Helping Senior Relatives Declutter Their Home and Mind
Decluttering is not a new concept, but the benefits of removing unwanted things from any living space is beginning to get more recognition. It creates a clean and neat environment, improves safety, reduces stress and enhances mental well being. Whether your elderly parents are coming to live with you or are just visiting, uncluttering your home offers Amazing benefits. Here are practical changes that you can easily do to organize your own home or that of seniors living independently.
Reduce Paper and Go Digital
Paper waste is one of the many things that take up a lot of space. It is estimated that on average, an American consumes 700 pounds of paper each year according to the EPA. Paper accounts for over 26% of total municipal waste. Keeping paper bills, printing photos and documents take up a lot of space and contribute to the clutter in homes. To prevent the unnecessary accumulation of paper, digitize photos and always opt for e-bills. While seniors tend to not necessarily agree with putting everything in disks or external drives, you can propose to do it in batches. You can also enlist their help in digitizing your stuff or teach them to do it. It will help them become familiar with the process, and they will also learn a new skill.
Clean Up at Regular Intervals
General clutter is probably the worst type of obstructions that you have at home. You might still be holding on to old clothes that have seen better days because of sentimental reasons or stuffed toys of your grown-up kids. Sort, recycle or donate stuff monthly to keep a handle on things. Make a garage sale or offer to do one for your elderly parent’s things they do not need to keep. Hoarding, classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a mental health condition can especially become a problem for seniors. Things that hoarders keep hidden and out of sight could also pose additional health or safety hazards.
Keeping your homes clutter-free not only benefits your family or the elderly who plan to move in with you but also friends who visit. Decluttering helps improve safety around the house, moderates stress and promotes positive vibes.
Use Storage Facilities
The major downside of clutter is that it takes up a lot of space. There is not much room to move and if your living area is already cramped, it becomes a pain to get from one point to another without making complicated maneuvers. For the elderly visiting your home or living with you, this can become dangerous as it may lead to falls that could result in injuries. In addition, this can also create tension and stress unknowingly which are not good for mental health. To help declutter spaces and improve senior safety, consider storage facilities where they can keep their belongings and have easy access to them.
The benefits of renting a self-storage unit are becoming increasingly apparent, with families and individuals recognizing that they have valuable items that they can’t bear to part with but perhaps they don’t want to clutter up their homes. Being ruthless in uncluttering your home is a tough but ultimately rewarding task. Depending on your situation and reason for needing more space, you may find yourself not wanting to throw things away but instead have easy access to them while knowing that they are being stored in an affordable and safe place. Self-storage is ideal for those situations as it offers an affordable solution in a variety of sizes depending on what or how much you need to store, which is easily accessible if you choose a facility near where you live. Using self-storage facilities will also allow you to benefit from knowing that your goods are safe and secure, often including security and precautions such as color cameras digitally recording on all properties 24 hours a day, alarms, and security staff.
Helping senior relatives
Seniors can be particularly at risk of keeping too many items and creating excessive clutter in their home with around 1 in 20 elderly people displaying such tendencies. Prior conditions during their lifetime such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder can be contributing factors but emotional trauma involving loss also puts seniors at a higher risk. Helping a senior relative that begins keeping so many things that their home becomes hard to live in can be very beneficial to their health. Although a need to unclutter for most people is simply the result of wanting a cleaner living space, the possibility of there being a more serious underlying condition related can occur at any age. Symptoms and associated behavior potentially including severe anxiety when attempting to discard items, obsessive thoughts about running out of something and suspicion of others touching their things.
Whether you are taking action to reduce clutter in your own home for a cleaner living space or coming to the aid of an elderly relative to help prevent any long-term damage to their health and home, self-storage can be a great option. With options for different sized storage spaces, it is easy to find one that fits your requirements. Plus, the bonus of security features and still being suitable even for those on a budget, self-storage can help unclutter your mind and home.
