What Are You Doing for Your Senior’s Social Life?
Loneliness and social isolation can be extremely damaging for your senior. Taking steps to alleviate loneliness can help your elderly family member in ways you may not have ever predicted. Being lonely can cause your senior’s brain to perceive her as being even more alone than she is. That’s why looking more closely at your senior’s social needs and meeting them is so important.
Does She Need More Interaction with Others?
Some people need a lot of interaction with other people while others need a much lower level of interaction with other people. Your senior knows where she falls on this scale by this point in her life, of course. So, talk to her about whether she’s getting those needs met and whether adjusting anything about her social life is something that you need to address together.
She Might Want to Explore New Activities
Interacting with others through activities may be what meets your elderly family member’s social needs best. If she’s not engaging in any activities now, but used to in the past, find out if she wants to revisit some of those activities. Taking classes or meeting with groups might not be too taxing for her and may be exactly what she needs in order to fulfill those social requirements.
Senior Care Providers Can Do Double Duty
Something else to consider is that your elderly family member may not need something huge in order to get her social needs met. This can be especially true if she thrives more with one-on-one connections. Senior care providers can be excellent companions and they can take over some household tasks for your elderly family member. Find out whether this is an idea that she’s open to exploring.
Talk to Your Senior Before Making Big Changes
Whether you’re planning on big or small changes for your senior’s social life, make sure that you and she talk about what’s going on. This is her life, after all, and you’re trying to make sure that you meet her needs. In order to do that, you need to understand what her needs actually are. Regularly revisiting what works and what doesn’t is also important.
Keeping your senior’s social life and needs in mind can help to ensure that her overall health and well-being is protected. If you’re finding this difficult still, talk to your senior’s doctor. There may be medical issues related to the loneliness she’s experiencing.
If you or an aging loved one is considering senior care in Old Bridge, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care today. Call (732) 607-8870.
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