Senior Health: Helping Seniors Deal With Grief

Senior Health: For many seniors unfortunately grief is a part of getting older.

As seniors age, they will likely start to lose friends, siblings, or even their spouses. Grief is tough for anyone to deal with at any age but it can be especially difficult for seniors who are dealing with the fear of their own mortality as well as the grief of losing a loved one. October is Emotional Wellness Month and so it’s the perfect time to learn more about senior health with grief and how you can support your senior loved one during a time of grief.

 

Senior Health: Grief

Senior Health: Grief

 

According to psychologists and other experts when your senior loved one goes through a major loss, like losing a spouse, the best things you can do to support them are:

Don’t Try To Fix The Problem

When someone you love is having a hard time your instinct can be to try and fix the problem or take away whatever is hurting. But when the thing that’s hurting your senior parent is losing a spouse or a sibling or someone else they were very close to you can’t fix that. What you can do is just be there for them and let them know that you are there for support.

 

Get Them Some Help Around The House

When seniors are grieving they might find it even more difficult than usual to handle household chores and errands like shopping. This is especially true if the person they lost was a spouse who was the one who did most of the household chores or most of the shopping. Home care assistance providers can be a big help to seniors while they are working through their grief. Home care assistance providers can also make sure that your senior loved one is eating regularly and taking all of their medications when they should be.

 

Let Them Talk

Sometimes seniors won’t want to talk about the person they lost because it’s too painful. But if your senior loved one wants to talk about their spouse or sibling that they lost listen to them talk. Share your own memories and stories and let your senior parent know that you would enjoy hearing all about that person. Talking about the good times they shared with that person and how much they loved them can be very healing. It might help you deal with the loss also.

Senior Health: Keep An Eye On Them

There’s no time clock for grieving. Some people can work through the stages of grief and be ready to move on fairly quickly while it takes other people a long time. If you notice that your senior loved one isn’t progressing on their grief journey and is displaying symptoms of depression schedule a doctor’s appointment for them and try to get them some professional help. Sometimes seniors may need medication or professional grief counseling in order to be able to process their loss and their grief. If left untreated grief can become depression and that can cause serious senior health problems for seniors.

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring  Elderly Care in Yuba City, CA, talk to the caring staff at Partners in Care today. Serving El Dorado, Nevada, Yuba, Sutter, Sacramento, Placer, Butte, Glenn, Yolo, & Colusa Counties!  Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! (530) 268-7423

 

Source:

https://familydoctor.org/helping-older-adults-deal-with-life-changing-events/

Shaun Clinkinbeard
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