How Caregivers Can Help Seniors Maintain an Active Lifestyle

One of the major issues seniors are often faced with is staying active in their later years. Most of them feel the need to get up and do something, but a lot of seniors find that prospect challenging, even impossible. There can be numerous causes for that, from bad weather conditions to impaired mobility and fear that they might injure themselves. Considering all that, it’s no wonder how many seniors rather choose to stay indoor than take a walk around the neighborhood.

One good way to motivate your seniors to maintain an active lifestyle is to provide home care for the elderly in their own home especially if you don’t have enough time to dedicate to your senior loved ones due to your job or raising your kids. And if you’re looking for senior home care Beverly Hills has a number of options to choose from, including caregivers referred by A Better Way in Home Care.

A caregiver can provide the necessary encouragement and support for seniors to get up and be more active. You will find hiring a compassionate caregiver to help out will motivate seniors to stay active and reap the numerous benefits of an active lifestyle.

Here’s how caregivers can help seniors keep their active lifestyle.

The Dangers of Taking It Easy

An active lifestyle is important to everyone, especially for seniors. It is essential for preserving mental, emotional and physical health. And while seniors often fear to be more active due to the threat of injury, the National Institute of Health warns that a sedentary lifestyle is much more dangerous.

Seniors who “take it easy” are more likely to develop heart disease, dementia, and other chronic conditions. A sedentary lifestyle is often linked with shorter life expectancy, depression, and isolation.

On the other hand, maintaining an active lifestyle can make seniors more independent, improve their muscle strength and stamina, eliminate anxiety and depression and keep seniors’ bones and joints healthier.

The Benefits of Staying Active

Caregivers who help seniors stay active know that there are some aspects they need to pay special attention to. Even if you don’t hire a caregiver service, these are activities you can help your senior loved one accomplish every day. Your seniors won’t need to enroll in a gym or buy any special workout machines to accomplish them. All of these activities can be done at home supervised by a caregiver. However, before they start working out, seniors should consult with their physician.

Endurance Exercises

This type of exercise is good for the cardiovascular system. Everyday activities such as taking the stairs or walking can be considered endurance exercises. You should encourage your senior loved one to take dancing lessons, light walks or rides the bike if they feel confident enough.

Strength Exercises

As our muscles deteriorate with age, keeping them strong and durable can allow seniors to perform tasks such as looking after your kids or going shipping. To keep their muscles strong, seniors can use props such as tennis balls and vegetable cans to do some light weightlifting exercises.

Balance Exercises

Falling is one of the seniors’ major concerns, and rightfully so. Around 9500 US seniors suffer fatal injuries from falling annually, which makes them the leading cause of death in seniors. This fear is one of the main reasons seniors are reluctant to take up exercising. However, balance exercises can help seniors become more stable and reduce the risk of falling. Some exercises seniors could try are walking a straight line, holding a leg up for a couple of seconds while using a chair as support or some light Tai Chi.

Flexibility Exercises

As the name implies, these exercises can help keep your seniors limb and perform daily tasks such as getting dressed or taking items on or off shelves. One of the best and easiest flexibility exercises is sitting on the floor with one leg extended and the upper body bent towards the leg.

Doing at least some exercises is still better than doing nothing, and with a help of a dedicated caregiver, seniors can maintain their quality of life. As soon as they start making progress and seeing how exercise improves their life, they will feel more motivated to keep doing it. Caregivers referred by A Better Way in Home Care can help seniors become more confident when exercising and monitor their progress every day.