It has become clearer over time that your elderly mental health is very intricately linked and connected to the care and support that’s provided in your senior years. In fact, it’s about how the care is decided upon, the move into care, and the support and assistance for living a meaningful life while in care that can cause untold duress for the elderly unless this is all done in the right way.
Deciding on the right type of care
So many care options have started to spring up as the elderly population grows and expands rapidly. This has made choosing the right type of care an incredibly difficult process. The best advice is to find the kind of care solution that includes all the essentials required in the way of health and medical care, as well as providing the best social and cultural experience possible.
Another top tip for the type of care you need to be looking for is to ensure that the senior care solution you choose also has clearly stated Medicare rehabilitation options. You never know what may happen, from slips and trips to more serious falls. Having the security or insurance in place for these at the place or point of care is thus essential.
Moving into care
The move into a care home or residential care option must be done over a period of time. There’s no way that an elderly person should be moved into care without a lengthy period of discussion and visits to the care option to provide a staggered yet seamless route into the care home.
It’s a big move and one that can cause a great deal of distress to the elderly person unless it’s managed and done in the most accommodating and transparent way possible. A shock to the system caused by an instant or sudden move out of their home and into residential care can cause serious mental health challenges and relocation stresses and affect an ongoing medical care program.
Visitation and sociability
The ability to visit the elderly person in situ or to arrange outings and have them attend social gatherings and functions is a major part of senior residential living. The first few months to a year are known to be the most important in this regard and as the senior person settles into the new accommodation, they’ll need to be visited and assured that they still have support from family and friends even though they may have moved into care.
Elderly mental health and well-being can be incredibly fragile. The unavoidable process of aging can illicit many feelings and uncertainties, and as such, it is vital to be aware of these and to ensure that the process of finding the right type of care as well as how you facilitate the move into care is done in a way that puts the care user or elderly person at the center of this process as a participant and engaged decision maker, rather than as simply a passenger and recipient of care.
We are not doctors and this is in no way intended to be used as medical advice and we cannot be held responsible for your results. As with any product, service or supplement, use at your own risk. Always do your own research before using.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.