Seniors are also susceptible to chronic illnesses and injuries. Treating these conditions frequently necessitates ongoing health management, which may be impossible to achieve if the senior is isolated. Another crucial consideration is that some serious illnesses, like Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions, impair the ability of seniors to make educated decisions regarding their health. For this reason, their family members may be the ones in the right position to make health decisions for them.
Another way family members can assist older people is by helping them through a supportive environment. Sometimes, the condition of the place in which a senior lives is unsuitable for their age. If this is the case, their family members can figure out what type of environment is suitable for the senior and whether they will have to move in with them to accomplish this or move them to an assisted living facility, among other potential options.
