What Can Walking Do for the Elderly?
Sometimes, people abandon the things they know are healthy for them. For instance, just about everyone knows the benefits of walking. However, as people age, they may forget to walk regularly. They may also forget how much walking can benefit them. However, you and elderly care providers can remind your elderly loved one of all the ways that walking can help them. Hopefully, with these reminders, your elderly loved one will be more likely to start walking regularly again.
Senior Care in Lewes DE: Senior Walking
Reducing Stroke Risk
One of the many benefits of walking is that it can reduce the risk for strokes. Research shows that if the elderly were to walk for 30 minutes a day, 4 to 6 days every week, it can significantly reduce their risk of having a stroke. This is one of the reasons why it is important for you and elderly care providers to encourage your loved one to walk regularly.
Preserving the Mind
Another way that walking can help your elderly loved one is by preserving their mind. Research shows that walking can help to reduce memory loss and other cognitive declines. Is your elderly loved one worried that they are going to experience issues with their cognitive functions? If so, walking regularly can help them to lower the risk of that happening.
Saving Money
Does your elderly loved one want to exercise? If so, maybe they have signed up for a gym membership. However, if they are like many other senior citizens, they just can’t afford the extra costs of this membership in their budget. The good news is that your elderly loved one can cancel their gym membership and still exercise. In fact, research shows that walking regularly can boost muscle strength, help with weight loss, increase balance, boost endurance, and so much more. Your elderly loved one can save money by not having that gym membership and just choosing to walk instead.
Preventing Health Conditions
There are so many health conditions that can be prevented just by walking. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure are some of these conditions. If your elderly loved one is at a high risk for these conditions, you and their elderly care providers should encourage them to start walking more today.
Conclusion
These are some of the ways that walking can help your elderly loved one. If your elderly loved one hasn’t been walking much lately, you should help them get into better routines, so they can walk more. For instance, you can remind them to walk for 20 minutes every morning and for 10 minutes every evening. By doing this, they can reap all of the benefits mentioned above.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Care in Newark, DE, please contact the caring staff at Macklyn Home Care today. (302) 691-3217
Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4069032/