See How a Pet Can Help Heal a Senior’s Lonely Heart

A Few Tips from Trusted In-Home Care Experts

As our kids grow up, move out, and build lives of their own, it is easy to feel a sense of isolation and worthlessness. Without the need to haul children to soccer games or dance recitals, there is little purpose left in life. Caring for a pet is one way to overcome this sudden surge of loneliness and find new meaning in the world once again. Pets offer delightful companionship and other emotional benefits for you and your aging family member that can turn life around.

Senior citizens can fall prey to a severe depressive state in a short time if they are left alone. Pets can fill that gap in those golden years. Additionally, at Home Instead Guelph, Cambridge, Caledon, Orangeville we provide in-home care that allows you or your elderly family member to regain new purpose to remain engaged with life and living.

4 Ways a Pet Helps Heal the Lonely

There are many benefits a senior citizen can reap when they choose to have a pet. Here are four points for you to consider:

1. A pet gives new purpose: It is easy to lose motivation for healthy living when a person lives alone. Isolation can leave them feeling like no one cares about their well-being. Once a pet enters the picture, the senior can once again have a sense of responsibility. Since an animal relies on their human caregiver to tend to their needs, your loved one may look into their own health requirements to care better for their pet.
2. A pet eases emotional pain: Losing a spouse or close friend carries considerable emotional distress and possibly a sense of hopelessness. Even adjusting to retirement can evoke feelings of sadness. A pet offers unconditional love that brings comfort and reassurance. An animal does not judge, so your mom or dad may feel safe ‘confiding’ in their dog or cat.
3. An animal can help with physical healing: After any injury or sickness, your mom may not feel up to the prescribed exercise routine. Sometimes these activities are physically demanding for an ailing body and can make a senior play hooky from their sessions. A dog can add fun to work outs again. They love to go for walks with their owner or can be just content sitting next to them while they work on their stretches.
4. Stroking a pet can reduce stress: Emotional upheavals such as pain or anxiety can interfere with healing. Relaxation helps lessen these feelings to a great degree. Even stroking on the soft fur of a cat is said to lower stress hormone levels and reduce blood pressure.

Pets can be an integral part of your or your parent’s life. They bring joy and meaning back into life. However, sometimes elders needs additional senior care support that cannot come from just looking after a pet. A home helper can bridge that gap. At Home Instead, we help seniors and their families with a variety of in-home care options and support. Our professional caregivers are highly trained and ready to help you, or your elderly loved one enjoy this season of life to the fullest.