Senior Care Tips: When you go to your elderly loved one’s house, what do you see?
Does it seem like your elderly loved one has their belongings on every surface of their home? Does your elderly loved one keep all old newspapers? Maybe, your elderly loved one has hundreds of books they never read. These are just a couple of things that many senior citizens hoard. However, it could be anything else, as well. Hoarding is often a sign of depression, dementia, or loneliness. Learn more about it today with these senior care tips, so you can start helping your elderly loved one.
Talk About Safety
One of the ways that you can help your elderly loved one to stop hoarding is to talk to them about safety. Many senior citizens don’t realize the dangers of having so much in their house. Some of these dangers include:
- Fire safety
- Tripping
These are the most common safety issues with hoarding. If you talk to your elderly loved one about these dangers, hopefully, they will see that having so much in their house could be a huge problem.
After having this talk, if your elderly loved one is willing to let go of some belongings, you or an elder care provider can help them sort through things.
Getting Extra Help
If it seems like your elderly loved one is hoarding, you should talk to them. They may not be purposefully keeping everything. There could be many reasons why your elderly loved one doesn’t get rid of things. Some of these things include:
- Hurting too much to pick things up
- Feeling overwhelmed with all their belongings
- Needing help doing household chores
- Needing help sorting through items to decide what to keep and what to get rid of
If these things are happening, hopefully, you or an elder care provider can help your elderly loved one. All it would take is for someone to help your elderly loved one work through each section of their house.
Regular Cleaning
Once you can help your elderly loved one get their hoarding under control, regular cleaning is important. If you or an elder care provider can help your elderly loved one clean their home at least once a week, hopefully, it won’t get that messy or cluttered anymore.
If you go to your elderly loved one’s house and clutter keeps accumulating, be sure to talk to them again before it gets too bad. Find out what is happening again and see what your elderly loved one might need help with. The senior care tips above can help you with this.
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