Three Ideas to Help Your Senior Celebrate National Declutter for a Cause Month

February is National Declutter for a Cause Month, and what better cause could there be than helping your senior to be as safe as she can be in her home? There might be other reasons that your senior gets excited about the idea, though, so there might be some negotiating in your future.

Look at Safety Concerns

Clutter can be a huge safety issue for seniors, whether they realize it or not. Things tend to just accumulate, and that can mean that your elderly family member suddenly doesn’t have enough space to walk safely, especially if she’s using something like a walker or a cane to help her with her mobility. Take a safety tour of her home with your senior and map out where she’s got the most difficulty with mobility due to clutter and help her to make a plan to attack those areas. If she’s able to get rid of some items so that they go to people who can use them, that’s even better.

Pick a Reason to Declutter

Sometimes it’s easier for seniors to declutter if they focus on the why. If your elderly family member can find a particular cause to donate her excess items to, that might help to motivate her quite a bit. The cause doesn’t have to be an official one, either. Her cause could be as simple as freeing up space in her home and making sure that the people she loves get the items that she wants them to have. Overcomplicating things is just going to gum up the works.

Get Help for Your Senior

Often the reason that people avoid decluttering is that it’s so hard to do and it’s so difficult to maintain spaces afterward. If your elderly family member’s health is changing, for example, it can be a lot more difficult for her to put items back where they belong. Working with companion care at home can address those issues for her. Home care providers can help with keeping the house tidy regularly, relieving a lot of stress from your aging family member. Companion care at home can help in so many other important ways, too.

If your elderly family member is resistant to the idea of decluttering, you’re not alone. So many people have a tough time letting go of belongings, even if they aren’t useful anymore. Try to work within your senior’s limits, while still working to keep her as safe as possible.