When your parent’s age, chances are you will start to feel responsible for them and their emotional state. Sometimes parents have problems that you may feel like are yours as well. How do you address these problems? How can senior home care help your parents if you can’t even control something like hoarding? Can senior home care help in hoarding cases?
The truth is, seniors may need more help than you can provide. A senior may need therapy, medications from doctors, and some things senior home care truly can’t help with. If your senior has a problem with hoarding and it’s gotten to the point where their home is dangerous to live in, you need to intervene. This is something that no senior home care specialist can do, which makes it an even more intimidating task.
As people get older, they spend more time at home or become more nostalgic about things from the past, which can make their homes look a little messy. But clutter isn’t just a bad look. It can quickly turn into hoarding behavior, where you keep things that don’t have any real value.
Why Is Hoarding a Major Problem?
You may not see any harm in keeping old things that remind the senior of good times. That’s true and keeping some things is totally fine and a way to make your senior feel happy. However, hoarding goes a step beyond keeping things out of nostalgia. Clutter takes over living areas, taking away the functionality of kitchen counters, sinks, bathrooms, and many other places in the home. This affects a senior’s quality of life in the end and can make it hard to live on a regular routine when there is no space in the home. It can even lead to falls and infections depending on what they are keeping.
There are a few other physical problems that come with hoarding. They are:
- Difficulty entering rooms or walking around.
- It creates an unsanitary home.
- It could cause fires.
Expired food that could cause harm in the future.
Hoarding also affects a senior mentally and emotionally. These concerns include:
- Unpaid bills they can’t find which can lead to stress.
- Difficulty managing their routines.
- Stress due to the lack of organization.
- Social isolation.
All of these things contribute to why hoarding is such a huge issue when it comes to the health of your loved one. It can be a hard psychological habit to break.
How To Help Your Parent With a Hoarding Problem?
While it might be tempting to reorganize and get rid of clutter in a senior’s home, this isn’t always a good idea. It is important for seniors to feel safe and secure so that they can enjoy life. People who are older need to keep their sense of dignity and control.
Instead of doing things for them, have an open discussion. You can tell them you are concerned about safety and create a goal to remove clutter from hallways and main living spaces for them to be healthier. This will require time and patience. You both can go through each room and allow the senior to pick and choose what stays, finding a way to organize what belongs in the house.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Senior Care in Ybor City, FL , please contact the caring staff at R.B. Home Health Services, Inc today. 305-220-6309