41.8 million people in the U.S. (almost 17% of the adult population) provide care for a senior, with 48% of unpaid caregivers caring for a parent.¹ 

Suppose your aging parent needs additional practical, medical, or emotional support. Knowing where to start can be difficult, particularly if you’ve never been a family caregiver.

In this blog post, we’ll share some of the most common areas seniors struggle with, how family caregivers might offer support with these, and how residential senior care can help if things become too much to manage alone.

What Do Seniors Typically Need Support With?

Seniors may face various physical, emotional, and practical challenges in retirement. Below are just a few of the most common.²

Physical Challenges for Seniors

• Declining mobility, agility, or flexibility
• Physical health conditions
• Reduced physical ability to manage activities of daily living (ADLs)

Emotional Challenges for Seniors

• Loneliness and social isolation
• Lack of purpose after retiring
• Loss and bereavement

Practical Challenges for Seniors

• Financial insecurity
• Housekeeping and gardening
• Organizing healthcare

3 Ways to Support Your Aging Parent or Loved One

1. Adapt the Home to Better Meet Their Needs

Home adaptations can help with reduced mobility, activities of daily living, housekeeping, and gardening.

If your parents are still living in their home, it may no longer suit their evolving needs. Home adaptations can be big or small, depending on how much they’re struggling and safety concerns.

Beneficial home adaptations may include:

1. Adding brighter lighting and removing obstacles like rugs and clutter to reduce trip hazards.
2. Adding grab bars in the bathroom.
3. Installing a walk-in shower or accessible bath.
4. Installing a hoist to help them get in and out of bed (a trained caregiver will be needed to operate this).
5. Lowering kitchen worksurfaces or installing wheel-under ones if your parent uses a wheelchair.

2. Support Them with Activities of Daily Living

Support can help with everything!

Many seniors begin to require support with ADLs and personal care tasks like showering, cooking, using the bathroom, and getting dressed at some point. Home adaptations like the above are often a great start and could help your parent stay independent. But eventually, they might need some extra assistance. 

Proper ADL support can benefit a senior’s physical health, but feeling properly fueled, organized, hygienic, and put together each day can also be an effective confidence booster. This may empower your parents to enjoy more social activities if they’ve been isolating themselves.

Useful things you can do to help:

• Assist with laundry and housework.
• Go to the grocery store and assist with their food shopping.
• Prepare and cook healthy meals weekly (batch cooking and freezing can be convenient!)
• Help with eating if they find this difficult (e.g., cutting up food).
• Assist with personal care tasks like bathing, getting dressed, or getting ready for bed.
• Provide medications at the correct times or sort doses into organizers.
• Help with financial management, bills, and general paperwork.

3. Help Them Socialize with Practical and Moral Support

Socialization can help with: Loneliness and social isolation, loss and grief.

Social isolation can have several detrimental effects on seniors. Unsurprisingly, it has been linked to an elevated risk of issues like depression and anxiety.³ But loneliness can even impact physical health; poor social relationships are associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 68% increased risk of hospitalization.⁴

Common barriers to socialization in seniors include illness or disability, loss of contact with friends, lack of a supportive community, lack of acceptable social opportunities, and fears of social rejection.⁵ Helping a senior loved one socialize might involve figuring out what specific barriers they face and working on solutions from there. 

You may be able to offer support by:

• Providing transportation to social events.
• Going with them to new social groups and offering moral support.
• Helping them find social opportunities for aging adults in their local area.
• Making sure they feel included at family occasions.
• Coordinating regular visits from family members and friends.

What If Things Are Getting Too Much?

Caring for a senior relative is rarely easy. With other responsibilities like work and children to consider, burnout is common among family caregivers. AARP’s 2020 Caregiving in the U.S. survey found that 4 in 10 caregivers rated their health as excellent or very good. Maastricht University found that providing 20+ hours of unpaid care per week leads to impaired self-care for family caregivers.¹

Finding the right residential senior care community could be the ideal solution for your health and well-being if you’re struggling to meet the demands of your parent’s care.

New Hope Senior Living: Charming Residential Senior Care in Tennessee

With just 13 residents, New Hope Senior Living is a close-knit, personal, and truly homelike senior care community in Hendersonville. With 18 acres of beautiful and well-maintained grounds, we’re proud to offer one of the most unique assisted living experiences in Tennessee.

Highlights of Life at New Hope Senior Living:

• Seasonally inspired, customized meals prepared by our in-house chef and nutrition expert.
• State-of-the-art golf carts so all residents can enjoy our spectacular grounds and orchard.
• Fun activities and social events available each day, including pie bake-offs, yoga, pet therapy, and book club.
• A beautiful home with a rocking chair-lined porch, a stunning cherry wood library, private ensuite bedrooms, an on-site salon, and modern accessibility.
• Excellent staff-to-resident ratio for truly personalized care. Our staff is first aid and CPR certified, and we have a physician on call.
• Described as ‘cozy and full of love’ and ‘beautiful beyond words’ by reviewers.

If you’re struggling to manage your aging parent or loved one’s needs at home and are looking for exceptional assisted living in Tennessee, call us to arrange a tour of New Hope Senior Living today.

References

1. Samuels C. Caregiver statistics: A data portrait of family caregiving in 2023. A Place for Mom. Updated June 15, 2023. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.aplaceformom.com/senior-living-data/articles/caregiver-statistics.
2. SmithLife Homecare. What are the biggest challenges and problems for older adults in our society? Published August 30, 2020. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.smithlifehomecare.com/blog/what-are-the-biggest-challenges-for-elderly-people-in-our-society/.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Loneliness and social isolation are linked to serious health conditions. Reviewed April 29, 2021. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.html#:~:text=1-,Social%20isolation%20was%20associated%20with,50%25%20increased%20risk%20of%20dementia.&text=Poor%20social%20relationships%20(characterized%20by,32%25%20increased%20risk%20of%20stroke. 
4. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System. Washington, DC: The National Academic Press; 2020. doi: 10.17226/25663.
5. Goll JC, Charlesworth G, Scior K, Stott J. Barriers to social participation among lonely older adults: The influence of social fears and identity. PLoS One. 2015;10(2):e0116664. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116664.