Is Your Elderly Loved One Lonely? A Senior Care Center May Help
Age comes with its own set of problems, and one of them is loneliness. You care about your loved one, but you can't be with him or her all the time. The following is a simple guide that will show you why senior living facilities may be the best place for your loved one and why loneliness is something to be concerned about.
Why Is Loneliness Dangerous?
Loneliness affects around 20 to 40 percent of seniors, and your loved one may be a part of that percentage. Experts noted that loneliness increases the risk of death by 14 percent in seniors who suffer from this problem, which could be due to some of the following:
- Blood pressure seems to rise in people who are chronically lonely, which could lead to heart failure.
- Depression seems to be a risk as loneliness usually sprouts from a self-esteem problem.
- Loneliness may have negative cognitive effects, like an increase risk of dementia.
- Your loved one may develop insomnia.
What Are Some Signs of Loneliness?
There is much to learn regarding some of the possible negative outcomes of loneliness. But what you may be more interested in is how to fix the problem or how to tell if your loved one is lonely.
The following are a few signs of senior loneliness to look out for:
- Unexplainable decrease or increase of communication from your loved one.
- Your loved one just became a widow.
- The loss of someone else she or he cared about, like a neighbor or best friend.
- Lack of appetite.
- An unexplainable increase of hot showers. Some studies show that hot showers help lonely people substitute human warmth.
There are other signs that a senior care facility specialist may be able to enlighten you about, so talk to him or her if you are worried about your loved one.
How Senior Care Facilities Help
Your loved one will be with other people in a senior care facility, which should expose him or her to social interaction like:
- Social functions (dancing)
- Gaming opportunities
- Uplifting conversations
These functions could help him or her get out of his or her head for a moment. But loneliness is something that needs to be dealt with professionally through psychological means, which senior care facilities are more than equipped to handle.
Talk to your senior care facility specialist about other ways that the center will help ensure that your loved one no longer suffers from loneliness.