Gardening is a great way to get and keep your parent active both physically and mentally this spring season. As their family caregiver, you are always looking for ways to improve their life and gardening is one of these opportunities. In order to help your senior make the most of it, it is important to find ways to make gardening more comfortable and safer for your senior. This will help avoid potential injuries and discomfort and encourage your loved one to engage in the activity more often.

Elder Care in Cherry Hill NJ: Senior Gardening

Some tools that can help make gardening more comfortable and safer for your senior include:

• Knee pads made of supportive foam or high-density gel provide cushioning for your parent as they kneel in the garden. This helps to take the strain off their joints and make the position more comfortable.
• Ergonomic gardening tools are specifically designed to make them more comfortable to hold and easier to use. These often feature curved or molded handles that fit your parent’s hand and grips that reduce strain for joints that may be weakened by arthritis and other ailments.
• Swivel boards can be used with knee pads to make shifting and twisting easier. Your senior may not have the range of motion to turn and twist to reach to either side when gardening, but the swivel board can make this motion smooth and less difficult, reducing the risk for injury and minimizing soreness.
• A watch or timer with an alarm setting allows your parent to set a reminder so they do not stay outside too long and do not miss important things like taking their medication or eating on time. This is critical to avoiding dangerous issues like dehydration, heat stroke, overexposure to the sun, and worsening health conditions.

Helping your senior live their best life is about more than just helping them manage their health issues and making sure their activities of daily living are fulfilled.

Your senior is an individual with many facets and it is important to honor, acknowledge, and address these facets in your care efforts for them. This is where senior care can come in. A senior home care services provider can be with your aging parent on a schedule that is right for both of you to not only help them stay safe and healthy but also to actively engage in their life as they age.

This means staying active, enjoying new experiences, learning new things, staying social, and continuing to be “them” even while dealing with the challenges they face. As their caregiver, senior care means giving you more confidence your parent is getting everything they need, as well as more flexibility and freedom in your schedule for less stress and more effective efforts in everything you do.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Elder Care in Cherry Hill, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Attentive Care Inc. 1-800-493-5660