How to look after older people in your community

Older people in the UK and across the world can suffer from loneliness and some elderly people are also vulnerable. This is especially true during the winter months as the immune system is suppressed in cold weather, which can increase the risk of contracting serious colds and the flu.

If you are worried about loved ones or the older people living on your street or in your community, you can do something about it by taking action to help them, especially during the colder months of the year.

This guide takes a look at some of the ways you can look after and support elderly family members or older people living in your community.

Ways to look after older people in your community

• Speak to older people on a regular basis
• Make sure their house is safe
• Ensure their house is warm
• Offer to help with their errands
• Look at community services for older people
• Offer to transport older people

Speak to older people on a regular basis

Whilst loneliness can affect people of any age, it can be more prevalent among older people, especially people who don’t have busy social lives. Many older people can struggle to address loneliness and one of the best things you can do is to make a real effort to talk to elderly people in your community.

If there is anyone living near you that you know doesn’t have family or friends that live close by to look after them, you can ask for their number so you can ring them up and chat or you can head to their house a couple of times a week to check in on them.

You don’t need to spend hours talking to them, but just speaking to them for 10 or 15 minutes every few days to see how they are doing will help them.

Make sure their house is safe

Another way you can look after older relatives or people in your community is to check that their house is safe as many looking to stay independent can face several challenges each day.

There are many ways a home can be made safer, and this can range from improved lighting around a property to mobility aids that can help people move around their home safely. Prevention of falls in older people living in the community is one of the key things you need to consider when looking at ways to make a home safer. If an elderly relative or an older person in the community suffers from mobility problems, then you should look at the different stairlifts prices with them, as stairlifts are an aid that can help them remain independent by moving up and down the stairs safely.

Other mobility aids that could be installed in a home include a rise and recliner chair, mobility baths, and bar grabs. During the winter it can get wet and icy, and one way to make an elderly person’s home safe is by keeping driveways and paths clean by salting any steps or slopes regularly so they can get in and out of the house in a safe manner.

Senior Advice, a free resource for families, says one of the first things you should do to make a home safe for an older person is to remove clutter.

“Before you begin making improvements to the home, look at the condition of the home environment and whether it could prove hazardous to a senior. Clutter of any kind can be dangerous, so take the time to clear out clutter and put unnecessary items into storage, if possible.

“It can also be a good idea to evaluate the arrangement of furniture within the home. Ensure that seniors have a clear path to get where they need to go, and consider removing items of furniture as necessary to make this possible.”

Ensure their house is warm

An important part of looking after an older person is to make sure their home is warm, especially during cold spells in the winter months.

Older people lose heat from their bodies more quickly, while also taking longer to warm up and, if they have mobility issues, they are likely to be less active than younger people.

When you go to check on your elderly relative or neighbour, you should make sure they are wearing adequate clothing to keep them warm. You can also make them a hot water bottle that they can take to bed or keep with them when they are watching TV in their living room.

You could buy them blankets that they can wrap around them when sitting down and if you are visiting them, you could make them a hot drink. You can also look at putting the heating on in the house as this will raise the temperature of the property. There are heating systems where you can automatically set the heating to come on for an hour or two in the morning and evening.

Cassie, who is the writer behind the My Thrifty Life blog, says that windows are one of the places in your home where you can lose the most heat and she suggests there are four things you can do to help prevent too much heat loss.

“1. Just like layering up your clothing when you go out, layer up your windows. Add real wooden blinds or roman blinds inside the window recess to create an ‘air-lock’ effect.

“2. Hang thick thermal curtains, preferably ones that go down to the floor – unless you have a radiator below the window, that is.

“3. The more layers of blinds and curtains you can add (yes, even an extra voile in-between, if you like) will help to insulate the windows when the temperature drops in the evenings.

“4. Ensure that windows are closed. It seems like an obvious thing to say but they may well have been left ajar during the day to let out steam from cooking etc, so pull them closed and use an extractor fan instead.”

Offer to help with their errands

There are many older people who will not ask for help even if they are struggling and this can lead to them living a restricted life because they are just too scared to ask for help or they feel as if they are an inconvenience.

If an older relative or someone living on your street has a mobility problem, you should ask them if they need help picking anything up. This is especially true during the winter months when it is cold and icy outside as they may not be able to get out and pick up something they desperately need so it is important that you check in on them.

Offering to pick up a prescription from the doctors or local chemist or collecting some shopping for them will not only help them physically, but it will also help them mentally as they aren’t worrying about stuff they need to do.

Look at community services for older people

If someone is struggling and needs more help than you can offer, there are lots of community services for older people which you can help organise for them.

These services offer vital support to people in later life and these range from helping older adults by cooking meals for them to services which help to end loneliness.

Below are just some of the community services for older people that you should look into:

• Befriending services: charities like Age UK offer befriending services to combat loneliness. They offer a telephone service where you can enjoy chatting with someone over the phone or a face-to-face befriending service where a volunteer befriender will visit older people in their homes.
• Meals on wheels: there are services where your local council or other local organisations may provide meals delivered to your home.
• Foot care: there are charities and organisations which have trained workers who will provide a basic level of foot care, such as toenail cutting.
• Exercise classes and groups: there are services where older people can join exercise classes or groups like book clubs. This is not only a great way for them to make friends and meet new people, but it can also become a hobby of theirs.

Offer to transport older people

Providing transportation to older people who can no longer drive, can help them to maintain their independence and remain active in the community.

Offering to drive them to the supermarket to do their weekly shopping or to the high street to pick up some clothes or other items is not only a nice gesture, but it will also get your older relative or neighbour out of their home.

If you can’t give an elderly relative or neighbour a lift, then there are community transport services that you can organise to pick them up. Transport services can take older people to attend a GP or hospital appointment, to get to the shops or to visit a loved one in a hospital or at a care home.

This article looks at some of the ways you can look after older people in your community or elderly relatives, and it shares some advice and tips.

If an elderly loved one suffers from a mobility issue and you are looking for aids to help them around their house, you can take a look at the different stairlifts that are available on our website.

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