Age-Friendly Environments For The Elderly

It is commonly said that charity begins at home. Similarly, it is an established fact that your healthcare needs are primarily dependent on the home environment that you foster with great care and concern. Supportive environments can prevent a negative situation from arising in the first place. Both social and physical environments that are conducive for healthy growth are preferred.  

An initiative by WHO (World Health Organization) in 2006 led to the introduction of age-friendly communities that would help foster an environment to keep in mind the concerns and holistic well-being of people in the 65+ age bracket. A community that respects its elders and believes that they have an equal share and opinion in living their life is sure to prosper. Quality of life is primarily determined by active participation and catering to security needs of the elderly.

The following year, in 2007, WHO put up a challenge for several cities across the globe to make urban center models aimed at facilitating the elderly citizens to prolong their life spans and help them live better lives.  The main matter of concern is empowering the elderly with the discretion to take life-changing decisions.

If you want your elder’s aging process to be as smooth and natural as possible, you need to provide them with an environment that they appreciate and not sulk away from. This is the time to repay them for all their sacrifices. Old-age parents should not be considered a burden.

Age with grace

Learning to accept and embrace old age with a smiling face, metaphorically speaking, can be promoted by healthy eating and lifestyle habits, along with optimizing your environment. Already, city pollution is at a high with global warming and carbonic emissions on the rise. Hence, it becomes all the more important to stabilize your internal home environment by planting indoor plants to promote freshness, avoiding smoking, and minimizing all those environmental factors that could in any way deteriorate your health conditions.

Age-friendly environments

Personal traits and genetic makeup predispose us to certain conditions and ailments as we age. What we need to keep in mind is that the surroundings that we live in determine our health and overall well-being as well. A high immunity may deal with health challenges more valiantly than a weakened immunity of a fragile person, due to an unpleasant and unhealthy environment around you.

What are they?

Old age is often accompanied with helplessness and loneliness, but studies have shown that elderly people can live longer if they have the willpower to sustain and fight their condition. Age-friendly environments are established for the purpose of helping your elders stay in fit condition and keep their soul happy as they approach death, keeping them involved in interactive and participative activities. Such senior care services aim to establish a safe, secure, reachable, reasonable, and supportive environment centered around personal care and assistance, recreation and companionship, running errands and facilitating transportation services. Promoting good health is the main aim, along with preventing conditions that may make existing issues worse. This helps to keep the sense of purpose and a certain spirit alive amongst elderly people.

Examples of age-friendly environments

• Housing: Mobility is an issue for older adults and, for this purpose, safe, secure, and well-designed housing within close proximity of convenience stores is a factor for many adults. Being in a surrounding which is supportive helps inculcate a feeling of social acceptability.

• Social participation: In order to keep the elderly citizen proactive, getting them involved in cultural and knowledge-enhancing experiences can prevent them from going into depression or social isolation.

• Workplace: Often elderly citizens are discriminated against  when it comes to hiring. Building up an experienced workforce and retaining your older employees can contribute positively to your company, and it ensures that each one gets an equal employment opportunity.

The vitality of these age-friendly environments

Promoting good health for seniors can be considered a form of social service, even if it is paid for. Such people-centered services give everyone an equal opportunity to take care of themselves in a decent, healthy, and friendly environment that takes into consideration all health hazards and possible old age injuries and ailments – which can be prevented with precaution.

Basically, it is human nature to treat elderly people with disgrace and disrespect as they tend to become dependent and lose their sense of solidarity. They have to undergo discriminating attitude or gender bias due to their age. Helping develop an environment that caters to aging needs in a humble and respectful manner helps elderly people live their last years in peace. The experience of elderly people is priceless, and they should be held in high regard and reverence by caring for them in every possible way.