How Seniors Can Share Their Amazing Stories to Loved Ones
Everyone has a story to tell. You do. Your elderly mother or father does, too. Just because a person may have reached the latter part of their life, retired many years ago, and are dealing with a growing conglomeration of health-related challenges and physical limitations … that doesn’t mean their story is done yet. The right elder care support, strategically placed, can help them continue writing an amazing story well into their 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, or beyond.
Assisted living is one of those elder care options to consider that helps growing numbers of aging men and women discover that life doesn’t end just because they’re having health issues, struggling to get out of bed some mornings, or are saying goodbye to too many friends.
March 20 is World Storytelling Day.
While most people are not going to be able to write down their stories, this is a wonderful reminder that we each have something to show, tell, or explain to the people that matter to us, often our adult children, grandchildren, and perhaps great-grandchildren.
While many grandchildren and certainly great-grandchildren often don’t take the time to listen to the stories their grandparents tell them and pass on to them, that doesn’t mean they’re not important. They haven’t matured to the point of realizing how valuable those stories happen to be, especially to their pedigree, their family history.
This is not really about writing a story, though. This is about finding optimal support for a senior who may be struggling with activities of daily living, things that many of us often take for granted.
When we struggle with those activities of everyday life, we tend to spend most of our time, effort and energy worrying about things we never had to think twice about in the past.
Getting out of bed, for example, could suddenly be a daunting task. Taking a shower can be a monumental risk. Just stepping up and over the tub and firmly planting your feet on a wet surface can be stressful for somebody whose legs are not as strong as they used to be.
So, how can elder care at an assisted living facility help seniors write a new story?
When seniors are surrounded by experienced, dedicated staff members who know exactly how to help them best, encourage them to get out and explore, make new friends, participate in activities, learn new skills, and so forth, it’s like having a new lease on life.
Seniors who select assisted living as their elder care option moving forward often report a higher quality of life, much higher satisfaction, less loneliness, fewer feelings of isolation and depression, fear, and anxiety.
When you can eliminate the negative and focus more exclusively on the positive, even as your body is falling apart or health issues are increasing, that’s a wonderful story to pass on.
Suddenly, seniors who once lived alone and longed for each day to end just because they were hoping somebody would visit the next day, they’re out there exploring, reconnecting, being social, and showing the rest of us what an amazing story they have yet to write.