Despite the fact that most nursing homes or assisted living facilities provide a safe and caring environment, most seniors still prefer to stay in their own homes, even if they are suffering from limited mobility or some disease. Research studies show that almost 90% of older people prefer staying at their own home if given a choice.
Why Do Seniors Prefer To Live In Their Own Homes?
Family members may find such people stubborn and inconsiderate towards their problems, but seniors have many reasons to prefer staying at home for as long as possible. The major reasons behind this choice of seniors include:
- As people grow old, they get more and more resistant to change and become less adaptable. Going to live at a new and unknown place is much harder for them than we think.
- They are concerned and fearful about their future. The uncertainty associated with increasing age makes them uneasy and raises fears regarding their future life.
- As we grow older, we become more sensitive. Even the idea of leaving their loved ones and the comfort of their home is quite fearsome and could lead to emotional disturbance.
- Seniors also have fear of losing their independence after moving into nursing homes.
- They have heard several stories regarding abuse in nursing homes and feel that they would also become a victim of such practices.
Tips To Continue Living At Home
Following are some tips for the elderly to continue living in their own homes without creating any problems for other family members:
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Make Your Home Elder-Friendly
As you grow older, you suddenly find it harder to climb stairs, to get up, and move quickly around the house. Cabinets suddenly appear to be too high and toilets too low, making slips and falls become prevalent. To deal with all these problems, make your house elder-friendly. For example, replace taps and doorknobs with lever handles, raise the toilet seat, put a shower chair in the bathing area, store things in lower cabinets and drawers, and place supporting handles all over your house.
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Use Assistive Aids
To make roaming around the house easier and to do your daily tasks without any difficulty, use assistive aids, such as a walker, wheelchair, or hearing aid.
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Take Your Medicines on Time
If you want to stay at home, it is really important that you take all the medicines prescribed by your doctor on time to avoid any serious health complications that may create problems for you and your family. Take care of yourself to stay fit and healthy.
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Install Security Alarm
One of the biggest concerns of family members is the security of their elderly parents. This is one of the reasons they transfer themselves to assisted living facilities. To make sure that you stay safe and protected at home, install a security alarm.
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Use Technology
Learn to use modern technology to make your life easier without having to depend on anyone else. Numerous apps have been specifically designed to help elders. These include reminder apps, financial, management apps, and lots of other ones. Also, buy whatever you want without leaving the comforts of your home by using the technology at your disposal.
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Hire a Helper
If you want help in some tasks, such as for doing house chores, hire a helper.
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Be Thankful For Your Family
For whatever they are doing for you, be thankful to your family members. Tell them that you appreciate their time and effort and love them for taking care of you. Remember; they are not getting any material reward for this; your appreciation and consideration alone will make them feel good.
This post was written by the creative team behind Patient Handling!
Great post. Of course people want to stay in their own place as long as they can. It is surprising how many family and friends don’t think of it.
Accommodations of living on one level is important so why not bring the washer and dryer up from the basement? Why not make the den into a bedroom downstairs?
Sure if Mom or Dad wants to move to an assisted living or there is no support system of family close to help, or if their home is not adaptable to their needs, these are reasons to move.
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There was a real stigma, back in the day, of being put in a home and the connotation that no one loved you enough to care for you. My grandparents stayed in their home, we hired a live-in. It’s a difficult transition, just getting used to a stranger living in your home but in the end this woman was pure gold and we all know my grandparents lived exactly where they wanted to be.
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What a useful collection! I especially find the two last points super important. Doing it on your own is a daunting task. Get any help you can, from the state or paid, but it’s crucial to get a helpful hand and not do it on your own. Sending you lots of love and wishing you a better and more healthy New Year, Rena! xx Abby
Beautifully said. We have to take a look at what the world looks like from their perspective. It’s a viewpoint that would help us understand a lot more in life, too.
Great advice! It’s good to list the options of what you can do as you age. Thanks for sharing.
By providing ongoing, consistent care, personal caregivers are able to help aging individuals continue living independently, comfortably and socially at home. A little extra support can be all that is needed to extend an older adult’s sense of independence in his or her own home, and this goes a long way toward improving their outlook on life and boosting self-confidence. Most aging individuals are comforted by being in familiar surroundings where they have spent much of their life, and a professional caregiver can help them stay there longer than they would be able to on their own.
