When the time is right to hire a professional caregiver, look for a company who provides quality personnel who are more than mere sitters or health personnel.
The best caregivers provide mental stimulation to the senior by transforming daily routine into interactive activities. This type of interaction by the caregiver helps to increase the senior’s health and sense of wellbeing.
Mental exercise should be an integral part of the senior’s daily care through conversation, reminiscing, story telling, reading, playing games and other activities the senior enjoys.
Studies have shown that mental interaction by the caregiver helps keep seniors cognitively vital; improves their health and outlook on life and reduces their risks for injury, depression, and symptoms of dementia. It can help memory and contributes to an individual’s optimism about life.
The best caregivers help the senior increase their physical activity as well. Interacting with the senior through physical activities can contribute significantly to a senior’s health by improving balance, flexibility, strength and range of motion.
Staying active and strong can improve the senior’s outlook on life and enhance independence. Improving strength and balance helps prevent falls, which can cause injuries; the major cause of a senior losing independence and often the factor toward a rapid decline in health.
The best caregivers encourage the senior to develop social connections with friends and family through activities they love. It is vital to help the senior stay in touch with friends, attend social, religious and cultural events, or simply have the opportunity to interact with others.
The best caregivers keep the senior engaged in life mentally, emotionally, physically and socially. Staying socially engaged, physically active, and mentally stimulated all contribute to the senior feeling happy and connected.