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Updated 7/12/17 2:00pm | Alert1’s specialty is caring for the older adults in your life. When talking with friends and colleagues who care for elderly relatives, our conversation often turns to time-saving senior services we use to make the job a bit easier.
Everyone needs some help. Between work, taking care of our own families and finding time for ourselves, there are certain things we just can't do.
Alert1 wants to encourage more conversation on lightening the load of caregiving while switching over to paid services. You may feel like you’re taking a shortcut, but in the end you’re saving more quality time to spend with your aging loved ones.
Extra Resources for Seniors
Nowadays there are many resources available (in addition to a medical alert) that may be helpful for your aging loved ones. Of course, you may meet resistance in encouraging your parents or grandparents to take advantage of these services.
Seniors can be hesitant to spend the extra money, but if they're serious about continuing to live in their own homes, then these services can be vital.
One of the easier routes to convincing your loved ones to use the service is to have them own this idea. See if you can drop subtle hints to your senior.
Have your elderly adult read over brochures or schedule an initial call for your senior with a phone representative. We’ve outlined a few of the services that can help you caregivers take better care of themselves and the seniors in their lives.
Get Groceries Delivered to the Doorstep
There’s no guarantee your senior is safe while grocery shopping or running errands around town. Not only have many older seniors stopped driving, but carrying bags full of groceries is simply not an option.
Your busy day-to-day life leaves you little time to shop for yourself, let alone shop for loved ones. Grocery delivery services have been a lifeline for a number of seniors I know.
One of my colleagues gets a list from her mother and then places the order online every couple of weeks, and she has all her groceries delivered right to her kitchen in the next day or so.
A number of online merchants will also deliver various household items to your parents' home, and many offer free delivery.
Make Housekeeping a Clean Sweep for Seniors
For many people, the threat of fall related injuries is a very pressing concern. Having your loved one's house kept clean and free of clutter can prevent life-threatening complications. An Alert1 medical alert device with fall detection technology will also bring extra peace of mind in the event of a fall. Plus our alert pendants are stylish and easy to reach if a fall does occur.
I know many older adults who use cleaning services to ease their concerns. These services can be especially helpful if your loved one has physical limitations that make activities like vacuuming, sweeping and mopping more painful and difficult.
Most seniors need a cleaning service only once a month or once every couple of weeks to improve the cleanliness and tidiness of their homes.
Home Improvement Made Easy
Owning a home can become burdensome to older adults as ordinary maintenance tasks become harder to do.
While family members can help with seasonal maintenance tasks, a big need for many seniors is smaller tasks such as replacing burned out light bulbs in ceiling lighting, fixing window screens, fixing broken pipes or other typical home repairs.
Older adults put themselves at risk when they climb ladders to perform home repairs, and of course falls become more likely when light bulbs go out.
Having a local trusted handyman on call can easily address this issue. Services such as Angie’s List or neighborhood email lists can be great places to find reputable resources to help your loved one.
Cook Up Senior Friendly Meals
In terms of prepared meals, there are a number of national and local businesses who will prepare and ship or deliver nutritious meals to your family members.
A terrific nonprofit organization such as Meals on Wheels delivers hot meals to home-bound seniors. These organizations prepare meals that contribute to a longer, healthier life.
We've found that there are many affordable options to help keep seniors aligned with their budget.
Food delivery is especially useful for seniors who are prone to kitchen-related accidents. You’ll never worry about your aging loved ones leaving the burner on again!
Keep Your Senior Safe
Of course, each family's situation is different and necessitates different services, but my colleagues and I agree - they're vital to caregiving. Alert1 wants to know: what services do you think are most important?