What Solutions Might Work to Help Your Senior Become Less Isolated?
Self-isolation is a tremendous problem for aging adults. Once you narrow down the reason for your elderly family member’s isolation issues, you can start to work solutions into her daily life. This might require you to be patient, especially if your elderly family member is happy keeping more to herself.
Deal with Health and Mobility Issues
If your elderly family member is isolating herself because she’s having trouble with mobility or with her health, it’s important to make sure that you’ve got a handle on those issues. Take your senior to her doctor, especially if she hasn’t been in a while, and see what you’re up against in terms of her current health. From there you can make accommodations based on what she needs and where she is at this point.
Find Ways to Increase Her Social Interaction
Improving your elderly family member’s social interactions can be just what she needs. This might simply require talking with other family members and mentioning that it would be nice for them to stop by now and again. Friends and neighbors also might not realize that your senior might be open to having guests stop by.
Offer Transportation Help
Trouble driving can keep your elderly family member grounded. This might not be something that your senior has mentioned to you, either, but she might simply start to avoid going anywhere unless someone else is doing the driving. Providing transportation for her, either personally or by hiring home care providers, can remove that obstacle for her so that she doesn’t have to worry about it.
Look for Activities Your Senior Might Enjoy
As your aging family member gets older, she might start to feel as if there is less and less that she can do. There is actually quite a lot that she might find interesting and she can meet new people. Libraries often have groups, events, and classes that are designed for aging adults to enjoy. Senior agencies also offer courses and group events that help bring your elderly family member out of her shell. Do some research about what is available in your area and see what your elderly family member finds intriguing.
Your senior might need or want a mix of these types of solutions in order to help her to feel better about getting out more often. At different points, she may need a slightly different combination in order to help her the most. Remember to reevaluate often to make sure what you’re trying is still working.