Tips for Encouraging Senior Citizens to Be Active

Is your elderly loved one becoming sedentary? The truth is that senior citizens need to continue staying active. They don’t have to run marathons or anything that intense. However, elderly people should be active for at least a little while every day. Doing so can help to prevent health issues, boost energy, and improve general health and mood, too. There are some tips that you and in-home care providers can share with your elderly loved one to encourage them to be active.

Going for Walks

One of the best ways for senior citizens to be active is to take daily walks. Your elderly loved one can benefit from just taking a walk around their yard. If the weather isn’t good, they can walk back and forth through their house for 10 to 20 minutes. If your elderly loved one doesn’t really like to take walks on their own, maybe you or a home care provider can take walks with them. Doing so would give you a chance to socialize with and keep in touch with your elderly loved one, as well.

Senior Citizen Exercise Classes

Does your elderly loved one enjoy socializing with other people their age? If so, you can check at the local community centers to see if there are senior citizen exercise classes. There might be yoga classes, tennis teams, and other activities that your elderly loved one could do. If they have these types of programs, your elderly loved one can determine how often they want to go. It might be just once a week or many days each week. Either way, it could be good for them physically and mentally to start attending these classes and activities.

Video Chatting

Do you live farther away from your elderly loved one? Does the distance make it difficult for you to visit them? If so, but you still want to encourage your elderly loved one to be physically active, video chatting might be the answer. While you are talking to your elderly loved one through these video chats, you can have them walk around their house while you walk around yours. You could also have their in-home care provider set up the video chat, so that you both could exercise to the same YouTube workout video.

Conclusion

It is crucial that senior citizens stay active. It can improve their health in so many ways. Hopefully, the tips noted here today can encourage your elderly loved one to be more active from this point forward.

Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/olderad.htm