The Challenges of Aging (keep moving)
Elderly Care encompasses a range of services to help older people live comfortably and independently. These services include:
Assisted living
Adult daycare
Long-term care
Nursing homes (residential care)
Hospice care
Home care
Each one of these areas of service carries a certain amount of responsibility for loving our aging population. One of the problems faced is getting good help. I am grateful for the people we have who are willing to take on that responsibility, as it is not an easy one. Sometimes an enormous amount of patience is required, while other times, just being available to listen is “just what the doctor ordered.”
When you carry out acts of kindness, something on the inside bubbles up. The feeling inside is tough to explain. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel. When caring about others, you run the risk of feeling and leaving an impact on those who otherwise would not have many reasons to smile. ...especially the shut-in, sickly and elderly.
“Caring about others leaves an impact on people. It will often bring happiness that was not often felt inside the other individual. I have heard it said, “The closest thing to being cared for is to care for someone else.”
When the older population socializes, it not only staves off feelings of loneliness, but also it helps sharpen memory and cognitive skills, increases their sense of happiness and well-being, and may even help them live longer.
Visiting people you do not know is sometimes a challenge, but if persistent, that person becomes a friend and you have become trusted.
Be careful to give yourself entirely to those you visit and likewise around you daily. Be generous with your blessings. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.
There’s no healthy aging “magic bullet” — no single exercise, food or pill that can guarantee a long, healthy life. However, making some strong social connections is certainly a winner. If you can get out of your home, please do so. If you can drive or catch a ride. Take advantage of the agencies that exist that offers these types of environments.
I have an old buddy that will tell me, “Getting old is no for sissies”. I have come to agree.
“What does it take to age well? There are many factors that go into it. Taking care of aging people is not a walk in the park. I see stuff when I go visit and I am rather nervous about myself and spouse, when/if we see those ages.
It has been said, “having longevity in your family or lack of physical illnesses — do not guarantee a positive experience with getting older.” I was kinda hoping that was not the case. Even in that, I am trying to do my part in maintaining proper health and not just throwing my body to the dogs. I have not done well in this area in the past 5-7 years.
Here is a cool factoid, relationships we have tend to make a better statement to us about our health status in the leaner and golden age years. “It’s the quality, duration and nature of your relationships that seem to matter most. People are often surprised by how much people write about the correlation between social contact and enormous health benefits. Interacting with others is exercise for your brain — it’s one of the best ways to improve your cognitive flexibility. It’s likely more beneficial than doing crossword puzzles or other brain games.” I like those things and my mother really likes them!
We can’t forget the negative impact that loneliness and social isolation are just as much of a health risk as smoking and a poor diet.”
I was unaware of the health risks associated with loneliness. Try these on for size: depression, anxiety, increased risk of suicide and other chronic health risks are a few of the big ones.
Who does these studies? There is one that shows certain people have factors that indicate stuff like social isolation, loneliness and poor social relationships are associated with increased risk of: premature death, dementia, heart disease and strokes.
Maybe some of those are associated with the meds they are given. …my thought.
Here are some cute facts and quotes I found that may lighten give you, the reader a reason to plan a bit differently.
“The glory of the elderly is their insight to life.”
“Age should not have its face lifted, but it should rather teach the world to admire wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character. ”
“Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.”
“It doesn’t behoove elderly persons to follow fashion in their thinking nor in the way they dress.”
“Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man.”
“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.”
“Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels, but old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.”
“It can be very difficult, especially for those who live into their 90s or 100s, as a person might have a group of friends or work hard to make new friends only to see those friends lose function or pass away.”
“Although you can’t replace your dearest connections, you need to continue making new acquaintances — and stay connected in the relationships you have.”
“Action is important. It can be hard, and sometimes intimidating, to be in social situations, but you have to do it.”
“It takes effort to learn about a new person or make a new connection, but it’s very important to cognition. Think of it as a workout for your soul, your happiness and your brain health.”
“As we grow older, we must discipline ourselves to continue expanding, broadening, learning, keeping our minds active and open.”
“You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.”
“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.”
“To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.”
“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.”
“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”
Often, older adults are worried about leaving the house because of common age-related difficulties such as vision loss, incontinence, disability or lack of transportation. If tried, we all will find it was worth finding ways to accommodate or overcome these challenges.
Just because you are older, this doesn’t mean you should stop nurturing your current relationships or building and growing new relationships.
To make new friends or connections:
During some life transitions, older adults are at a higher risk of becoming socially isolated and lonely. When you’re going through a life transition, it’s important to establish a social network with supporters and friends who can introduce you to new people. I have a few buddies who don’t meet strangers.
You retirees have to admit, retirement has a lot of perks, but leaving the workforce often reduces the number of contacts we have. I retired at 55 and I have been extra busy.
In the lives of many people, there is a vacuum that forms at the point of retirement. When you leave work, you leave a whole work network of people who have shared common interests with you for years. It so happens; I have many numbers from folks I connected with at work. They are not close friends, but they are people who I can still communicate with as I want to.
I have a pretty close group of friends that I see on a somewhat frequent basis. I have a couple that I see weekly and speak with almost daily.
One of my least popular topics to discuss is the death of my spouse. That is no bueno. The transition a person must go through at the departure of a spouse is a doosie! It is a time of emotional risk. It can be devastating, and some people never recuperate without social interaction.
Finding a friend or two to discuss your feelings and emotions with is important. Consider attending a grief support group and connect with people going through a similar transition.