When caring for an elderly adult, you need to be sure they aren’t living a sedentary lifestyle. If they aren’t being physically active on a regular basis, this could increase their risk of developing health issues and could cause depression, as well. The good news is that there are many exercise tips for elderly adults. Share these tips with your loved one’s home care providers, so they can help to encourage your elderly loved one to be more active, too.
No Excuses
Do you find that your elderly loved one makes excuses for why they aren’t exercising? Maybe they blame it on the pain they are experiencing. If this is the case, work with them on not making excuses. For instance, if the pain is the reason they say they can’t exercise, show them research that proves light exercise will actually help to reduce pain.
Set Up Some Goals
Another thing that could help your elderly loved one to exercise more often is to help them set up some goals. For instance, do they want to lose 10 lbs? If so, help them create an exercise plan that will help them to lose a ½ lb to 1 lb a week. Do they want to have more energy? Help them create an exercise plan that involves energy-boosting activities. With some defined goals, your elderly loved one may be more motivated to exercise.
Doctor Appointment
It may seem out there but many elderly adults won’t listen to their loved ones about the need to exercise. However, they will take any advice their doctor gives them. If this seems like the case for your elderly loved one, you or their home care provider can take them to the doctor. Let the doctor know ahead of time that you are wanting them to encourage your loved one to exercise. Most likely, the doctor will tell your elderly loved one what types of exercises they want them to be doing.
Start Small
Your elderly loved one may be discouraged because it seems like too much for them to exercise. However, if you help them to start small, this shouldn’t be as much of a problem. For instance, in the exercise plan that you help them to create, for the 1st week only add 2 days of exercise (20 minutes at a time). This may seem more manageable for them, especially when just starting out exercising. In time, you can slowly increase the days per week and the time they need to exercise.
These are some of the exercise tips that can help your elderly loved one to start exercising regularly. Remember, start slow and help them create a plan. These 2 things may motivate your elderly loved one to do the exercises needed to maintain and even improve their health.
If you or someone you know needs hiring Home Care in Mankato, MN, contact Adara Home Health Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services for many fragile or senior members in the communities we serve.
Call us at (888) 660-5772 for more information.
Sources
Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Unh.edu