.svg){kind=small}
Help your loved ones stay connected this summer
.png)
Summer is a great time to reconnect with your parents. Maybe you've been busy with work, the kids, and other commitments, or you haven't been on the same page lately. Whatever the reason, now is a great time to make plans for a bit of time together.
If one of your parents is less enthusiastic about meeting up and seeing anyone, don't take it personally. Although it's simple to brush off their declines as unimportant, they might indicate isolation, which poses a severe health danger. According to recent data from the National Council on Aging, approximately 6.7 million seniors aged 65 or over 17% of the population live in social, geographic, or both types of isolation.
Could it be hearing loss?
Untreated hearing loss, which can keep us from interacting with others, is one of the many elements that can increase someone's risk of isolating themselves.
One of the most crucial things you can do to ensure your loved one stays connected to the outside world is to encourage them to start using hearing aids to treat their hearing loss. Continue reading to learn how to spot the symptoms of isolation and what you can do to avoid them.
What is isolation, exactly?
One study found that the health effects of prolonged isolation are comparable to those of smoking 15 cigarettes per day. What, though, is isolation? Even though it may be instinctive to associate isolation with loneliness, there is more to it.
Subjective isolation, another name for loneliness, refers to how people interpret their experiences and whether or not they feel alone.
The degree of one's social network (and how frequently one interacts with it), the accessibility of transportation, and one's ability to access resources and information are all examples of detailed data that can be used to measure one's objective isolation. It can have severe effects on a person's health and is brought on by a person's physical or psychological detachment from others and a lack of support from family, friends, and the community.
Observing the symptoms
A single occurrence rarely brings on seniors' isolation. Instead, it typically happens due to several causes, such as poor physical and mental health, poorly planned communities, and significant life transitions like the death of a loved one or retirement. Other elements, including untreated hearing or vision loss, trouble walking, accidents and falls, and living alone, also play a significant part.
The first to notice the symptoms of isolation are frequently friends and family members, albeit they may not take them seriously. The following are some typical isolation warning indicators to look out for:
- An isolated older adult may say things such as, "I don't talk to many people," or "It's too hard to get anywhere these days,"
- They could start to neglect their hygiene.
- There may be apparent home damage, clutter, and hoarding.
- They could frequently feel excluded and refrain from socializing because "It's too noisy and everyone mumbles when they talk."
How to assist your loved one in staying connected
Older people may be at risk from several aging-related issues, including physical disease, loss of a loved one, and lack of mobility. Still, isolation does not have to be a given. The most effective way to treat this illness is to maintain relationships with family, friends, and the community. Here are some suggestions to support your elderly loved one in maintaining relationships with friends, family, and neighbors.
Do activities with your loved ones rather than for them. While running errands and grocery shopping with an older adult may take more time, they will likely appreciate the opportunity to leave the house and be active.
Help them sign up for new community activities. Senior centers, community centers, libraries, YMCAs, and others offer a wide range of activities for older individuals. To support a passion or cause that is meaningful to them, encourage them to volunteer. By providing them a sense of purpose and importance, helping others can revitalize an older adult.
Encourage them to take a hearing test. It's not easy to convince someone to treat their hearing loss, but hearing treatment can do wonders for your loved one in improving their understanding in challenging environments. Take them in for a hearing test and make sure they discuss potential remedies for their hearing loss with a medical expert.
We offer thorough hearing tests, hearing aid fittings and other Audiology services at Greentree Audiology. For a hearing test for your loved one, get in touch with us immediately.
Further reading:
.jpg)
