November 13, 2009
Living independently as you age
Editor’s note: The following article was provided by Trista Neisen in the Marketing and Public Relations Department of St. Mary’s Medical Center, Evansville.
Many older people experience problems in daily living because of chronic illnesses or health-related disabilities. Those difficulties restrict their ability to perform self-care and are a common reason why older people seek help from outsiders, move to assisted living communities, or enter nursing homes.
The daily living skills most affected by aging and chronic illnesses or disabilities include self-care activities that most people learn in early childhood and tend to take for granted as they mature like dressing, bathing and eating. They also include activities for maintaining an independent life such as cooking, handling money and driving. (Related story: Help for independent lives at home)
Often these problems arise gradually and may not even be considered a problem for some time.
What you can do to help
Work with the older person in developing a plan to provide the help that is needed. Activities of daily living are very personal, so it is not surprising that people who need help are sensitive about getting it and about the kind of help they receive.
If new ways of doing things, and/or if new assistive equipment are involved, these should be discussed so that the older person can understand the need for them. The same applies to bringing new people into the home. If the older person is resistant to new people, it often helps to suggest starting slowly by arranging for one person to come in for a limited time.
If outside help is needed to take some of the burden off your shoulders, be open with the older person about this. He or she needs to understand that outside help is important to you and for your health.
Encourage a positive attitude toward change. Focus on how the new ways of doing things will help the older person remain independent. At the same time, recognize that changes are difficult. Some older persons may become anxious, depressed or angry. They may need special attention from professional caregivers to cope successfully.
Support the older person’s efforts to manage daily activities. Allow him or her to have as much control as possible. This may mean letting the older person take some risks, as long as he or she understands the risks and chooses to take them. Being in control and making choices is important for all of us and this becomes especially important as the choices become limited, as they often do for older people.
Organize help from family and friends. Using other people’s help requires organization, such as lists, schedules, reminders and the like. At first you may think that it is easier to do the things yourself than to go to the trouble of organizing help from others.
However, once you have a system in place, it will be less work and there will be the advantage of stimulation from other people for both you and the person you are caring for. The older person should be involved in these plans because it is his or her life that is being affected.
Arrange for and supervise paid help. If possible, avoid hiring paid help through advertisements in the newspaper. If you do, be sure to obtain and check references. It is usually best to locate helpers through recommendations of others who know them or through a hospital or home health agency staff.
Agency staff will have had experience with the people they recommend. Once someone is hired, that person should be supervised. The older person receiving the care may not be the best person to do this since he or she is dependent on the helper and may overlook or minimize deficiencies in the caregiving.
If you are not living in the same household as the older person, then stop by at unscheduled or irregular times. This can give you a better sense of how well the employed helper is carrying out the duties.
Your goal is to maintain the older person’s ability to function as independently as possible for as long as possible. Don’t expect a return to what he or she was like before the problems started. Progress will be slow. Set reasonable goals for yourself and for the person for whom you are caring.
Source: Foundation for Health in Aging