Can Your Elderly Parent Still Live Independently?

Can Your Elderly Parent Still Live Independently?

There comes a point in the life of every adult when they start having to worry about their parent just as much as their parent worried about them when they were younger. When this change occurs can differ from person to person, but it usually begins a little after you start to build your own family or when you reach a comfortable point in your life. For instance, you might find that once you reach forty, your parent starts to have more frequent trips to the doctors or even hospital. This is a clear sign that they do need more support and may not be able to live independently anymore. Let’s look at some of the other possible signs that you should watch out for.

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Issues With Dementia

Dementia becomes frighteningly common as we age. It’s quite possible that you start to see signs of dementia as early as forty. This is called early-onset dementia and it’s far rarer. Actual cases of dementia start to become common after sixty-five and you do need to watch out for this.

If you are concerned about dementia, Care For Family’s In-Home Care Services has a checklist you can download with a list of symptoms to watch out for. Dementia moves fast, and by recognising the signs, you can make sure that your parent gets the treatment they need to slow down the progression of the disease.

Early signs include zoning out of conversations and living in the past. This simply means that elderly parents remember long-term memories far more clearly than say, what happened yesterday. You can learn more about the early signs on https://www.healthline.com/health/dementia/early-warning-signs.

Furthermore, you will also need to make sure that you are looking for signs that they are forgetting names, places, and dates. The disease will progress quite quickly once it reaches this point without treatment.

Loss Of Motor Function

Another issue that you must keep a check for is a loss of motor function. This could be anything including issues with motor control. For instance, you might see them making movements that they have no control over. A common sign of a motor neuron disease is the finger moving freely by itself on one hand. It’s a small sign but one that should definitely be checked out by a doctor. If issues with mobility and motor control continue to develop, your parent will eventually need nursing support. You can read more about this option on sites such as https://www.riddlevillage.com/how-we-care/skilled-nursing/. Here you’ll discover exactly the type of treatment your elderly parent can receive from a full trained staff and why they might need it.

No Recovery

Finally, you need to watch out for signs that your elderly parent isn’t recovering after suffering from an injury. This does become a serious issue as we age because our bodies heal a lot slower. In some cases, time in the hospital can cause elderly parents to deteriorate faster than before simply because they are in environments that are emotionally stressful for them. As such, you do need to be aware of this problem and work hard to provide the full support they need.

We hope you find this advice useful when determining whether your elderly parent can no longer live independently without help from you or others.

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