10 Signs your Aging Parent Needs Help
It is no doubt that there are challenges that come with seeing your senior parent age. People with elderly parents may notice symptoms and causes for concern, resulting in stress and worry about your loved one. This may be a sign to increase family caregiving or turn to home care services. Provided are 10 signs to look for in your loved one which may indicate that they need additional support.
1. Difficulty in Household Maintenance
Every home requires basic care, but this task can be difficult for your parents as they age. In order to maintain a healthy and safe home environment, home maintenance is essential. Poorly maintained homes can suffer substantial financial costs, cause worry and stress, and increase the risk of injury. A central reason as to why seniors leave their homes to enter residential care, or hire a caregiver is due to run down living conditions. Major stress can be associated with keeping up with home maintenance. Additionally, this can undermine your loved ones mental health. Home care offers services that take care of home maintenance, such as mowing the lawn, disinfecting household objects, and just simply making sure your parent lives in a clean and tidy house.
Senior Household Maintenance
2. Forgetfulness
Memory loss is a relative issue, but common among seniors. Memory loss that disrupts day-to-day living is often a symptom of Dementia or Alzheimers, a brain disease that results in a slow deterioration in memory, along with thinking and reasoning skills. Nonetheless, memory loss can be a clear sign of aging. Make a mental note of this if you notice your parent repetitively forgetting things such as important events and appointments, losing their car keys, or words and names. We all experience forgetfulness here and there, but when this becomes a pattern, this can be serious and warrant reason to reach out for additional support. Another example of notable memory loss includes if you tell your parents something important, and the next day they forget about the conversation.
Forgetfulness can be dangerous to your parents. Other worrisome issues connected to memory loss may include getting lost in their own neighbourhood, or forgetting common words. You may also notice that your parents has lost weight, and are forgetting to eat. Caregivers offer support in using necessary techniques to help maintain your loved ones memory. They are also there to ensure that your parents' memory loss does not disrupt their daily life. They can often reduce the negative consequences of memory loss.
3. Decline in Mobility
Mobility has been studied to be a very relevant physical ability that affects the quality of life of an individual. Over time, you may notice your parent losing their mobile skills required to complete daily tasks. Mobility loss in seniors commonly results from numerous impairments in the muscles, joints, nervous systems, and sensory physiological systems. Early signs to look for in your parents are their posture and walk, along with how easily they become fatigued. They may find it too tiresome to complete simple everyday tasks. These are signs that your loved one may be losing their mobility, and are in need of care.
4. Irrational Behaviour
It is not unusual for elderly people to develop lingering worries, fears, and dissatisfactions within different areas of their life. As your parents child, you may view them as paranoid, irrational, or even absurd. However, it is important to look deeper into these behaviours, as this is often connected to an underlying cognitive disability. Your parents may be convinced that there is an animal in the house, or a thief stealing things in their house. Although these are all very real possibilities, if these claims are in fact false, your parents may have developed these confusions and false beliefs due to a cognitive decline. This can be a sign of dementia, or it could be a symptom of other factors, such as delirium or mental illness. The first thing recommended to do is to get your parent evaluated for a potential underlying cognitive condition. Many cognitive impairments are hard to treat, but symptoms of irrational behaviour can be managed through looking into more advanced care. Many caregivers are well-equipped to deal with symptoms of cognitive impairments such as irrationality. Home care can be a good option to prepare for further cognitive decline.
5. Poor Hygiene
You may notice your parent slowly start to let their personal hygiene go. It may be the case that they have suddenly stopped washing their hair, or have stopped bathing regularly. There may be numerous reasons as to why your parent has developed poor hygiene within their daily life. For instance, your parent may be afraid of falling in the tub, and this may result in them refusing to bathe on their own. This is a very valid fear, but one of which a caregiver can help to assist. Additionally, your parent may be unable to complete their hygiene routine due to mobility restraints. Poor hygiene can negatively affect your loved one’s life in many ways. This goes beyond the the social stigma related to wearing dirty clothes, having stained teeth, or presenting unpleasant ordors. For example, poor practices of personal hygiene can result in infections, having to do with bacteria and fungi. For seniors especially, one’s poor hygiene can have serious consequences, leading to a weakened immune system and spread of infection. Caregiving services can provide your parent with maintaining their hygiene, and in turn, will help maintain their overall health.
