February is Library Lovers Month, and if your elderly family member needs help getting to her local library, elder care providers can help. There are also more online options from the library than ever before, so that is something to look into further. Reading has huge benefits for seniors, and doing so regularly can improve your elderly family member’s quality of life in some big ways.
Reducing Stress
Stress is a huge problem for so many people, even seniors. Reading is a great way to relax and to get lost in other worlds and adventures. It turns out that reading is also a fantastic tool for reducing stress levels quickly. Your elderly family member doesn’t have to read anything fancy or complicated. As long as she’s enjoying what she’s reading, that’s the key to getting the results she wants.
Improving Overall Cognitive Function
Reading regularly helps your elderly family member to maintain and even improve her cognitive function, too. This is especially important if your senior is concerned about brain health now and in the future. Talk to her doctor about her risk factors for brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease to determine what else might help.
Improving Memory
It is also possible that your elderly family member can improve her memory when she reads more often. Much of that possible improvement depends on other factors, such as her current brain health. But the brain makes connections as your senior spends more time reading, and she can find that her memory is at least not getting worse if she’s reading more often.
Helping with Sleep Quality
Reading, especially before bed, can be relaxing enough for your senior that she is able to sleep more easily. She may also find that her sleep quality improves, which can be tremendously helpful in reducing stress, improving cognitive health, and managing chronic health issues. If your elderly family member has lots of trouble with sleep, either getting to sleep or staying asleep, she may want to see if there are underlying medical causes.
Offering a Pleasant Way to Spend Time
Finally, reading is just a fun way to spend some time. That alone can greatly improve your senior’s quality of life. If she feels as if she doesn’t have enough time to read books when she wants to do so, it might be time to have some help from elder care professionals. Elder care providers can help your senior with tasks that are becoming more difficult, giving her time to rest and to do things that improve her life, like spend some time reading.
Not everyone enjoys reading, and some people find reading to be difficult because of eye issues, learning disabilities, and other reasons. Exploring solutions like audiobooks or reading to your loved one could help her to enjoy reading in other ways. She may also want to explore other types of books to find something that truly calls to her. All of these ideas are worth trying out for your senior.
If you or an aging loved one is considering elder care in Edina, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.