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Home Care is Affordable, A professional caregiver not only provides high quality care, they are also extremely affordable as compared to nursing homes
Continue living at home is the best thing that you will do. If you have a personal nurse and everything you need in your house, then you don’t need to go to a nursing home. But if you lack on your needs as a senior, then you should probably go into a nursing home.
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Great post! I agree that raised toilet seats and shower chairs are a great way to make your home more accessible to the elderly to enable them to stay at home. Thanks for sharing.
These are great tips for in-home senior care! I know it may a hard transition to do but is well worth it. Thanks for sharing this
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Hello Rena, I agree with you. A home is the place where we live for long time. It gives peace and help to heal our injuries and other problems early as compared to nursing facilities. Thanks!
One of the most important goals of health care is ensuring that ill, elderly, and disabled patients receive high quality, personal, and compassionate care. Home health care is designed to meet these needs by offering personalized service in the convenience of a patient’s home.
Home caregivers are far better able to handle many routine and critical situations because they have the necessary experience and training.
One of the main benefits of in-home support is that your loved one will remain in a familiar environment.
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Home Care is Affordable, A professional caregiver not only provides high quality care, they are also extremely affordable as compared to nursing homes
One of the most important goals of health care is ensuring that ill, elderly, and disabled patients receive high quality, personal, and compassionate care. Home health care is designed to meet these needs by offering personalized service in the convenience of a patient’s home.
If you’re seeking a home health aide who will become your loved one’s primary companion during the day, it’s important to discuss cultural, age and gender differences with the care recipient and the rest of your family first, so you can find the right match. Even better, King suggests a trial period of a week or so “to see how everyone feels about the caregiver and how the caregiver feels about the patient and scope of work.”
It’s definitely understandable why elderly relatives are so apprehensive about leaving their homes and moving into a new space; age brings on a great deal of uncertainties, so easing those worries will have a huge impact on their transition. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for your tips. Really promising. I’m on your side. I love to see my elders at home happy.
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This is actually a very resourceful article in regards for the elderly people. I really like your advice and I hope some elderly facility follow your tips since they will be the one who will take care of our parents when they grow old. Great article. Keep sharing!
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Nothing can be more happier than to be at your own home untill the end.. 😀
Chiropractic care can benefit many people with a great number of health conditions. Even those with few, if any, health conditions can benefit from chiropractic maintenance care.
Getting a caregiver is a great option if you want to live in your own place. That will give you peace of mind.
I think it’s a great idea to start talking about home care when you notice their daily lives change. My friend has been telling me that his grandma is starting to struggle with daily abilities. I will have to let him know to bring it up slowly.
I recently had to put my mother into a nursing home and it’s very hard because it’s not something we ever really discussed before.
My grandmother is really stubborn when it comes to her moving out of her home. So, I liked your suggestion of hiring a home health helper. That does seem like it would help her stay safe and healthy in her own home.
Oh boy, can I relate Penelope! My mom is very stubborn and actually thinks she’s on vacation instead of her nursing home!
Thanks for commenting Penelope.
Thanks for pointing out that with today’s technology it’s possible to buy virtually anything without leaving the comfort of your own home. My elderly mother has been adamant about staying in her home, but is unable to drive and has lost her sense of independence. Showing her how to shop online and have anything she wants delivered to her door would really cheer her up and give her a sense of control.
Yes, because I am disabled and don’t drive myself shopping online is my only salvation…of course, you have to be careful and not shop too much!
Great post! Thanks for sharing
My family is starting to try to figure out what type of assisted living home we want our grandmother to go to. It is good to know that we should look for some type of alarm system. That does seem like a great thing for us to know because she does have dementia and would probably try to leave the place she is staying at.
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your post is great with lots of points. I know that ole age people prefer home for care. In the hospital, they don’t feel comfortable and sometimes they take a long time for recovery. But compare to home care they recover in a short time. Many senior home care agencies offer good services. Thanks for sharing your great work.
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Thanks for sharing such a great article, we should spread such kind of words among our youngsters. Taking care of your parents is a really big thing if we do that. I really appreciate!
I want my 76-year-old grandfather to be taken care of inside the comfort of our home. I agree with your statement that seniors fear to lose their independence after moving into a nursing home. I hope I’ll be able to find a trustworthy in-home senior care service for my pops.
Of course, elders should stay with the family to let them take care of them with love. We know how the nursing facility works. They are good. But, some elders are being abused (not all), some are having depression because of living alone.
My grandfather needs to go into a nursing home this spring. It is good to know that I should look for a place that has good security. That would help prevent him from leaving. He tends to wander around when he gets confused about where he is.