Mental health is just as important as physical health. If you are caring for a senior citizen in your life, it is a good idea to learn how to protect their mental health. It isn’t that they can’t necessarily do it on their own. It is just that when it comes to mental health, it is great to have a strong support system. Plus, these tips should help your elderly loved one to feel less alone and more involved in your life which can boost their mood and confidence, too. 

Staying in Touch

One of the best ways to protect a senior citizen’s mental health is by staying in touch. Think about it for a moment – how are you supposed to know if your elderly loved one is depressed or anxious daily if you only talk to them once every month? The good news is there are numerous ways that you can stay in touch with your elderly loved one so that you can check in on their mental health. Some of the best ways to do this are:

• Calling them once a day or every other day
• Sending emails or text messages back and forth
• Talking to their 24-hour home care providers
• Having a video call with them once or twice a week
• Using social media messengers to communicate 

The more you stay in touch with your elderly loved one, the more you will know how they are feeling and what is going on in their life. 

Sticking to Routines/Schedules

Another way to protect a senior citizen’s mental health is to encourage them to stick to routines and schedules. Studies show that routines and schedules help to keep life more balanced and less chaotic. Ultimately, this leads to better mental and physical health. If your elderly loved one needs help creating or sticking to routines and schedules, maybe you or a companion care provider can help with this. You could sit down with them and write out the routines they need for the morning, afternoon, and evening. Then, you can also help them to create a calendar for appointments and other things that should be on their schedule. The more organized all of this is, the less stressed and anxious your elderly loved one is likely to be. 

Getting Regular Exercise

Your elderly loved one’s mental health can be improved through regular exercise, too. They may think this is only going to benefit their physical health, however, research shows it also improves mental health. For example, just by going on a daily walk, your elderly loved one can feel more refreshed and less anxious. The primary reason behind this is that when a person exercises the body releases feel-good chemicals that improve mood.

Conclusion

As you can tell, there are some easy and simple ways for your elderly loved one to improve their mental health. If you work with them and their 24-hour home care providers, hopefully, you can keep their mental health as stable and positive as possible. 

If you or an aging loved-one is considering 24-Hour Home Care in Riverview, FL please contact the caring staff at Healthy Services Of Tampa, Inc today. 813-932-9922

Sources

https://www.samhsa.gov/blog/bringing-awareness-mental-health-older-adults