Clutter: A Sign Your Senior Loved One May Need Professional Home Care

A cluttered home is one of the many signs that an older adult in Wheat Ridge, CO may benefit from professional home care services

Have you noticed recently that your loved one's home looks untidy and there is clutter in every room of the house? Does this seem highly unusual, especially since you know that Mom or Dad used to pride themselves in keeping their home spotless? Well, clutter may be one of the first warning signs that your loved one is in need of professional home care from Visiting Angels Denver.

For seniors who continue to live independently, clutter is a major health concern as it can cause falls and severe injuries. As a matter of fact, falls present the leading cause of injuries in senior Americans. When you consider that many aging adults have problems with mobility and/or poor vision, you see how leaving misplaced items around the floors and corners can be risky.

The Underlying Causes of a Cluttered Home

The appearance of clutter in your loved one's home should be taken very seriously. In fact, it is very likely that clutter can be a sign of a bigger, underlying problem:

• Physical factors – Piles of clutter lying around your loved one's home may be a sign that Mom or Dad may have trouble keeping up with house chores like they used to – and the reason for this may not be negligence but some arising physical issue. Debilitating conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and others that may affect dexterity are fairly common in older adults. On top of this, seniors are often hesitant to admit they have a problem.
• Forgetfulness – Amassing clutter can also be a sign that your loved one is becoming forgetful. While forgetfulness in nothing unusual, especially in seniors, frequently omitting to perform important daily tasks could be an early sign of dementia.
• Depression – An unkempt home can also point to depression or mental fatigue. There are many factors that can lead to depression in senior years, including deteriorating health, dealing with disability or chronic conditions, loss of spouse, loneliness, and more. If you think your loved one is depressed, make sure to consult with their physician to determine how you can help.

How Professional Home Care Services from Visiting Angels Denver Can Help Your Loved One

In the short run, a family caregiver or a friendly neighbor can help with house chores and clear the excess clutter. However, bear in mind that this is not a long-term solution and that your loved one will most likely have to deal with underlying problems that caused their clutter situation in the first place.

A long-standing solution that will address your loved one's needs is working with a professional home care agency like Visiting Angels Denver. One of our professional caregivers can help your mom or dad with various tasks of daily living and offer useful reminders, thus improving their safety and quality of life.

If the clutter in your loved one's home turns out to be evidence of a bigger problem, a professional home care provider can help with those conditions, too. Our professional caregivers are highly trained to adequately address the needs of seniors with all sorts of medical conditions or physical impairments and help keep loneliness at bay by providing valuable companionship.

Whatever the reason for the clutter in your loved one's home, a trustworthy professional home care agency can help tackle this problem and make sure Mom or Dad continues to live safely in their preferred routine for longer.

To learn more about how Visiting Angels Denver can help your loved one stay safe in their own home, contact our Wheat Ridge, CO office today.

Visiting Angels proudly serves Arvada, Aurora, Denver, Glendale, Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and the surrounding areas of Colorado.