How And Why People Should Prepare For Old Age Problems - A Healthier Path And Best Methods To Turning Old

This article teaches best methods to turning old and looks at how and why people should prepare for old age problems by finding a healthier pathway into a time where we are all getting older.

Every moment of every day is a step nearer toward age problems. We fear that as people getting old, this could result in loneliness, pain, depression and suffering. The ‘living alone elderly’ have probably gone through most of their life with someone and when that partner passes, they feel they have lost half of themselves.

Getting old, therefore, isn’t funny among aged people and this hub is an attempt to highlight the importance of planning for a future positively - whilst you are still young enough to learn from the pit falls that older people have experienced.

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My aim here is to help you get to an age with as much health and social welfare prevention as possible. This is to enable you to improve the quality of your life and live to a healthy old age.

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I volunteer for the Red Cross and the Ambulance Service. I support and drive vulnerable people to their appointments with my own car. I do not get paid for this, just a modest expense. Driving cancer patients to Oncology for the Radiotherapy treatment is the predominant activity with the Red Cross and I invariably take one person for a fixed time.

My role with the Ambulance service involves driving people to their appointments. This is on an ‘as and when required’ basis. Most of these patients are older and infirm who can’t negotiate buses or afford taxis. They often need escorting. It is the example of this client group that I want to focus on.

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These people suffer a lot of wear and tear on their bodies and, although the mind is just as good as when they were young, the body can lead to lots of frustration, suffering and dependency. Can you imagine what it must be like to be in a body that is broken but with a mind as good as it is today?

Well, if you can just take a moment to think about it, you might have some insight as to how many older people feel. Can you imagine what it must be like to be petrified of the next walking step… for fear of falling and breaking a hip? Then you might have some realisation how some older people live their lives. We, able people, take our health for granted. Many older people can’t.

The wisdom of the patients that I have driven has taught me not to take my health for granted. I no longer ‘push myself to the limit’ with exercise – the wear and tear can be irreparable when you are older. If you look after yourself whilst you are young and fit, then your body will last longer. This will lead to a better quality of life.

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Moderate exercise like walking and swimming is fine but, by pushing yourself to the limit, the damage to the knees, hips and spine can be debilitating. For example, you will find that the activity of jogging whilst young – kills the knees! The consistent road pounding of this activity is the cause.

Younger people who have allowed themselves to get consistently wet in the rain – they may not wear a coat, for example, end up with arthritis when they get old. Prepare for old age by wearing a coat. Look after yourself. Arthritis is not funny, it is crippling and debilitating, so heed the advice of our older people and keep yourself dry.

Eat healthily - plenty of fruit, vegetables and low fat meat. Avoid processed foods. Older people that suffer with digestive problems, cancers, strokes and heart problems have done so because they have spent a life-time eating fried, high fat, high sugared convenience foods. I have seen the affects in older people and most don’t live longer than their late 60’s, especially if they smoke! Scary eh?

Umm, smoking… thinking about the older people around the age of 70 + years, that I have taken, not one smoked. This really is a sure way of killing yourself and will guarantee that you don’t make old bones!

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Now, I’m not saying that old age won’t get the better of you. What I am saying is that you can stack the odds in your favour to a more independent life for longer. No one wants to lose his or her independents and neither do we like to think of ourselves in terms of becoming old. However, we must plan for this. Prevention is better than cure.

None of us want health and social welfare agencies to step in because of crisis intervention. Other’s taking charge of our needs looses our right to choice.

I have come across lots of older people who have had decisions on their lives stripped from them. Health and Social Welfare agencies think they know best. Being older sometimes means that you don’t have a voice. You become disempowered.

This is why a living will is important, for example, because it is a clear guideline to our wishes when we can’t express those wishes ourselves. Click here for more information on a living will.

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As you can see from the above link, there are more in depth details on living wills. This is a legal written document that states how you would like your care package to be implemented should you are no longer are capable of stating this for yourself.

For example, you might want legal representation, rentingi your home to help with care costs instead of selling your home or simply a glass of beer with your evening meal.

It is a positive way of expressing yourself and taking the responsibility away from the decision making process from your loved ones or next of kin.

I have made my living will and posted it online - so it is easily accessable! However, you can make a living will with the aid of a lawyer or by writing with one of these recommended packages.

The good thing about using these methods is that you know you can't go wrong and all angles are covered!

From my experiences with older people, as the body becomes weaker, so does our ability to look after house, home, garden and ourselves.

It is important that we live in a place that is easy to maintain, peaceful and with systems set up before we become too feeble to organise it for ourselves.

This, again, is about maintaining independence for as long as possible.

I have come across older people that are too unwell to move from their home. They may be living in an area with limited amenities like shops, for example.

This situation then becomes a crisis and they ultimately lose their independence and, sometimes, their lives.

If they had prepared, they would be able to live more independently for longer.

I have learned from the mistakes of our older people. It is like having an old head on young shoulders.

Now I have written this, I hope you have learned too.

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• To best prepare and increase the chances of a quality of life for longer when we achieve old age. This can be achieved through moderate exercise and a healthy diet.

• We don’t want our age to become a subject of crisis intervention for health and social welfare agencies to take charge. This could take away our independence and our right to choice.

• We want to keep control over our lives as best we can for as long as we can.

• We need to best express our needs in the form of guidelines when and if we can’t speak for ourselves.

• Life is for living, with quality and with minimal suffering.

If you know of an older person and you want further information on best services on offer to help with keeping them independent, click here for the charity 'Age UK'. Here you will find lots of practical advice that can be used for all parts of the Western World.

© This work is covered under Creative Commons License

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