Any type of viral illness is concerning for seniors, since an older immune system isn’t as prepared to fight off unwelcome threats as it once was. Coronavirus is especially troubling, since it’s a new, easily transmittable virus not yet fully understood. However, there are some easy ways you can lower the risk of coronavirus for an elderly loved one.
1. Make Healthy Eating a Regular Thing
Healthy eating is good for older immune systems. Still, not all older adults are huge fans of leafy green vegetables and other foods that normally come to mind when “healthy eating” is mentioned. To lower your loved one’s coronavirus risk, take a different approach to healthy eating by:
• Emailing your loved one links to tasty, nutritious recipes he or she can make at home*
• Recommending sweet and juicy nutrient-rich fruits like oranges, peaches, and melons
• Suggesting local meal delivery services that offer healthy meal selections
• Steering your loved one toward yogurt, sweet potatoes, plain popcorn, and other foods he or she may not know are healthy
*Eatingwell.com is one site you can use for this purpose
If your loved one needs help following healthy habits that boost his or her immune system, a home caregiver can be a wonderful source of support. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of home care. Amarillo families can rely on Home Care Assistance to provide individualized care plans to meet your elderly loved one’s unique care needs. Our holistic Balanced Care Method was designed to help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and our Cognitive Therapeutics Method offers mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia.
2. Help Them Stock Up
Since coronavirus is easily spread, a simple way to lower the risk of exposure for your loved one is to make sure he or she is well supplied with essentials. For things like groceries and prescriptions your loved one needs on a regular basis, consider home delivery services.
To keep your loved one from having to go out, a home caregiver can run errands for him or her, including shopping for groceries and picking up prescriptions. If your aging loved one needs help managing everyday tasks or encouragement to adopt healthier lifestyle choices, turn to Home Care Assistance, a leading provider of elderly home care. Home Care Assistance provides professional in-home caregivers around the clock to help seniors live longer, happier, and healthier lives.
3. Encourage Remote Connections
Social distancing is a standard recommendation for preventing the spread of coronavirus. Obviously, if you’re a family caregiver, you’ll still need to be with your loved one on a regular basis. But you can minimize your loved one’s physical contact with other people by encouraging him or her to use social media, text messaging, and other forms of remote communication.
4. Lead by Example
It may be easier to get your loved one into the habit of washing his or her hands more often and using elbows when coughing or sneezing if you lead by example. You can even make things like handwashing fun by singing a short song with your loved one as you wash your hands together.
5. Stress the Importance of Home-Based Exercise
Along with boosting an older immune system, exercise promotes relaxation, makes it easier to get to sleep, and naturally eases pain by promoting the release of “feel-good” hormones called endorphins. Staying home doesn’t mean your loved one has to forego these benefits. Your loved one can still lower his or her coronavirus risk with home-based exercises such as:
• Chair-based exercises
• Yoga poses
• Using a stationary bike
• Walks around the home
• Low-impact aerobic workouts that can be done in designated areas like patios or decks
6. Take a Look at In-Home Care Services
Caring for a loved one sometimes means getting help from the people who happen to be available at any given moment. If this is the arrangement you have, reduce your loved one’s coronavirus risk by considering in-home care. It’s an appealing option, since it’s typically provided by the same caregiver in the comfort of home, and it’s based on the care recipient’s current care needs. Receiving care at home reduces the number of people your loved one comes into contact with on a daily basis, which is more challenging to achieve in an environment such as a nursing home.
Families who find it difficult to care for their aging loved ones without assistance can benefit greatly from professional respite care. Amarillo, TX, family caregivers who need a break from their caregiving duties can turn to Home Care Assistance. Using our proprietary Balanced Care Method, our respite caregivers can encourage your loved one to eat well, exercise regularly, get plenty of mental and social stimulation, and focus on other lifestyle factors that promote longevity. Reach out to one of our Care Managers today at (806) 803-9991 to schedule a free in-home consultation.
With information surrounding coronavirus/COVID-19 changing by the hour, it’s challenging to stay updated on the most recent best practices for keeping seniors safe at home. At Home Care Assistance, we understand how critical it is for seniors and their caregivers to protect against coronavirus as much as possible. All our team members have received detailed communication on infection control protocols, including effective cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces and hands. Our caregivers can pick up medications, groceries, and anything else a senior needs, minimizing their interaction with large groups of people. For more information on how Home Care Assistance helps protect clients, click here: https://www.homecareassistanceamarillo.com/covid-19-home-care/