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This article discusses a few ways to maintain health while staying in an assisted living facility. Following are six easy and practical tips.
One of the most important factors in maintaining physical health is regular exercise. This is not just true for you as an older adult but for people of all ages. Regular exercise and diet are shown to be the two most significant factors that impact overall health.
Many assisted living facilities offer dance classes, exercise classes, and physical activity programs. Most have onsite fitness centers. Explore the options at your facility and try them out. Consider trying all the offerings, even if you’ve never done a particular activity before!
Nobody says you have to lift weights like Arnold, but doing small amounts of resistance training, chair exercises, yoga, or even light cardiovascular exercise is good. Depending on your current health level, engaging in heavy physical activity might not be possible, but getting a bit of a sweat going by taking a walk is better than doing nothing.
Regular exercise is essential for your physical health in more ways than one. Movement helps you:
Nutrition and diet are the next factors to consider when caring for your health in an assisted living facility.
Maintaining a healthy diet that supplies necessary vitamins and minerals while limiting fat or sugar intake can be challenging. Consider consulting a nutritionist through the facility staff or in an outside appointment.
The assisted living facility you reside in may or may not provide well-balanced meals that meet all your nutritional needs. You may benefit from taking specific supplements to boost your health.
Vitamins and minerals facilitate a robust metabolism and help maintain muscle and bone health. Physical functions can become compromised with age, so maintaining a healthy diet with all the vitamins and minerals needed to support those functions becomes increasingly important.
If you have not yet moved to an assisted living facility but are considering it, be sure to investigate your candidate facilities’ menus and dining options.
Although sometimes easier said than done, another way of maintaining good health while staying in an assisted living facility is to get enough sleep. It is proven that getting enough sleep directly relates to quality of life.
Sleep is essential for many reasons. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body has no time to recover from the day’s stresses. Enough sleep is required for your body to perform as it should.
Sleep is also closely related to mental health, especially regarding stress and depression. A cycle can kick in where lack of sleep may lead to feeling stressed and depressed, leading to further problems falling or staying asleep.
Not getting enough sleep due to anxiety and depression can have physical ramifications, including weight and heart issues. These are issues that can snowball and spiral with severe consequences, so if you’re having trouble sleeping, finding a solution is vital to your overall health. Consult a healthcare professional if you can’t resolve your sleep problems yourself.
Many of us downplay the importance of staying hydrated; however, literally every organ, cell, and function in the body requires water to perform optimally.
If you’re dehydrated, at the very least, you won’t feel great. At its worst, severe dehydration can lead to serious and sometimes life-threatening health conditions.
Be sure to drink at least six to eight glasses of water daily.
The older people get, the more medications are often needed. Remembering to take them all can be a problem! Staying healthy requires managing your medications, so create a schedule to take your medicines on time and on the right days.
Your healthcare professional has prescribed the medications for a reason. Therefore, maintain a regimen for your pills, vitamins, and supplements. You take them to stay healthy, and your health may deteriorate if you stop taking them.
Many of us don’t enjoy doctor’s visits, so unless we are violently ill or missing a leg, we don’t make the effort to see a doctor. This approach to self-care is not helpful, especially as we get older.
If you notice something hurts more than it used to, is out of place, or doesn’t feel right, consult a doctor. They may tell you you’re okay and send you back home. But if you’re not okay, catching the problem early makes the resolution of it faster and easier.
You can do plenty of things to keep healthy while staying in an assisted living facility. Eat well, stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep, and exercise. You’ll stay much healthier for longer if you do these four things. Add to the mix a good medication regimen and willingness to see a doctor, and you’re on the right road to excellent health!
