Ten Warning Signs Your Older Family Member May Need Help
Changes in physical and cognitive abilities that may occur with age can be difficult to detect—for older adults and their family members, friends, and caregivers. Any one of the following behaviors may indicate that an older adult needs assistance in the home. It is also important to inform the older adult's physician of these changes.
- Changing eating habits resulting in weight loss, appetite loss, or missed meals
- Neglecting personal hygiene including clothing, body odor, oral health, nails, and skin
- Neglecting the home, with a noticeable change in tidiness and/or sanitation
- Exhibiting inappropriate behavior, such as as being usually loud, quiet, paranoid, agitated, or making phone calls at all hours
- Changing relationship patterns, causing friends and neighbors to express concern
- Showing physical injuries, such as burns, which may have resulted from general weakness, forgetfulness, or possible misuse of alcohol or medication
- Decreasing or stopping participating in activities that were once enjoyable, such as bridge or a book club, dining with friends, or attending religious services
- Exhibiting forgetfulness resulting in unopened mail, piling newspapers, unfilled prescriptions, or missed appointments
- Mishandling finances such as not paying bills, losing money, paying bills twice or more, or hiding money
- Making unusual purchases such as buying more than one subscription to the same magazine, entering an unusual amount of contests, or increasing purchases from television advertisements
Administration on Aging. (n.d.). Ten warning signs: Your older family member may need help. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.eldercare.gov/