Spring has always been a time for rejuvenation, fresh starts, and the de-cluttering of our homes. Spring cleaning can be both rewarding and challenging. Rewarding in the sense of providing your space with the cleaning it needs, freshening up spaces from the dirt, grime, and bacteria that may sit throughout the winter months, and also providing a new home for those unwanted or unused items taking up space.
Spring cleaning may also have its challenges, especially for seniors in their own homes or in a nursing or retirement home. Often seniors struggle with change, especially to their personal space and items that they feel hold sentimental value or hold memories of the past. This is why care and patience are needed when supporting your elderly loved ones with spring cleaning activities.
Spring cleaning doesn't have to be intimidating or overwhelming. Consider these tips below.
Planning for Success
For a successful cleaning and purging of unwanted or unused items, begin with a checklist of items that may need doing. this should include areas of the home or room that needs the most help. Checklists may include things often overlooked, such as organizing medicine cabinets, throwing away expired prescriptions or medications that you no longer use. Clearing out the refrigerator or pantry of spoiled or expired foods is also something to add to the list, especially for seniors living in-home care facilities where personal food items may not be turned over as often as we would hope.
Organize Your Space
Before you set out to do a deep clean, consider organizing your space first. Think about the positioning of furniture, especially allowing for the familiarity of space and mobility concerns for your senior loved one. This may include providing a larger or wider living space to prevent any tripping hazards or other accidents. Organize where high-use household and personal items should be stored for easy reach. Labelling baskets, bins, and closet items with clear large print should be considered to assist loved ones with memory care concerns or caregivers to ensure items are placed back where they can easily be found again for use.
Get Family Involved
Cleaning your own space by yourself can feel like a daunting task. It is the same when thinking about cleaning your elderly parents' home or rooms. They may feel like their space is being "invaded" and this may cause unnecessary stress on them. Consider getting them involved in the process. You never want to "surprise" an elderly person with a rearranged room, no matter the best of intentions. However, having too many people in the space can cause undue stress, especially if strangers or a cleaning company is involved.
Make it a family event and enlist a small group of family members to do some tasks as a group. This can include tackling one room at a time while also spending time with one another and reminiscing. This familiarity will help ease any tension or anxiety as items are moved or rearranged.
Consider Help from Home Care Experts
Depending on the nature of your senior loved one's health, their mobility, and the availability of family members to recruit, you may opt to find professional services like those Ideal Caregivers 4u provides to assist with spring cleaning and ongoing care.
Home care experts may provide light house cleaning on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, daily companionship that may also include assisting with de-cluttering items, checking for expired foods/medications, and ensuring meals are prepped, cooked and even fed to senior loved ones who may need the extra care.
Create a clean, healthy, and safe environment for your senior this season and throughout the year with continued cleaning measures such as those listed above, or by hiring our home care experts today to provide consistent housekeeping and personal care and companionship your loved ones deserve.
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