Encouraging an Aging Loved One to Make Healthier Choices

By 8  am on

When seniors have maintained unhealthy habits for many years, caregivers may have a difficult time convincing them to start down a healthier path. However, there are a few things families can do to encourage their aging loved ones to start making choices with their health in mind. 

Start with Education

Many seniors make unhealthy lifestyle choices because some of the research findings available today didn’t exist when they were younger. Your loved one might still believe certain foods or daily habits are completely healthy even if science has recently proven otherwise. Depending on how receptive your loved one is to the idea, you can begin by watching documentaries on healthy eating practices together, subscribing him or her to lifestyle magazines, and starting up casual conversations about unhealthy habits.

Seniors who want to remain healthy as they age can benefit in a variety of ways when they receive professional at-home care. Ambience In-Home Care is here to help your loved one accomplish daily tasks, prevent illness, and focus on living a healthier and more fulfilling life.

Don’t Be an Enabler

We all want the time spent with our loved ones to be special, but it’s important to start reducing the amount of unhealthy foods and drinks available at family gatherings. Instead of bringing over processed snacks and sugar-laden desserts, you can start making minor changes in the foods you share with your loved one. Even though it might take some experimentation, you’re likely to find healthy foods your loved one enjoys just as much as the unhealthy alternatives.

Focus on the Positives

Seniors don’t want to hear every decision they make throughout the day negatively impacts their health. As an alternative, try to focus on the healthy habits your loved one is maintaining and what they’re doing to enhance his or her quality of life. You can also talk about the effects clean eating and exercise are having in your own life. 

While making healthy lifestyle changes is good for all seniors, some may already live with health conditions that require an extra level of support. If you’re the primary family caregiver for a senior loved one living in Richardson, live-in care is available if your loved one’s health has become too difficult to manage without professional expertise. At Ambience In-Home Care, we take measures to help seniors prevent illness and injury by assisting with exercise and mobility, preparing nutritious meals, helping with bathing and other personal hygiene tasks, and much more.

Suggest Small Lifestyle Changes at First

Major lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight, but you can focus on encouraging smaller steps to eventually lead your loved one in the right direction. Cutting out soda consumption or another unhealthy habit once a month is much more practical than eradicating all processed sugar from the diet at once. Some of the other small steps your loved one can take include normalizing his or her sleep schedule, walking for 20 or 30 minutes a day, increasing water intake, and reducing the amount of caffeine consumed every day. 

A trained professional caregiver can be a wonderful resource when you’re trying to help your loved one lead a healthier lifestyle. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of homecare services. Richardson families can rely on Ambience In-Home Care to provide individualized care plans to meet their elderly loved ones’ unique care needs. Our caregivers help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and we offer mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. To learn about our quality-assured services, give us a call at (469) 535-6825 today. 

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