tag: Living Alone

What Are The Physical Risks Your Senior Faces Living Alone?

It is understandably difficult to start the discussion about the “hazards” of your older parent living alone and isolated not to mention the Herculean persuasion skills needed to convince your aging mom or dad to move into a safer environment. With 37.3% of older women and 19.1% of older men living alone in the United States currently, this often difficult but necessary conversation of the welfare of your loved one is common place. We at Senior Home Advocates understand this conversation, we specialize in reviewing the facilities in the Southern California area and we help many families start and successfully conclude these heartfelt and needed moments. The conversation you have with your family members about what to do with your loved one now that they are living alone, with the underlying question being can they really take care of themselves?

This blog will explain why it is important to consider moving them to an assisted living or residential care facility so they receive the care and attention they need, especially if they are resistant to the idea. By encouraging them to move to a safe and caring environment, you can often prevent the following physical risks your senior faces living alone from occurring:

Falling:

With age, seniors find it progressively more difficult to be physically fit and active.  Unfortunately they can find themselves facing a greater risk of falling by locking themselves in their homes and bathrooms, and then becoming progressively more disorientated, with no help or way out of the situation. Although there are many alert system options, these services still take time to reach your senior, and especially in the case of a fall, time can become increasingly valuable. It’s important to keep in mind, often when a fall occurs, the victim (your loved one) becomes too confused or hurt to actually use the device intended for the actual situation.

Running Errands alone:

Seniors can find it hard to run errands to supply their basic needs such as buying groceries, going to the bank, or even going to a routine doctor’s visit. These tasks become increasingly difficult when driving is involved. With the knowledge  of visual impairment and declining mental capacity that naturally occurs with the aging process, it is important to understand the risks and issues associated with driving. Often seniors experience many painful symptoms when it comes to driving such as dizziness, headaches or joint pain which can lead to dangerous situations such as accidents or even extremely costly litigation if they are driving more frequently and minor accidents happen.  Compounded with this is the normal human element of embarrassment, we all can relate to the minor accident, but as one ages there is an added feeling of responsibility by the senior and painful denial

Poor nutrition:

Seniors many times can lose their appetite from the medication they are taking or just from the loneliness they may experience after a beloved spouse passes away –  so it is important to be observant of their eating patterns and the amount of food your loved one has at home. A quick check of the contents of the refrigerator is really important and this is an easy tip to a bigger problem.  In time, a lack of proper healthy nutritious diet increases the chances of developing more serious illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and often debilitating diabetes.

Personal Hygiene:

In time, living alone can cause an elderly person’s hygiene to decline. This may be because they develop a fear of falling in the shower or bath and therefore they choose to stop showering completely or because the task of doing laundry becomes too physically challenging for them. Sadly, many seniors living alone lose the drive to attend to their hygiene because without the natural “peer to peer” validation the motivation to look your best is just simply put aside.

It is important to weigh out the independence your elderly parent strives for with the unnecessary harm they are subject to living at home alone. Although you may have made a promise to never put your mom or dad into a nursing home, you have to keep their best interest in mind. If the best possible care is your priority, Senior Home Advocates is here to help.

What Are The Financial Risks The Elderly Face When Living Alone?

It can be easy to overlook the financial risks the elderly face when living alone, especially when considering the more obvious emotional and physical risks. Don’t forget, the financial risks can be just as serious and shouldn’t be ignored. As their mental and physical abilities decline with age, seniors can become easy targets for financial scams and fraud. They can also lose the ability to responsibly manage their finances.

Fraud can take place over the phone, through mail, or face-to-face. Some common scams to watch out for involve prizes and sweepstakes, investments, charity contributions, health and life insurance, home repairs and travel packages. Some offenders will use their charisma or false concern for the senior’s well-being to gain trust.  Others may rely on the trusted bond of a financial planner or annuity agent to gain the trust of the elderly, and then they make false representations regarding the senior’s finances and retirement funds. If your loved one mentions winning a prize or any other one of these common scam opportunities, be aware and look into it immediately.

Even if your loved one does not fall victim to a financial scam, they may still need additional assistance if they cannot manage their financial affairs responsibly. These are several red flags you can look for which may mean that your elderly loved one is mishandling their finances.

• Unopened mail is piling up in their house: If you are noticing large piles of unsorted and unopened mail that appear to be bills and statements from mortgage and credit card companies, it could be a warning sign that your senior is physically or mentally incapable of accomplishing the monthly task of paying bills.
• They are forgetful about cash: Have you noticed your loved one forgetting how much cash they have and when they go to pay for something they realize they don’t have enough money? You may also find stacks of undeposited checks lying around their house. This could be a sign that they cannot physically make the trips to the bank or ATM to deposit checks and take out cash, or that they cannot mentally keep track of their day to day expenses.
•  Creditors are calling repeatedly: You can check the phone logs to see if creditors have been making repeated phone calls to your loved one. These calls may be from credit card companies or from household help, and can be a sign that your senior is not paying their bills in a timely fashion.
• They are making expensive new purchases: While your loved one has the right to splurge occasionally, you should pay attention if they continue to make numerous expensive purchases. This excessive spending can be a sign of impaired judgment or memory loss, which can be an early sign of dementia.
• They are complaining about not having enough money: If your loved one is constantly bringing up the high cost of living expenses, it may be a sign that they are having difficulty managing their finances on their own. You may observe subtle hints that money is tight, such as declining invitations to go to eat or skipping home repairs.
• They are physically unable to complete daily financial tasks: Remember that daily tasks that were once simple can become unmanageable for the elderly if their physical state is deteriorating. Vision and mobility challenges can make it difficult for them to go to the bank on a regular basis, while arthritis can make writing checks and addressing envelopes challenging.

To learn about other signs that may indicate your senior needs more assistance, you can download our free eBook.