Sitting Outside With Your Loved One
As the days become longer and nicer, your loved one will want to get outside more. There are so many benefits and advantages of just sitting outside as a senior. In-home care aides may also encourage your loved one to sit on a screened-in porch or near a window which can lead to the same benefits. In-home care will slowly encourage your loved one to make healthy changes as they age in place and one of those things can be to sit outside for a few minutes every day.
Here are the advantages of going outside to sit down and relax.
Less Likely to Be Depressed
Here is the thing about aging in place, it is not always easy and it is not always glamorous. Your senior loved one may have given up a lot of things they loved while they chose to age in place. They may need more help around the house and all of these things they gave up and the independence they feel like they don’t have may make them feel more stressed and maybe even depressed. One of the best ways to fight depression is by simply going outside. Your loved one may not be able to move around as much as they used to but they can still go outside. Being around nature may help boost natural happy chemicals that can fight off the blues. Going outside and just sitting with in-home care can be an absolute game-changer for mental health.
Emotional Health Is Key
For some reason, emotional health always gets put on the back burner as you get older. A senior may be ashamed of their emotions, not know how to express emotions, and just don’t think anyone will care. This is not true, but they need to find ways to sit and think things over and let themselves feel emotions and let them go. The house and being inside may be too overwhelming for this task but sitting outside allows them the space to have feelings flow freely. It is important to give them the space to cope with things and being outside will help their emotional health in the future.
They Can Go Back in and Focus
Your senior may be working on projects, hobbies, or trying to accomplish a task. No matter how old you get, if you focus all your energy on something it can be exhausting and you may not be able to focus after a while. This is even true for a senior and they may get tired easier which means they lose focus faster. One of the best things a senior can do is stop and enjoy the outside for a little while. This break will allow them to absorb vitamins and go back inside with a refreshed mind and attitude.
They May Feel Motivated to Move
Just by being outside a senior is going to move more than usual. The sun can feel energizing and refreshing which can make their body feel good. When a senior feels better they will naturally move around more and being in the sun and nature can promote these feelings and more movement.
If you or an aging loved one are considering In-Home Care Services in the Leawood KS area, please contact the caring staff at Elder Care of Kansas City, today.
Proudly serving Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties in Missouri as well as Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas for over 30 years. Call us at 816-333-3322.
Prior to purchasing Elder Care, Kevin spent over 20 years in the health insurance industry.In his most recent position, he was in a financial operations role with Humana where he worked with doctors, nurses and other health professionals developing programs to keep Humana members healthy.Their focus on primary care and medication adherence improved the lives of thousands of seniors in Kansas City and the surrounding area.
Kevin and his wife, Lori, have three children.Kevin has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Missouri.
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