They say the first 100 years are the hardest. Well, that’s certainly not an understatement. For seniors, especially, getting older is filled with a mix of exciting milestones and unique challenges.
From increasing health concerns and medications to maintaining social connections and getting enough exercise, there’s a lot to juggle during your golden years, which can often lead to stress and worry.
Top Challenges Seniors Face
In this article, we’ll discuss the top 5 challenges of getting older. We’ll also highlight how Sweetwater Retirement Community works to solve these issues, improving the quality of life and quality of care for seniors.
Challenge 1: Increased Risk of Health Concerns
Remember when you only needed to visit your general practitioner every 3-5 years for a checkup? Those were the days! But getting older typically means our health and wellness needs require a bit more attention.
From managing blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol to dealing with chronic pain and other conditions, seniors often struggle with increased health risks with age. Therefore, living near your healthcare provider can help you feel comfortable. It also ensures you can access professional care and support whenever you need it.
Life At Sweetwater
At Sweetwater, we work directly with our assisted living residents’ healthcare providers to ensure they receive optimal, comprehensive care.
From 24/7 nursing support to medication management, we offer peace of mind to residents and families that help is always close by. We also perform regular assessments to ensure residents are on track with their health and wellness goals. In addition, we personally connect with residents and their families to identify concerns before they develop into more significant issues.
However, we want to empower our residents to live independently. This is why each apartment home is a private residence. Homes are complete with convenient pull cords to call for help and pendants residents can wear to ask for assistance if needed.
Challenge 2: Fitness & Nutrition
As the body ages, it becomes less able to perform certain activities, making us more prone to injury and disability. Poor health can also mean an increased risk for chronic pain, diabetes, and heart disease—further limiting mobility and independence.
Therefore, regular exercise and healthy habits can help mitigate these issues and improve the quality of life for seniors.
Life at Sweetwater
Sweetwater offers an onsite fitness center. We also offer a weekly calendar packed with different activities, allowing residents to stay active and social, year-round.
To give you an inside scoop on how Sweetwater works to solve this common challenge of getting older, we asked Kaylee Bush, Sales Director at our sister location, Primrose of Rogers, AR, to explain how her team works to meet the fitness and nutritional needs of their residents.
“We offer an exercise room that features different fitness classes for seniors and areas for them to stretch or practice workouts anytime during the day,” said Kaylee. “We also offer a delicious menu evaluated by a dietitian to ensure our breakfast, lunch, and dinner options are always nutritious and delicious!”
“Also, our residents can access complimentary beverage and snack stations in our community, where they can grab water, tea, or juice options on their way to the library or group activity. Each station has plenty of healthy food options, including fruits, veggies, yogurts, and salads.”
Challenge 3: Socialization
You may already know that getting older can also mean your circle of friends becomes smaller. Loved ones move away or pass away, leaving us to feel isolated and lonely.
Finding the energy and common ground to connect with others can almost feel like a chore. And as a result, seniors may stick to themselves and spend the majority of their time alone.
This is more than a challenge. It’s a major problem in our country—one Primrose aims to solve!
Life at Sweetwater
Kaylee shared a few things Primrose of Rogers, AR, is doing to encourage socialization and provide more opportunities for seniors to connect and build meaningful relationships.
“We like to plan outings throughout the year. This might include dining at a restaurant and then going to an aquarium or museum. We also host monthly resident council meetings, allowing residents to help us brainstorm ideas for different activities that align with their interests. This way, we’re always planning activities and events they want to engage in.”
“We have a resident, for example, who loves mountain biking. When he moved to our assisted living community, he wanted to continue his passion for hitting the trails. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so on his own. To solve this, we created a rotating schedule with our team to ensure someone was always available to bike with him. Now, he can still do what he loves and enjoy the view from the gorgeous trails around our area.”
Kaylee, how else is Primrose working to help seniors stay social?
“Whenever new residents move into our community, we match them with a current resident (who is also a brand ambassador). This individual helps them meet their new neighbors and have a friend the moment they arrive.”
“We also host ‘share your story’ events where new residents can introduce themselves and hear from current residents and even staff members on their journey to Primrose. This allows us to build a strong community where everyone knows their neighbors.”
At Sweetwater, we welcome families for visits and provide a private dining area to host family-style dinners for special events.
Challenge 4: Senior Fraud
Though technological advances allow us to connect with loved ones from around the world and keep ourselves entertained, they also leave us vulnerable to potential fraud and online scammers.
Seniors are especially at risk of fraud. Therefore, education is essential to protecting their personal and financial information and practicing smart habits to reduce risks.
Life at Sweetwater
Sweetwater is dedicated to ensuring our residents stay safe, whether we’re talking about avoiding slips and falls or educating them on online activity.
“Our Life Enrichment Coordinators offer regular classes that help seniors become comfortable and familiar with using smart devices, ” said Kaylee. “We use this opportunity to teach best practices for online safety and also give them the floor to ask questions if they notice something suspicious or need our help deciding if an email looks like spam.”
“We make ourselves available, so our residents can enjoy peace of mind and use technology to improve their quality of life, not hinder it. We’ve also had representatives from Medicare and Medicaid come in for seminars to go over insurance fraud and share how seniors can better protect themselves.”
Challenge 5: Long-Term Planning
Unfortunately, many people wait for something to happen before considering long-term planning. This may include sustaining an injury, needing rehabilitation after surgery, or needing support performing daily activities.
Life at Sweetwater
At Sweetwater, we meet with future residents to discuss their retirement planning as early as possible. Therefore, we encourage you and your family to schedule a tour. You’ll have the opportunity to talk to our team and get answers to plan your long-term care confidently.
Our focus is ensuring you receive quality care to enjoy a better quality of life as you age. We’ll help you break down costs, compare community long-term care vs. in-home care, and help you find the best option for you now and in the future.
We offer years of experience on this subject. And we can help you and your family navigate the complexities of long-term care planning.
This is Living!
It’s no secret that getting older is tough. But at Sweetwater, we are committed to helping you combat each one of these challenges with support, advocacy, and empowerment! If you have questions or want to tour one of our communities, we invite you to contact us with any questions!
Want a sneak peek of our retirement home apartments and amenities? Visit our Virtual Tour or browse our Social Media feed.
We look forward to welcoming you into your new community, where the new challenge you’ll face is deciding how to spend your day amidst so many possibilities.