Age in Place with Healthy Neighborhood Connections
- Jan 6, 2019
- 3 min read
If you’re a remote (long distance) caregiver for your parents, it can be a challenge to help them stay connected in their community. That connection can also be a great benefit! Today’s blog by Claire Wentz of caringfromafar.com provides some tips on creating successful aging in place for your parents by connecting them with their neighbors. Find more information about remote caregiving at caringfromafar.com by clicking here.
Photo by Helen Bauer, The Heart of Hospice
Neighbors are an invaluable resource for aging parents, especially when family is far away. But many of us don’t know our own neighbors, let alone our parents’ neighbors. Read on to learn how you can take the first steps toward building neighborhood connections.
Steps to Meeting Your Parents’ Neighbors
First things first: How can you meet your parents’ neighbors when you’re not physically present? It might require leaving your comfort zone, but establishing local connections is possible when you follow these five steps.
Call their friends
Odds are, your parents have at least some relationships with people in the neighborhood. Call the neighbors your parents are friendly with and ask them to help look out for your parents, sharing your contact details so they can get in touch.
Send notes
The holidays are a perfect time to mail cards to your parents’ next-door neighbors, introduce yourself, and share a number where they contact you with concerns.
Introduce yourself
The next time you visit, walk around the neighborhood and introduce yourself to people you see. This is a great opportunity to build deeper connections and identify people willing to go above and beyond to help support your senior parents.
Join social networks
If your parents’ neighborhood has a Facebook group or Nextdoor page, join it. Social networks are great tools for staying informed and asking for an extra hand.
Reach out to local organizations
A person doesn’t have to live next door to be helpful. To connect with helping hands throughout the neighborhood, reach out to your parents’ faith community or local nonprofits serving seniors. Denver’s A Little Help is a great example; by connecting neighbors across generations, the organization enables seniors to age in place and helps youth develop life skills.
Why Neighborhood Connections Matter
Good neighbors are worth their weight in gold. Here are four reasons it’s worth getting to know your parents’ neighbors.
Neighbors keep seniors socially connected
Socializing with neighbors is more than a way for senior parents to pass the time. Social connections promote better mental and physical health among older adults. Social interaction fights isolation, reduces the risk or rate of cognitive decline, and promotes positive lifestyle habits and preventive care maintenance.
Neighbors notice when something is amiss
When you live hundreds or thousands of miles away, you don’t notice when your mom doesn’t sit on the porch at her normal time, but the neighbors do.
If neighbors don’t know you or your parents, they might not say anything when they notice unusual activity. But when they’ve attached names and faces to the house down the block, neighbors are more likely to reach out when something is out of the ordinary.
Senior monitoring systems are another way to detect unusual activity at your parents’ home, which you can learn more about here.
Neighbors can lend a hand
The gig economy is a great resource for older adults who need help with household tasks like mowing the lawn, assembling new furniture, or shoveling the driveway. Just check out this list of apps you can use to outsource your chores.
Neighbors can step in during an emergency
Your parents’ heat goes out in the dead of winter. Or, they’re headed to an important appointment, but the car won’t start. Who can they count on? As a long-distance caregiver, you can call the furnace repairman or ring AAA, but there’s not much else you can do to help your parents in an emergency. If you know your parents’ neighbors and how to contact them, you have someone you can call for immediate hands-on assistance.
Whether you need someone to take out the trash or call an ambulance, it’s good to have neighbors you can count on. So, get your contact list ready, buy some greeting cards, and get to work creating a safer community for your aging parents.
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