Home Care Tips: Making Outings Safer and Easier

Home Care in Needham, MA

Getting out of the house occasionally is an important part of keeping your home care routine with your seniors interesting, stimulating their minds, and getting them the physical exercise that they need to stay healthy and strong. Whether your outing is running basic errands, going for a special treat of a meal out together, or an exciting adventure such as a trip to an amusement park or a visit to the zoo, you want to make sure that you take all the necessary steps to keep these outings as safe, easy, and stress-free as possible for everyone involved.

Use these tips to help you enjoy safer and easier outings with your seniors so that you are ready to get out and about with them more often:

• Plan it out. Outings with seniors, particularly those with physical or cognitive limitations or medical needs, is not the time for you to be spontaneous and just “wing it.” Take the time to plan out the entire event, from what type of transportation you will need and what you will need to bring with you, to how long you think that the outing will take so that you can plan for anything you may need to do during that time.
• Plan for disasters. Chances are, no matter how carefully and thoroughly you plan, something is going to go differently than what you envisioned. A disaster can be as simple as locking your keys in the car, or as serious as one of your parents getting lost or having a medical emergency. Try to go through as many of these possibilities in your mind as you can think of so that you can have contingency plans for them. Things like making sure that you have a hidden magnetic box with an extra key or a membership to a roadside assistance program, using GPS technology on your parents, and knowing where the closest hospital is can make a tremendous difference in your peace of mind and ability to enjoy the experience.
• Pack. Even a trip to the grocery store can have delays and unexpected events, so pack a bag with things that you might need to handle these unexpected events. Non-perishable, high-nutrition snacks, plenty of water, over the counter medications, prescription medications, changes of clothes, and simple entertainment can keep tensions down and help you get through little snags in your plan.
• Just go with it. If something does happen while you are on your excursion, do not let yourself panic or get flustered. Things happen, especially when you are caring for seniors, and you will get through them. Even if you deal with an embarrassing situation such as a parent with Alzheimer’s disease tearing open a package of food in the middle of the grocery store and eating it or making a mess in the bathroom, remember that it is likely that you are never going to see most of the people you interact with during the situation again, and that what matters is not what they think of you, but the safety, health, and happiness of your parents. Deal with the issue, laugh it off, and move on.