Aging Parent Bathroom
6. Losing Track of Medications
Your parent may be prescribed to take numerous medications throughout the day. It is important that your loved one stays on-top of taking their daily medications, as it may be essential in maintaining their health. Mix-up’s are easy to happen when multiple medications are prescribed to your parent. You may see that your parent has been taking the wrong dosages of medication, or have not been taking them at the recommended time of day. To add, your parent may be taking their medication without food in their system, while the medication states the contrary. These are all factors that need to be taken seriously and followed closely when considering the health of your loved one.
7. Loss in Weight
This was touched upon earlier, however it is important that your parent maintains a healthy weight. Weight loss in seniors often happens unintentionally. It can be associated with disease and increased mortality. Although some weight loss can be a normal aspect of ageing as the shrinking of muscle mass increases over time, losing a considerable amount of weight over a short time period can result from an underlying condition. Weight loss can affect various other aspects of your parents life. Health consequences of substantial weight loss include increased fatigue, loss of ability to complete activities of day-to-day living, higher risk of injuries, and intensified cognitive and mood disorders. Conditions associated with weight loss in your parent may include Cancer, Alzheimers or Dementia, Hyperthyroidism, or Cancer.
Although underlying medical conditions may be the cause of your parents weight loss, there are also social and behavioural factors that may impact your loved one’s eating habits and calorie intake. Although underlying medical conditions may be the cause of your parents weight loss, there are also social and behavioural factors that may impact your loved one’s eating habits and calorie intake. For example, your parent may not be eating enough due to limited mobility, dental issues, or due to the effects of their numerous medications. Many of these factors can be solved by making a larger conscious effort in making sure your loved one eats more throughout the day, however, this can be challenging for seniors if they live along. Caregivers are there to ensure that your parents have a regular daily routine in regards to serving food. This often means preparing and serving food roughly at the same times every day.
Senior Loss in Weight
8. Signs of Unexplained Bruises and Injury
You may notice that there are unexplained cuts, scars or bruises showing up on your parents bodies. Note that bruising is easy and common with age. Your parent may not recall falling or bumping into something, or don’t remember experiencing any kind of accident. However, even small impacts can cause bruising and display physical signs of injury. Many bruises and signs of injury on the surface of the skin are harmless and will simply disappear over time.
Despite this, if your parent bruises easily, this can indicate a more serious problem. Easy bruising can potentially indicate an underlying condition, or result in blood-clotting, and these are more serious issues. Your parents may be more prone to falling or getting into an accident if they live alone. Caregivers can reduce these risks through ensuring that there is adequate lighting throughout your loved ones home. In addition they will arrange your parents furniture and household objects in a way that does not increase the risk of them hurting themselves.
9. Depression
Depression within seniors is common but should not be brushed aside. Depression is experienced differently for each person. Additionally, every person experiences depression for different reasons. However, there are numerous ways to help your loved ones lift their spirits if you notice them battling with depression. You may notice that your loved one has lost interest in everyday activities and hobbies that they used to be passionate about. They also may have a general lack of motivation and energy, and constantly look sad or helpless. These are all common signs of depression to look for in your parents. Depression often gets labelled as sadness, however, your loved one may still be battling with depression even if they do not appear sad. Numerous other symptoms can indicate that your loved one is experiencing depression. Physical symptoms can also be predominant within seniors when facing depression. Their complaints about arthritis pains or headaches may be connected to this.
Home care services hire caregivers who recognize numerous depression symptoms. This is important because mental health is connected to one’s overall health. If your parent is aging in their own home alone, or with minimal interaction, this can be isolating and only elevate symptoms of depression. One way caregivers aid to combat depression through helping their clients stay active and engaged socially in their community. Caregivers also offer companionship to your loved one. Along with supporting them physically, caregivers converse with their clients throughout the day, eat meals with them, and join in on games and activities. This can make all the difference within your parents life and can be a source of their happiness.
10. Difficulty Driving
As your senior parent ages, it is normal and inevitable to experience challenges in driving. This can especially be the case if your parent deals with hearing or vision impairments. Additionally, their reflexes may have declined over the years, these factors, along with other serious, chronic illnesses, can get in the way with your parents ability to drive safely. Driving can often be highly associated with independence, which may be very important to your loved one. However, their safety always comes first and it may be time for them to stop driving. Home care services offer support in that caregivers will be able to transport their clients wherever they need to go, whether it is a doctor's appointment, family event, or grocery shopping. It may be a good idea for you to take a few rides with your parent and use your own personal judgement in deciding if they should still be driving. If they have been getting more tickets then usual, this is another indication that they should not be behind the wheel. There are also experts who can help decide if your parent is safe to drive on their own.