Staying active in later life is very important and can actually prolong life. Being active doesn’t mean exercising in the traditional sense, however. Instead, it means doing things for yourself, exercising the mind, moving, having focus and doing all you can to avoid sitting immobile as much as you possibly can. Staying active can sometimes require the help of others too, but here we explore the simple steps you can take to stay active in your later years to prolong life.
Find Something That Interests And Engages You
Having a hobby or interest is very important.
Whether this is reading, knitting, doing jigsaws or learning something new, it is important to have something that you can focus on for some of the days to keep your mind occupied. These light tasks will keep you engaged, keep you thinking and keep you alert too.
Complete As Many Tasks As You Can For Yourself
Completing tasks yourself like making tea, preparing food and cleaning will help to keep you moving and prevent you from losing the ability to do so. When you have some level of domestic care in place it can be easy to relax into this and allow them to do everything, but it is better to use them as an aid to doing things for yourself. With the right domestic care, you can be assisted to look after yourself rather than being looked after and this will help to keep you active and engaged for longer.
Take The Stairs
Making decisions to do some activity rather than leaning towards aids every time will delay your dependency on them. If you get a chair lift, for example, and then use it every time you climb the stairs then you will quickly lose the ability to do without it. Taking the decision to walk up the stairs once daily, however, will help to raise your heart rate and keep you healthier without exertion.
Stay In Your Own Home
Staying in your own home and utilising home care services to help keep the home in order and keep yourself healthy will also help to keep you active. Residential care homes will limit your ability to do things for yourself and stay active, so you should stay in your own home for as long as possible to prolong life.
If you'd like more advice about our home care services and looking after yourself, please get in touch with The Great Care Company today.