Activities of daily living might be a phrase you’ve heard, but maybe didn’t think about too much. That’s not uncommon at all, but as your senior’s caregiver you may find that you need to get a handle on these activities sooner rather than later.
Defining Activities of Daily Living
Activities of daily living sound intimidating, but they’re really just the activities that your senior has to do every day in order to keep herself going. Abbreviated ADLs, these activities are things like bathing, getting dressed, and feeding herself. If your elderly family member is having trouble with some of these activities, her quality of life is likely suffering.
You Can’t Ignore ADLs
It’s easy to ignore ADLs at first, because they’re usually activities that most people don’t think about much until they start to become a problem. No one ever really believes that there will come a day when brushing their own teeth is something that’s too difficult. But when that day does come, you need to have a solution in place for your senior. The sooner you can put that plan together, the easier it will be to implement it.
You Can Make ADLs Easier for Your Senior
Trouble with ADLs isn’t something for your senior to be embarrassed about. You can help her to handle the difficulties she’s experiencing, but you need to know what those difficulties are. Set aside some time to have a detailed conversation about what’s happening and what she wants both now and in the future. Talk to your senior’s doctor, as well. Her doctor can help you to understand what’s contributing to her issues.
Your Senior Might Need More Help
It’s possible that you and your senior need more help than you realized at first. Activities of daily living can be embarrassing for you as well as for your senior. If the situation is too awkward, that can hinder the help you’re able to provide. It might be a good idea for home care providers to take over some of those tasks, if only to relieve a bit of the discomfort that you and your senior are experiencing.
Once your senior has her activities of daily living back into a solid routine that works for her, her quality of life should improve again. These activities are the basis of a normal, peaceful daily routine and when they’re disrupted, everything feels out of sequence.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering home care in Cherry Hills, CO, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare today. Call us at (303) 756-9322.
