Many home health care products promote independence and freedom for those individuals that require assistance with any function they are no longer capable of doing for themselves. These products actually allow an individual to successfully age in place.

There are a variety of home health care products on the market today. For every condition or symptom, there is a home health care product to offer a solution. The key to successful aging in place is for the consumer to become aware of those solutions.

Let’s start with the basic activities we perform each day. Bathing, dressing, brushing your teeth, shaving and combing your hair are functions we perform everyday and take for granted. For some, the ability to do these tasks can feel as if performing that function is insurmountable. Finding the right home health care product can make performing that task possible.

It is important to note here, that many well meaning care givers would rather perform the task for their aging loved one, instead of painstakingly watching an individual attempt to perform the task themselves.
Please remember, that self reliance is important to an individuals self esteem. The tiny victories of being able to perform the simplest of tasks can have an overwhelming boost of self confidence for your aging loved one. Celebrating those small successes can lead to confidence to attempt a larger task.

Every task an individual can do for themselves promotes an increase in building strength and endurance as well. Caregivers do not be so quick to do things for others. Allow, encourage and promote independence as you are caring for your aging loved one.

If you assess that there is a function or task that is difficult for your aging loved one to do, it is time to investigate the variety of home health care products to find a solution.

Safety is also a major concern for those that want to age in place. Many aging seniors have a fear of falling. This is a justifiable fear as falls rob the aging seniors of their independence and freedom. There are a variety of home health care products that promote safety and security for successful aging in place.

Something as simple as raised toilet seat can make a difference in the ease of getting up and down with out having difficulty. Grab bars strategically placed in the bathroom and bedroom can promote confidence and insure safety. Scald guards in the shower can prevent burns, non slip mats or strips are proactive measures to prevent a fall.

Today’s homes were built for the young and growing family. The builders never considered the aging individuals that would remain in those homes long after their families were grown and gone. Today’s seniors want to remain in the comfort of their homes, and age in familiar surroundings.

Home health care products allow you to adjust your home to meet your needs and achieve successful aging in place. There are a variety of products ranging from portable ramps to stair lifts to promote safety and mobility.

Although safety and independence are the key factors for utilizing home health care products, it is also important to remember the social and recreational side of your aging senior.

It is important to everyday life to find joy, happiness and recreation. Many aging seniors have interests or hobbies that have helped them, not only enjoy life, but help pass the time involved in an enjoyable activity. For some, the simple act of writing a note can be perceived an impossible task. There are writing instruments and even scissors adapted to suit almost every physical condition.

There are large print cards and games for the vision impaired and adaptive equipment for making reading a book easier.

There are solutions to making physical transfers easier from one place to another, adaptive devices that decrease pain and improve comfort. Caregivers need home health care products as well, to make their lives easier. When you are dealing with a loved one, nothing is more unnerving than not to be able to make our aging loved one comfortable. There are inexpensive assisted devices that can promote comfort and decrease stress.

Home health care products promote independence for successful aging in place. Take time to assess, communicate and investigate solutions to problems that present themselves to you. There is a home health care product out there to meet the needs of you aging senior.

Last night my wife and I went out for dinner at a local Thai restaurant. We were given the menus and I declined her offer for use of her reading glasses as we began to peruse the evening’s menu options. Very shortly there after, I noticed “fried nice” and chicken stir fry in “coconut source” were on the menu.

I am in my mid fifties and I can remember my driver’s license number, social security number, even my library card number. Names, dates, phone numbers you name it. I remember.

However, I can’t find my car keys from the second I remove them from the ignition. My glasses are in my shirt pocket and I can’t find them, my children look familiar, but then, all kids look the same to me. I have a cat that seems to like me, in spite of the fact I don’t always remember to fill the food dish.

What gives? I am changing, I’m getting on. My memory and I have become more selective.

As aging-in-place contractors, we trade in our Harleys for comfortable cars. Me, I don’t ride anything that can fall over if I have a lapse of attention. The sounds of my strong and sure youth have been replaced by a cacophony of grunts and wheezes. I have replaced my youthful enthusiasm with the acerbic wit of a polished poet. We buy tools that weigh less and are comfortable to hold. It used to be “how much is that compressor?”, now its “how much does that compressor weigh?” Once I was asked if I was old enough to do the work, now I’m asked if I CAN do the work. I used to work all day, play half the night and bounce out of bed in the morning. Now I work all day, sleep half the night and slide off my bed while searching for the floor.

Mirrors show me the man I am and memory serves up the man I was. At the checkout in Walgreens a cashier girl shyly hands me a slip of paper. Can I still flirt, like in my youth? I smile back and read the paper, 20% off on Osteo-biflex joint medicine!

What I will leave you with is the moral to this repartee, a brilliant saying my wife once heard: “I don’t want to get to the end of life safely and well-preserved, I want to slide in sideways, bruised, banged-up, scarred, and saying, ‘wow, what a ride!’”