If an elderly friend or relative in your life is starting to find it difficult to look after themselves, or if you are beginning to worry about their health, then you might find that this can be a constant concern and something that prevent you from enjoying a normal life.
This is why it is so important that you get all the help you can. That might mean investing in services, products or tools. Here are some of the best that can really help and that won’t break the bank.
Homecare
Using homecare agencies you can get someone sent around to your elderly relative on a regular basis in order to check that they are okay, to help them with general household chores and to give them some conversation and variation in their day. This can be a huge help to your relatives who might not be physically able to do things like washing up anymore but who of course don’t want to have to live with squalor either. Homecare can even help you to avoid having to send your elderly relatives into a care home.
This is one of the more expensive options on this list, but it is certainly cheaper than the alternative – which is a permanent residency.
Hydraulic Lifts
Hydraulic lifts can be used in a vast variety of ways. Of course, stairlifts are among the most obvious examples, but that is only one way in which a lift can be useful.
Likewise, lifts can be used to help elderly relatives in and out of bed, and in and out of chairs. This makes a huge difference because it means you aren’t forced to lift someone who is very heavy and who doesn’t have the muscle control to help you. This can prevent you from getting injured – which can be game changing when someone is reliant on you!
Medical Alert System
If you’re worried about your own health or safety, or that of a loved one, then you might be considering a medical alert system. This is a small device that provides a means to contact the emergency health services in case of a fall or an attack of some kind. These are normally kept on your person and as such, they ensure that all you need to do is press a button if ever you need help.
Choosing the Right Medical Alert System
Sometimes medical alert systems don’t serve their main purpose and when this happens, they can actually cause more problems than they solve. For instance, if a medical alert system gives you the confidence to head into the garden and then fails on you, you’ll now be in a worse situation than you would have been in to begin with!
What’s important to recognize though is that this is a very rare scenario and can be avoided altogether with the right know-how.
The main reason that medical alert systems fail is that they have been poorly chosen. For instance, some older systems are not portable and instead live on a sideboard or use a cord that needs to be pulled. This is effective… so long as you have your accident in the right place. Choosing a more modern and well-designed device sidesteps this problem.
The other reason medical alert systems can go wrong is that they aren’t properly maintained. Most devices will occasionally require a change of batteries and some kind of signal. The best-designed ones come with a ‘test’ button which lets you ensure they are working. If you have such a device, it’s crucial to run tests as regularly as possible so that you know they will be able to help when the time comes.
Make sure you take your time and research the best medical alert device.
