Our ability to cook a warm meal, take regular baths, and possibly do a load of laundry are all things that we take for granted because we do them with ease at this stage in our life. However, “the day” is coming for all of us… The day that we will no longer be able to stay within our own home and provide for our own basic daily care.
I know that many of you reading this are thinking: “who are you kidding, they will never pry me out of my home!” , “I will never get to that point” or “that only happens to people with other disabilities”. For all you optimists out there, I truly hope that “the day” never comes for you and you don’t have to experience leaving the safe and familiar confines of a home in which you have spent most of your years. However, the realist amongst us know that our bodies and minds are not quite like they used to be and that proper planning is in order if we are to prolong the length of time that we can live independently and without moving to assisted living.
So.. what do we do? How can we prepare now to benefit ourselves in the future? Glad you asked! Here are some suggestions:
Take A Look at Your Home!
Seriously.. have you ever looked at your home from the eyes of a more seasoned(old) person? If not, you should host the next local AARP meeting at your home and take an informal survey at the end to find out what challenges your house provides for elderly people. Ok.. you can forgo the AARP meeting but you really need to walk around your house and identify areas of concern. Is your house multi-level? Do you have a large yard that needs extreme amounts of upkeep? Do you live somewhere that gets record levels of snow? How maintenance free is your home? Dependent upon your answer to some of these questions, you may need to make plans for the future to move out of your current home and into something a little more elderly friendly. Single level condos always appear to be in high regard for retired seniors -especially condos located in Florida!.
Analyze Your Family Resources!
We are not talking about money here. (However, we will touch upon that a little later.) How many siblings do you have? What is their health and age in comparison to yours? How many kids do you have? How many boys vs. girls? You may be wondering why you want to take notice of your family but the reason for doing this is because these are the people that are going to be around in your later years and you may need to depend upon them to accomplish some day to day activities. Your own children are usually the ones that are most committed to promoting your good health and welfare. Stereotypically, boys help out with the house and yard maintenance while the girls tend to be focused on your health and nurturing (keeping you clean and well fed). Understanding that your children still have their own commitments and will be unable to stop by all the time, you have to take a look at your other resources to fill the gap and keep your mind sharp. That is where the next suggestion comes in handy…
Take Inventory of Your Friends!
Your friends will be more than glad to help you out as they are able but unless you have very young friends chances are they are at the same point in their life as you are in yours. You will want to keep in close contact with your friends and schedule mutually beneficial social events and functions. This will help to promote good communication habits and it will keep your brain stimulated so that you are less susceptible to Alzheimer’s.
Where is Your Checkbook?
It is unfortunate, but the more money you have the better your chances of avoiding assisted living. When you have monetary resources, you can afford to pay people that will clean out your gutters, mow your grass, shovel the snow, bring food to your door, clean your house, give you a sponge bath, do all the required maintenance around your home, and even tuck you in at night!
Research Senior Monitoring Services!
ADT and other home security service providers are no longer just watching and protecting your homes. They have now branched out and provide senior monitoring services for the elderly. Do you remember those annoying commercials “Help, I have fallen and I can’t get up”. Well, in order for us to not be like those people we will probably want to get some sort of service that allows us to wear a heart pendant to push in emergency situations. If you are can’t afford senior monitoring services, think about doing a one-time $99 investment in a DIY security alarm that has a panic button and call notification feature. Better yet, spend $50 and get a Personal Alert Voice Dialer. It is certainly better than nothing.
Join A Club!
We are not talking about the local Country Club or your favorite Book Club. However, if they provide for good anaerobic exercise, then by all means join away. A Fitness club is what we are referring to. The healthier you keep your body, the longer you will be able to live independently and without assistance. Which naturally feeds into the next suggestion…
Don’t Avoid the Doctor
I have not encountered a single person yet that thoroughly enjoys going to the doctor. Most people try to avoid them like the plague. The truth of the matter though is that as you age there are certain tests and routine check-ups that you need to have completed on a regular basis. For guys, the prostate exam after 40 years of age is always an important one. Regardless, keep you body healthy at all costs. You only get one and you want it to last as long as you can!
SmartSecurityPeople.com may have deviated from our normal line of articles to bring this information to you. However, we care about not only the security of our readers but also your safety and that includes your younger AND older years. So take this information to heart and regardless of your age, start planning now to make sure you live a long and prosperous life and avoid assisted living for as long as humanly possible. However, do know your limitations and when and if the time comes for you to move from your home into an assisted care situation or nursing home, go willingly and know that it is not the end of the world. Think of it as Club Med, just without the beach and margaritas.
