In-Home Care Makes Errands Easier For Your Senior Parent
Most people dislike having to waste time doing errands, but errands can be a struggle for your senior parent. If your loved one has mobility challenges that make it painful or tiring for them to walk around, bend down, get in and out of the car, or drive then doing errands may be something to try to avoid. But, errands are a fact of life for seniors aging in place. Bills have to be paid, letters sent, shopping done, and many more tasks need to be accomplished outside the house. In-home care can make running errands easier and less painful for your senior parent. Sometimes just having someone to do errands with can make it better to have to run around town.
Drive Your Senior Parent
When your senior parent stops driving and they don’t want to take rideshares or cabs to do errands, a care provider can be their driver and take them where they need to go. Driving with a care provider is much more pleasant for seniors, and it can encourage seniors to get out of the house more.
Wait With Them
When your senior parent has to go to an appointment that could take awhile like going to a medical appointment, getting their hair done, or going to the barber shop the care provider can wait with them. Your senior parent is less likely to get anxious or bored if someone is with them. In-home care can talk to your senior parent, play travel games with them, and help keep them engaged and busy while they wait.
Help Them Shop
The physical part of shopping can be tough for seniors. Think about how often you have to bend over, reach up, and pick up heavy items when you’re shopping. It can be painful for seniors who don’t have good grip strength to try and pick up heavy items like cans, cartons of milk, or awkwardly shaped boxes.
And they have to put the items in a cart, then take them out, then carry bags, which can be too difficult for them. Having an in-home care provider shop with them makes the physical acts of shopping less painful and tiring. A care provider can also help seniors manage a shopping list, keep track of their money so they don’t drop it or lose it, and make sure their credit cards don’t get stolen or skimmed.
Do The Running In And Out
Often, part of doing errands is running into one store, then quickly running into another, and then another. Getting in and out of the car can be very difficult for seniors. It can be helpful to have a care provider along for the ride who can make quick trips in and out of stores so that your senior parent can stay in the car. Especially in bad weather.