Tag: at home living assistance

Products & Services That Make Home Life Easier for Your Aging Parents

If your parents continue to live at home as they grow older, they will need more care and input from you. Luckily, there are a lot of great products and services that can make all of your lives easier and help keep your parents in good health. Here are a few ideas:

1. Pill Organizers

Older adults often take several medications to manage conditions like arthritis, heart disease, and high blood pressure. It can be hard to juggle different pill schedules. Plus, older adults sometimes forget whether they have taken a certain medication, leading to missed doses and double doses. Pill organizers can help minimize these challenges.

You can put all of your parents’ pills in a pill organizer at the beginning of the week. They will then know exactly what pills to take, and when. They won’t have to struggle with hard-to-open pill bottles, either.

Some local pharmacies take one step further and offer personalized medication packaging systems that organizes a patient’s daily non-liquid medications in sealed pill cups. The medications are color-coded and separated by the time of day for administration. Each cup is labeled with the patient’s name, the type and dose of the medication, and the precise date and time to take the medication. These personalized medication packaging systems help to ensure patient safety and medication adherence.

2. Grip Aids, Grabbers and Reachers

If your parents have arthritis in their hands or wrists, they may struggle to grip items in daily tasks as simple as grooming. Grip aids can help them hold on to small items like nail files, makeup brushes, and Q-tips.

Reacher tools can also help your parents reach items on taller shelves. By using a reacher tool, they can avoid having to stand on a stool, which may be unsafe if their balance isn’t the best anymore.

If your parents have limited arm or shoulder mobility, you can buy brushes and combs with long handles to help them style and brush their hair.

Some local pharmacies offer these items in their home health care supplies section, where they also sell things like walkers, raised toilet seats, shower seats, bath lifts, grab bars and walking canes that elderly people will also find helpful.

3. Home Care Services

Even if you are your parents’ primary caregiver, hiring a home care service to help out with a few basic tasks can be very freeing. A home caregiver can run errands, do some cleaning for your parents, prepare quick meals, and also serve as a companion for older adults who don’t get out as much as they used to.

4. Laundry Service

Older adults sometimes struggle to keep up with laundry. Loading it all into the washing machine, then into the dryer, and then folding it can be quite laborious. Hiring a laundry service to do your parent’s wash will simplify their lives and ensure they always have clean clothing and linens on-hand. Look for a local laundry service that offers pick-up and drop-off options.

If your aging parents still live at home, make sure they have the products and services they need to live comfortably and safely. Just a few simple products or services that assist them in their daily routine can help to improve their quality of life.

Caring for an Aging Parent at Home

Caring for an aging parent can be both complicated and rewarding. Having a little extra help can make all the difference. It’s important to take care of yourself, as well. Being a family caregiver can be both emotionally and physically exhausting, so here are some tips for caring for an aging parent at home.

Daughter with elderly parent

Cooking Simple Meals

Part of holding on to your dignity as you age is remaining as independent as possible. So even if your parent needs significant assistance with living by herself or himself at home, there are ways to make it so that they can do some of the everyday tasks themselves. For example, on weekly grocery trips, be sure to pick up food items that they may be able to prepare themselves. Prepping ingredients beforehand and labeling them in containers in the fridge is always a great way to lend some assistance without overstepping.

Laundry and Cleaning

Laundry and cleaning are chores that require physical exertion, so it is best to get help with these tasks as much as possible. This could mean taking certain items to and from the dry cleaners or signing up for laundry delivery service. Or just designate a certain day that you do your loved one’s laundry, even if it’s at your own home. Hiring a cleaning service is always an option. Or you could make sure your parent has easily accessible tools like brooms or dustbusters so they could still do some light cleaning themselves.

Getting the Necessary Medical Supplies

It’s imperative that your aging parent has the necessary meds and medical supplies such as walking canes, shower seats, and reaching aids. Check with your local pharmacy about automatic prescription refills. Delivery may always be an option as well. This kind of thing is where hiring a home care agency could come in hand. A home healthcare aide will be able to provide assistance not only with picking up prescriptions but also help with mobility and physical assistance.

Caring for an aging parent can be tricky, but with a little extra planning, it doesn’t have to disrupt your life. Your parent deserves to be able to live out their lives as independently and comfortable as possible, and so do you. Don’t forget to take a break every now and then. A respite care provider can provide the at home care assistance that your parent needs while you rest and recharge.