3 Ways to Help Older Adults and Make Their Lives Easier

As we grow older, we all need a bit more help with our everyday tasks. Mobility issues may prevent us from getting around our homes as well as we used to, and changes in our vision or hearing may keep us from driving a vehicle and running errands on our own. And while many of us would prefer to remain independent as we grow older, there often comes a time when we need to ask our friends and relatives for help if we’d like to continue living on our own.

If you have a parent, sibling, friend, or relative who could use some help while aging in place, this article offers three suggestions for helping your senior loved one. Learn how to help your loved one out at home, make his or her living space a safer place to live, and assist senior citizens everywhere by starting your own senior-friendly business. Here are some tips from Quality Team Homecare to get you started!

1. Help Them Out at Home

From cooking meals and cleaning the house to mowing the lawn and making home repairs, living independently is hard work. And as we grow older, these types of tasks can become even more challenging — especially if our physical, mental, or cognitive health is declining. These changes in health may make it difficult or even impossible to cook, clean, bathe, dress, or get around safely.

To help a senior loved one with these types of tasks, you might consider creating a care calendar where friends and family can sign up to assist with things such as meals, yard work, housework, or errands. Alternatively, you could hire a housekeeping service for your senior loved one; pay for home-delivered meals and groceries; or bring in a professional home care provider to help your loved one with bathing, errands, socialization, and medication management.

2. Modify Their Living Environments

Even if you bring in some help for your senior relative or friend, it’s important to modify your loved one’s home to ensure he or she will be able to live there safely and independently. Many of these home modifications for seniors can be made without professional help, such as upgrading the lighting throughout your loved one’s home, installing grab bars near toilets and showers, and replacing door handles and faucets with senior-friendly hardware.

If you need help paying for your loved one’s home modifications, you could look into grants and loans that can be used for everything from widening hallways and doors to installing chairlifts and accessible showers. One option includes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Older Adult Homes Modification Program (OAHMP)

3. Start a Senior-Friendly Business

To help the senior population as a whole, you might also consider starting a senior-friendly business. Several senior-friendly business ideas include:

● Home health care

● Senior companion services

● Dog walking and grooming

● Lawn care and gardening

● Home painting services

● Errand running and transportation

● Senior tech support

Working with seniors can be very rewarding, but there are a few things you should know in order to successfully launch your business. For one, you’ll want to consider forming a limited liability company (LLC) to protect yourself from financial responsibility in the event of a lawsuit. LLCs have tax advantages as well, and they’re usually simple to launch when you use an online formation service. Learn more about how to start an LLC in California.

Help the Seniors in Your Life

Your senior loved ones may be too embarrassed or proud to ask for help from their friends and relatives, but this doesn’t mean they don’t need assistance with things such as cooking, cleaning, and yard work. So instead of waiting for your loved one to ask for help, why not pitch in by hiring a housekeeper or making a few senior-friendly home modifications? You could even start an LLC and launch a senior-friendly business to help the senior population as a whole. There are so many ways to help a senior parent, sibling, or friend, and these ideas are just the start!

If you’re looking to buy or rent medical equipment from home oxygen therapy to power wheelchairs, Quality Team Homecare can help! Call ​661.327.5500​​.