For many seniors, living alone is preferable to living in a retirement home, assisted living, or with an adult child. While it can be more comfortable to live by yourself in your own home, there are some challenges you may face. These tips can help keep you safe, healthy, and happy.
Take Care of Your Health
The best way to ensure that you can live alone as long as possible is to live a healthy life. A good diet, along with regular exercise, will help you stay strong and healthy. It can be tempting for anyone of any age living alone to slip when it comes to eating healthy meals or taking that daily walk. For seniors, this is particularly important and will help you stay independent as long as possible. It is important to keep good sleep hours as well, getting enough sleep and not sleeping most of the day while staying up late at night. All medications should be taken as prescribed, and you should see your doctor regularly.
Keep Your Home and Life Organized
Keeping a clutter-free home makes it easier to clean and makes it harder to lose things. You should use an organized calendar for keeping track of doctors’ appointments, activities, and routine chores like grocery shopping and yard work. You should also develop a system to keep track of important phone numbers and bills to pay. Have a set place for your wallet and keys and other items that you use often. Living well independently means being able to keep track of everything you need and every place you need to be.
Put Together a Good Team
Speak candidly to those people in your life that you can trust about your wants and your needs. Your family can support your desire to live by yourself, while still providing any help you may need. Your doctor can help you understand your health needs and can talk with you about any risks that might arise from living alone. It is also good to stay connected with old friends while exploring the resources available to you through the senior community in your area. Getting out while living alone is important to your mental health, so it may be a good time to find out what programs and activities are offered through your local senior center. Understand that at some point, there may be signs that indicate that you may not be able to safely live by yourself any longer. Having a good support system of people who respect you will help you live alone as long as possible, while also protecting you if you need more help.
Even though B' nai B' rith Wilkes Barre Apartments in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania provides you with all of the comfort, convenience, and entertainment you could possibly desire, we also love sharing lifestyle-enhancing tips like these.