While it’s important for people to stay active throughout their entire lives in order to keep their body healthy and fit, as you reach a certain age, it’s time to start slowing down a bit rather than trying to maintain your same energy and activity levels that you did when you were younger. Especially for senior citizens, if they don’t slow down, they can risk putting their health in danger.
So if you have an elderly loved one that you think needs to stop doing quite so much, here are three ways to encourage them to slow down as they age.
Talk To The Experts
Different people are going to need to slow down at different ages. But if you’ve noticed that your elderly loved one is doing more than their body can really handle now, you might need to bring in reinforcements to help them see how some of their habits need to change.
Some of the best people to conduct these types of conversations with your elderly loved ones are their medical doctors. They will know their medical history and what their bodies can and can’t handle at their age and wellness levels. Additionally, if your loved one is in an assisted living facility, having the staff members speak to them about slowing down can also be helpful.
Encourage Them To Focus On Light Activities
One reason why your elderly loved one might have a hard time slowing down is because they still recognize that certain things need to get done and they’re the best ones to do those things. So if this is the case, you’re going to need to find ways to lighten some of their responsibilities so that they can focus more on lighter activities.
Light activities typically include things that they can do at home to take care of their basic needs. These things shouldn’t put too much stress on them physically or mentally.
Help Them Prioritize Rest
If you’ve noticed that your elderly loved ones simply can’t physically sustain themselves doing their normal amount of work during the day anymore, you can help them slow down by showing them how to best prioritize rest.
Taking a break between tasks, eliminating guilt around napping or not actively accomplishing something, and allowing themselves just to rest are great ways that you can help your elderly loved one prioritize rest and learn that taking a break and doing less during the day is actually good for them.
If you know that your elderly loved one needs to slow down in order to keep themselves safe and healthy, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you uncover how you can get this point across to them.
