Living in assisted living can be a great way to ensure you get the care and attention you need as you age. But what if your arthritis makes it hard for you to get around or do everyday tasks? It can be challenging for seniors with arthritis to move around or perform basic activities of daily living like cooking, cleaning, or bathing by themselves. Luckily, there are many senior-friendly independent living communities that have special amenities designed specifically for seniors with this condition. Here are some reasons why living in an assisted living facility could benefit your overall health and well-being:
Specialized accommodations and technology reduce the stress of everyday activities for seniors with arthritis.
The list of things that can cause stress on our joints, muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments is long. We experience stress whenever we lift a heavy object or perform a repetitive task like washing dishes or sweeping the floor. Even daily activities such as getting dressed or eating breakfast can cause stress to the body when performed without proper planning and assistance from others.
It’s important to remember that there are many ways for golden age adults with arthritis to reduce this kind of stress in their lives—and it starts with specialized accommodations and technology:
- Specialized Living Spaces: Residents who have trouble walking upstairs may benefit from an elevator in their community to move between floors without feeling pain in their knees or hips. For those who don’t need help moving on stairs but want something easier than walking up them anyway, consider installing a stairlift at home too! The more comfortable you make yourself feel while living independently, the less likely it is that arthritis will affect your quality of life negatively over time.
- Specialized Technology: There are many devices available today that can ease some daily challenges faced by those living with arthritis (such as pain relief) in both home and work environments – such as heating pads for lower back pain relief while sitting down reading magazines together after lunchtime snacks have been finished off!
- Specialized staff. Team members in most senior-friendly independent living communities are trained specifically in how best to assist those who need extra help getting dressed each day (for example), making meals, cleaning up after themselves, etc.,
- Safe and secure. The security of a senior-friendly independent living community is something that’s often overlooked by those who aren’t familiar with the concept of assisted living, but it can actually be a very important part of your loved one’s quality of life and well-being. Assisted living communities have specific rules in place to keep residents safe at all times, such as having locked entrances that require visitors to be buzzed in by staff before entering (and then buzzed out again after they leave), posting emergency numbers throughout the building so residents can easily access help if needed, requiring that all medications be kept locked up in the nurse’s station or other designated area so they can be monitored more closely than if they were left sitting.
- Medication management: Medication adherence is a huge issue for people with chronic conditions like arthritis. Many people skip or miss doses because they forget them, or they just don’t feel like taking pills – especially when it’s freezing cold outside! The right medication management program will have a system in place to remind your loved ones when and how often they need to take their medications. If you live at a senior-friendly independent living community that offers this service (and most do), all you have to do is turn in your prescriptions at the front desk, and the pharmacy will send a reminder card out every week so that it doesn’t slip your mind!
Conclusion
As you can see, assisted living provides much more than just a place to live. It’s an opportunity for aging adults with arthritis to enjoy life and make new friends in a safe environment that caters specifically to their needs.
