There will likely come a time in everyone’s lives when they can’t take care of themselves anymore. While this line can be hard for people to recognize for themselves, friends and family members can often see the signs coming well before caregiving changes are required.
To help you know if there is cause for concern regarding the living situation for someone you love, here are three indicators that your parents or other eldelry loved ones can’t take care of themselves anymore.
Deterioration Of Physical Property
The first signs that you may want to look for won’t really have anything to do with your parents at all, at least with them personally.
Often, many elderly people will first have a hard time taking care of their physical property before they show signs of having a hard time taking care of themselves. Knowing this, you should be on the lookout for deterioration of things like their car, especially if it has dings or dents that it didn’t have before. You can also take a look around their house to see if they’re able to keep things clean like they once could, if they are able to take care of their yard or houseplants, and if it looks like they are able to cook for themselves. If you notice anything amiss with any of these pieces of physical property, it could be a sign that things aren’t going well.
Deterioration Of Their Mental and Physical Health
Something that might be more shocking and obvious to you is if your parent’s mental and physical health starts to deteriorate as they continue to live at home on their own. If this starts to happen, you might need to seriously think about moving them into an assisted living facility or something like this.
As part of their physical health, take notice if your parents seem to have trouble with their personal hygiene. If you see that they aren’t bathing regularly or are always wearing dirty clothes, this could mean that they can longer see to these things on their own. And if you find that your parents are often forgetful or don’t understand what’s going on around them, it’s likely that their mental health is being affected.
Deterioration Of Relationships
When older people start to have a hard time taking care of themselves, they will often become more reclusive with their friends or loved ones as a way to not show them what’s really going on. So if you or others close to your parents have noticed that they don’t go out anymore and don’t communicate with others as much as they used to, it could be helpful to look further into why this is happening.
If you see any of the above-mentioned things taking place with your parents, consider how you might need to help them take care of themselves.
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