Your senior might think that fall prevention consists solely of installing and using handrails, but it’s more than that. Preventing a fall means that you and your senior are doing as much as you can to ensure that she’s able to face the challenges that are putting her at risk of a fall. And amazingly enough, being more physically active is a key way to do that.
Work out a Plan with Her Doctor
Any time your senior is thinking about starting any type of exercise program she needs to work with her doctor. Her doctor can help her to be realistic about what exercise should look like for her. There are a variety of different types of exercise that your senior might benefit from. Rudimentary yoga can help her to improve her balance and her flexibility, for instance. These might not be types of exercise that your senior considered possible for herself, either.
Various Therapies Might Be Helpful
Beyond just exercise, therapy might be an option. This is especially important if your aging family member has specific ailments or difficulties that would be helped by occupational or physical therapy. Improving her mobility and her ability to function allows her to get to a point where she can actually exercise more effectively.
Look for Exercises Your Senior Likes
After she’s actually moving, your senior needs to continue to move. The key to that is to ensure that your elderly family member is doing exercise that she truly enjoys. If she doesn’t enjoy it, she’s not going to feel motivated to stick with it at all. Encourage her to give a variety of different activities a try so that she can start to explore a bit more. She doesn’t have to break a sweat every day. What’s more important is that she’s moving and using her body and improving her ability to avoid taking a tumble.
Having an Extra Set of Hands Could Be a Good Idea
When your senior is dealing with this many changes in her life and her activity level, she may find that it’s exhausting keeping up with everything all at once. It’s a good idea to bring in elderly care providers. They can help with mobility until your senior gains balance and strength, but they can also help with keeping your senior on target with other tasks around the house, too.
It takes time to get to the point your senior ultimately wants to get to. But it’s worth the time and the effort for her to keep pushing herself just enough to make progress.