What You Need to Know to Protect the Senior in Your Life

Getting older isn’t easy and for many seniors, transitioning into the retirement years proves to be more difficult than they realized. Dealing with declining health and wondering what your purpose is in life after retirement can be daunting. That’s why it’s up to you to help make sure the senior in your life is both protected in case of emergency and is prepared for a new way of life after retirement. Here’s what you need to know to protect the seniors in your life to ensure they live out the rest of their days happily and healthily.

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1. Help Them Stay Active

Staying active is one of the best things seniors can do to ensure they age healthily. Make sure they engage in physical activity regularly by walking, jogging, or participating in another form of physical activity. Find an activity they enjoy doing and help them find ways to participate in it regularly. Whether they enjoy yoga, swimming, gardening, or dancing, you can help your elderly parents stay active, which can help them stay strong and healthy throughout their retirement years. Exercise is especially helpful for seniors with dementia and can help combat challenging behaviors, such as disrupted sleep, agitation, and sundowning.

2. Make Sure They’re Eating Well

Eating well goes hand in hand with engaging in regular physical exercise and can ensure that your senior parents get the nutrients they need to support an aging body. Stocking their fridge and pantry with high-protein foods can help slow down muscle loss and weakness that happens naturally as we age. Some high-protein foods they might like include peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, and tuna. Make sure they’re getting plenty of fruits and veggies into their diets, which are chocked full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that all help prevent disease.

3. Look into Supplemental Health Insurance

In addition to healthy eating and physical exercise, consider looking into supplemental health insurance your senior parent might need to help cover what their current health insurance doesn’t cover. Supplemental insurance might cover things like prescription medications or dental, vision and hearing coverage. Medicare Part D is a form of supplemental health insurance that provides prescription drug coverage to seniors. A Medicare Part D supplemental insurance plan might be right for your parent if he or she is already enrolled in Original Medicare (Parts A and B) and takes medications but doesn’t currently have prescription drug coverage.

4. Help Them Find a Sense of Purpose

Heading into your retirement years can leave you feeling empty and without a sense of purpose. Without the structure and sense of community that working provides, feelings of anxiety or sadness can take over and consume your senior loved ones. Help your senior loved one find a purpose that can make them feel needed by having them ask themselves some of the following questions:

  • What makes me excited to get out of bed in the morning?
  • What kind of activities nourish my soul?
  • What makes me feel good about myself?

Have them think about the following questions and more so that they can discover what it is they should be doing with their time.

5. Consider a Part-Time Job or Side Business

If your senior loved one just can’t fathom the idea of not working, encourage them to consider a part-time job or side business. Seniors have been successful in starting all kinds of businesses in retirement, including providing puppies at children’s birthday parties, re-selling items online, landscaping, consulting, dog walking, selling handicrafts, house sitting, and cleaning out and organizing garages. Help them figure out what it is they’d enjoy spending their time doing and start taking steps to help them get there.

Taking Steps to Protect Your Senior Relatives

Protecting your senior parents or relatives means making sure they have what they need to live happy, healthy lives after retiring. From helping them stay active and making sure they eat healthy to looking into supplemental insurance and helping them find a purpose, there’s more than one way you can contribute to their health and happiness. Do what you must to ensure they’re protected and that they’re well prepared for life after retirement.