Chealsea here with solutions for seniors podcast.

Before I get started toady I would like to thank Home Helpers of Bourbonnais for sponsoring solutions for seniors podcast. If you or your loved one lives in the Kankakee or will county area call Home Helpers at 815-401-5527 for all your home care needs. You can also visit their website at www.homehelpershomecare.com

This week I’m going to be talking about how to spot functional decline in our aging loved ones. Functional decline is the decrease in physical and/or cognitive functioning and occurs when our aging loved one is unable to engage in activities of daily living. ADL’s or activities of daily living is a term used to collectively describe fundamental skills that are required to independently care for themselves such as eating, bathing and mobility.

After a certain age, some level of decline should be expected year after year. In your forties and fifties, this decline is gradual. It happens slowly, and while it can affect our physical and mental performance, most are still able to live their lives comfortably. But in our sixties and beyond, decline begins to speed up and can become a little more noticeable. Eventually, our aging loved ones can reach a point of functional decline, where care is required for our aging loved one to live comfortably and safely.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to spot functional decline. While decline accelerates in seniors, it still happens gradually enough that functional decline can go unnoticed. As a result, our aging loved ones who require elderly care in some form — either from family caregivers, in-home elderly care professionals, or facility living — end up without the support they need. How to Notice Signs of Functional Decline in Seniors.

To determine whether or not your aging loved one may need elderly care or another senior service, you need to know the signs of functional decline. Keep in mind that functional decline relates to physical and cognitive function, so you need to be aware of the signs of decline for both.

To help prevent this from happening, family members should be making a conscious effort to monitor their aging loved ones and track changes in their functional abilities. How to Notice Signs of Functional Decline in Seniors
One strategy is to take stock of the things your loved one has difficulty with over the course of a typical week or month. You can do this mentally, or you might consider taking private notes. This will allow you to compare how your loved one is functioning now compared to the past. Gradual changes become much more visible if you can compare how well they’re doing now to six months or a year ago.

Should you determine that your loved one is suffering from functional decline, you may wish to explore what extra care they will be needing now and in the future as their function declines. Finding recourse in your loved one’s budget and community can seem overwhelming but I’ll be posting a podcast here soon to help navigate through that.

Thank you so much for joining me this week. I hope this episode has helped you know what signs to watch for in your aging loved ones.

Again, I would like to thank home helpers of Bourbonnais for sponsoring solutions for senior’s podcast. If you are your loved one are in the Kankakee or will county area call home helpers at 815-401-5527 for all your home care needs. You can also visit their website at www.homehelpershomecare.com/kankakee
Join me next week for another episode on a common challenge we face while helping our aging loved ones. Stay safe and well.