What Caregivers Need to Know About Aging

Caretaking affects all of us.

Many caregivers feel unprepared, to take on the demands of caring for an elderly loved one. Aging is a emotionally filled subject, and many people are hesitant to discuss all of the ramifications. The bottom line is that if you become the caretaker for an elderly loved one, you will need to understand the aging process, and how it eventually affects all of us. This way you can try to meet the needs of the senior in your life, with both compassion and understanding. Here is what caregivers need to know about aging.



In today's world, with the advance of medicine, seniors are kept artificially young for longer. While it is good to be healthy at any age, it has created another problem: people don't know how to deal with aging anymore. Understanding the aging process, allows caregivers to give compassion, understanding and give them the ability to meet the senior’s needs.

One of the most crucial things to understand is that people tend to lose a bit of the senses as they get older. If this happens-

• They will lose slightly the sense of taste. They may also eat less and lose appetite, probably losing weight as well. If this becomes a big problem there are certain supplements that can be given to affect better health. These supplements come in the form of powders, juices, shakes and puddings, to make eating them, (or putting them in other food) easy. In addition this does not overwhelm a senior who is struggling to eat, with a giant plate of food. 

• They will also notice a decrease in the audition, some will need a hearing aid to be able to listen properly. Today there are a wide variety of high quality hearing aids (digital) without the high price, of going to a hearing specialist and having to pay several thousand dollars. Caregiverpartnership.com offers them at http://www.caregiverpartnership.com/lp-nexear.aspx.

• They may lose mobility and have to have aids, to be able to move about safely. These aids come in a variety of forms from simple canes, to walkers with wheels. To see the entire selection you can click on http://www.caregiverpartnership.com/lp-stander.aspx. The helpful staff at Caregiverpartnership.com can help you determine which mobility aids are right for your senior.

Another major concern for caregivers is the incidence of elderly depression. Studies have shown that those seniors who are actively engaged mentally, suffer much less from depression. There are some activities that caregivers can use, to in order to help the elderly develop this mental engagement.
Some of these are-

• Reading for them or with them

• Talking to them about their past, about the good memories, and turning points of their lives. It can also be through this that a personal history or scrapbook is developed, to chronicle the senior’s life.

• Encouraging a hobby, such as gardening activities, painting, knitting or other handiwork, where possible.

• Finding opportunities for the senior to be able to contribute to the community. Volunteering or other community work can fill this need.

It should be noted that as a caregiver, if you notice signs of depression, it should never be overlooked. Depression at any age is serious, and should be evaluated by a physician, for diagnosis and treatment.

Being a caregiver for an elderly loved one, can be difficult and overwhelming. However, there are resources to help. Caregiverpartnerhip.com has created the world’s largest caregiver resource library. When you click onto http://www.caregiverpartnership.com/ResourceCategories.aspx you will access to over 500 resources, for caregivers. The entire library is easily searchable by simply by using a key word or phrase.

 About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wisc. Visit http://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353.