Emotions Instead of Pills: simple tips to improve your parents' and loved ones' health

First published in March 2018, updated on June 3, 2021

“We all live at the mercy of our emotions. They influence and shape our desires, thoughts, behaviors, and destiny.”

Dr. T.P China  

 

Contents

1. Simple Pleasures for Seniors
2. Sense of Purpose for Elderly People Living Alone
3. Social Connection for Elderly People Living Alone

 

Seniors can lead a healthy lifestyle, eat vegetables, fruits, and practice yoga three times a week. But is this a guarantee of physical welfare?

While all of these activities can help, they are only part of the story, as scientists all over the world sound the horns, and shout that happiness is crucial to human health. Did you know that happier people have a better immune system, fewer heart diseases, health-related personal emergencies, and in general live longer lives?

The AllsWell Alert team decided to find out the main things we can do for our elderly parents to make them happy, and thus, more likely to be healthy.  

 

Simple Pleasures for Seniors

It is not a secret that we start feeling better after we’ve eaten something tasty, or bought a heap of things that we don`t need. While those actions definitely cannot provide eternal happiness, they can help us find balance if something has gone wrong in our lives.

Material and bodily pleasures are not the panacea to all woes. However, well-selected gifts are a part of general human happiness.

The main thing to understand is that it’s not bad to pamper yourself from time to time. Don’t you agree that it’s a thousand times better to eat chocolate or watch a comedy show than take a handful of pills?

Tip: Discuss with your parent what material things make him/her enjoy the day. Give them a gift! It could be a simple thing--a smartphone with pre-installed health & safety apps or a pet--and doesn't necessarily have to be expensive

 

Sense of Purpose for Elderly People Living Alone

Having a goal in life is one more factor in making an individual happier and, consequently, healthier. This is argued in a scientific work by Eric Kim and his colleagues. They found that there is the association between purpose and mental as well as physical health. Moreover, scientists have concluded that quality of sleep also depends on the existence of a “higher calling”.

This feeling has been felt by everyone at least once during their life. You can start working at nine o’clock in the morning and find yourself still working deep in the night. There are no limits or fears.

However, in old age, it appears that you no longer want to get up in the morning, you’re tired, and just waiting for someone to, in the words of Jim Morrison, “light your fire”.

Tip 1: Try to remember the things your senior parent living alone was interested in back in the day and set up the situation in a way that makes your parent burn again with the desire to repeat the experience.

Tip 2: If your loved one doesn’t feel like doing the same thing again, then find out together what would fascinate him/her at this moment in their life. Who knows, maybe your parent could become an outstanding orator, or has always dreamed of traveling.

Tip 3: Support your parent during the first steps in their chosen direction. At the age of 70 and more, it is tough to focus on making changes and trying something dramatically new.

 

Social Connection for Elderly People Living Alone

A human being is a social creature that needs to have someone nearby. Even the most confirmed hermit needs someone else to feel the full range of positive emotions.

In 1979, Lisa Berkman conducted an interesting study. According to this study, survey participants who didn't have a strong connection to family or friends had a shorter life expectancy, even though they were not addicted to smoking, drinking, or other types of overconsumption.

And, even more interesting, according to the research on Psychological Science, positive emotions on their own do not substantially influence human health. Rather, social connectedness is the key to the real changes in the body.

Tip 1: To maintain a strong social connection, share in the favorite activities of your aging parent. If your mother loves knitting, visit a knitting club together. We guarantee you’ll not only learn a new skill but also have some fun moments and heart-to-heart talks.

New activities and new social connections let your parents go outside more often. In this case, a panic button app installed on their phone is a must in case they encounter a safety or health hazard when commuting, traveling, or even walking the dog. The AllsWell personal emergency and safety alert app is even more useful as it helps you unobtrusively check on your parent’s wellbeing. The 24/7 inactivity monitoring feature doesn’t track what they do -- only checking that they don’t remain inactive for an unusually prolonged period of time. And if there’s a reason for worry, you’ll receive an alert with their location even if they’re unable to press a button.

Register here to try AllsWell Personal Emergency and Safety Alert app for free.

Tip 2: Do not think that making your loved one live happily will cost you a fortune. In fact, you should begin with a simple phone call. Support them with pleasant warm words, sympathize as much as you can, and listen to what they tell you.

Tip 3: Learn to give small surprises to your elderly parent regularly. This can be a bunch of flowers for your mother, or an unexpected visit or invitation to go out for a coffee with your father. Just come up with the ideas that make your parent smile.

Emotions can be a preventive cure for your senior parent's health issues, and they positively affect the quality of life as a whole. But we also need peace of mind when living apart from our loved ones. An emergency alert app combining a panic button with inactivity monitoring is a great and unobtrusive way to achieve it. AllsWell Alert app sends an alert even without pressing a button, so it's more reliable than most personal emergency alert systems and a much more affordable solution at only $9.99/month!

Download and enjoy the first month for free:
Download for Android
Download for iOS

AllsWell cares about your senior parents and highly advises you follow our little tips to help them forget about their pills forever and ever!