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Caring for the Elderly

  • 2024-09-30
  • Reading time: 10 min.
Caring for elderly people at home

Table of Contents

Caring for the Elderly

Millions of Americans donate their time and talents to look after aging loved ones each year.1 While caring for elderly parents, grandparents, or friends is a labor of love, being an informal caregiver presents numerous daily challenges. From navigating the physical demands of caregiving to overcoming time constraints, informal caregivers must find ways to juggle their caring for elderly duties while managing a household, family, and job.

Are you currently in this situation? Read on to explore essential caring for elderly at home tips every informal caregiver should know.

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Caring for the Elderly at home

Caring for Elderly Loved Ones Presents these Challenges

Whether the care takes place in their or their loved one’s home, these are some of the more common obstacles informal caregivers face while assisting elderly loved ones:

Navigating the Home Environment
As individuals age, they may experience mobility issues or other health concerns that make it difficult to safely and comfortably navigate their homes.2 These factors can be challenging for caregivers to ensure their elderly loved ones can safely access essential areas, including the bathroom or kitchen. Caregivers may need to modify the home to create a more senior-friendly environment, ensuring their loved ones can move around safely and independently.

Time Management
Another challenge informal caregivers often face is time constraints. Balancing caregiving responsibilities with work, family, and other commitments can be overwhelming, leading to caregiver stress and burnout.3 Caregivers may struggle to find time for themselves, maintain their health and well-being, and fulfill many other obligations while providing on-demand, around-the-clock care for elderly loved ones.

This juggling act can take a toll on caregivers’ physical and emotional health, making it essential to find ways to manage time effectively and seek support when needed.

Emotional Toll
In addition to the physical demands, the emotional toll of watching an elderly parent, friend, or spouse decline in health and independence can be overwhelming, leading to feelings of grief, guilt, anxiety, and frustration.4 As a result, informal caregivers must prioritize self-care and seek support from family, friends, and professionals to help them navigate these emotional challenges and provide the best care for elderly loved ones.

Financial Impact
Furthermore, many informal caregivers face financial constraints while caring for elderly loved ones.5 Paying for medications, supplies, groceries, home modifications, and other caregiving-related expenses can quickly add up, straining a caregiver’s finances. Some informal caregivers must rely on paid professionals to assist elderly loved ones, an additional expense that can push already strained budgets to the breaking point.

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Caring for Elderly at Home Essentials: Tips and Strategies for Informal Caregivers

Thankfully, there are several steps informal caregivers can take to make caring for elderly loved ones safer and more efficient. Here’s how to help your aging loved one manage their daily routine while freeing up more time for yourself:   

  • Modify the Home: Simple home modifications, such as installing handrails, grab bars, and non-slip flooring, can help prevent falls and other accidents.6 Widening doorways and incorporating senior-friendly appliances and other features can help elderly loved ones manage their daily routines.
  • Use Mobility Aides: Assistive devices, such as walkers, wheelchairs, and shower chairs, can help elderly loved ones move around and perform daily living tasks independently.
  • Ask for Help: Sharing the caregiving workload with other family members or hiring outside help can provide caregivers with much-needed respite and support.

Practice Self-Care: Additionally, setting a schedule, prioritizing tasks, and practicing self-care can help caregivers manage their time more effectively and prevent burnout.

Unsure about the best caregiving strategies? Our experts are here to help you navigate the challenges.

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Introducing the Revolutionary VELA Chair: Help for Elderly at Home Reimagined

When used as an in-home elder care assistant, the innovative VELA Chairs can help informal caregivers streamline tasks and daily routines when caring for elderly loved ones. Elderly users can often complete many tasks with minimal or no assistance, allowing tired loved ones to take a well-deserved break.

Key features and benefits of the revolutionary VELA Chairs include:

Streamlined Mobility

With its four smooth-running wheels and swivel base, the VELA Chair can be easily pushed or walked around the home while seated, relieving stress off tired muscles and joints. Unlike a traditional wheelchair, a VELA Chair’s sleek, modern profile allows it to navigate through tight spaces or around bulky furniture easily. Seniors with mobility impairments and other physical limitations can enjoy freedom of movement without worrying about falling, bumping into furniture, or depleting already low energy levels.

Reach Surfaces High and Low

A VELA Chair is equipped with an electric lift, empowering a user to adjust the seat height at the touch of a button. This feature allows for ease of use and comfort while performing numerous daily tasks and activities, such as cooking, cleaning, or doing laundry. Once the wheels are locked securely in place, elderly users can reach surfaces high and low or transfer from one surface to another safely and confidently.

Sit-to-Stand Assistance

For reasons that include diminished muscle strength and postural hypotension, standing up can be a nerve-wracking experience for elderly adults and their caregivers. Once they set the handbrake, a VELA Chair’s sturdy base and armrests empower users to stand up or sit down by themselves with minimal effort or a fear of falling. 

Enhanced Comfort and Support

As an essential aid for elders with physical limitations, a VELA Chair is ergonomically designed to promote proper posture and enhanced circulation, making it ideal for those with chronic pain, breathing issues, or diminished muscle strength. Meticulously crafted from breathable material to wick moisture away, the chair’s padded seat, backrest, and armrests comfortably support the body in all the right places.

Senior-Friendly Design

A VELA Chair is uniquely engineered to prioritize stability and safety, with features that include a well-constructed frame and secure foot and armrests. Once the handbrake is engaged, the chair becomes a sturdy base that empowers elderly users to safely perform a wide variety of tasks around the home, whether changing clothes, toileting, dining with friends, or loading the dishwasher.

A Cost-Effective Elder Care Assistant

Durably constructed out of high-quality materials, a VELA Chair is built to last for many years. The chair’s solid frame and moisture-wicking upholstery can withstand the rigors of daily use in various residential settings, making it a budget-friendly eldercare alternative for seniors and informal caregivers.

Once in their home, a VELA Chair allows elderly loved ones to manage their routines day or night at a fraction of the cost of professional home care—making it a highly affordable long-term eldercare solution. The chair’s sturdy construction and stability offer users a safe and secure seating option, giving caregivers peace of mind knowing their loved ones are well-supported even when not there!

Ready to Make Caregiving Easier? Discover How the VELA Chair Can Help!

caring for elderly at home

VELA Independence Chair: The Ultimate Caring for Elderly at Home Aid

Are age-related challenges slowing you down around the home? As this article has pointed out, the revolutionary VELA Chair can help you regain self-reliance by streamlining your daily routine. Visit our product page here to order your life-changing VELA Independence Chair today!

Transform Your Daily Routine with the VELA Chair

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Sources

1 New AARP Report Finds Family Caregivers Provide $600 Billion in Unpaid Care Across the U.S

2 The Top 10 Most Common Chronic Conditions in Older Adults

3 Recognizing Caregiver Burnout

4 The Emotional Side of Caregiving

5 The $600 Billion Dilemma: How to Help Family Caregivers

6 The Most Common In-Home Injuries for Seniors and How to Prevent Them