Living Alone at 70 and Beyond: How to Maintain Your Quality of Life
Reaching certain age milestones is a wonderful thing, but it does come with some new areas of consideration. Whether you’re living alone at 70, 71, or 86, quality of life should be your top priority.
Let’s dive into the factors that influence your quality of life—and what you can do to keep enjoying your later years!
Know Your Critical Quality of Life Factors
Every independent senior is different, but there are some essential factors that everyone should know. Support graceful aging with these key considerations!
Health and Mobility
During our younger years, we often view our health in segments. This is because, for younger folks, it is unusual for something to go wrong, and there is generally a specific reason for it—a broken bone or perhaps a targeted illness.
As we age, “whole health” becomes a much bigger consideration. With our bodies starting to change and entire systems starting to age, it becomes easier for one system to impact another. This is why it is essential to support your health in its entirety as you age.
Maintaining your health and supporting your mobility will help you to live more comfortably with each new year that you add to your life!
Mental Stimulation
We all require mental stimulation at all ages. In fact, it can be just as important for seniors as it is for toddlers. All too many seniors fall into the trap of forgetting to focus on mental stimulation, which can result in low moods or even cognitive decline. Mental stimulation is very important, whether you’re living alone at 70 or 90–it keeps you sharp, engaged, and as charming as ever.
Mental stimulation can come in many forms—reading, writing, crossword puzzles, and board games. Find ways to use your brain, and keep on learning!
Social Engagement
It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about wolves or humans—all living beings need socialization. Socializing is good for us, and it helps us to maintain a sense of normalcy, especially as the years pass.
Spend time with friends, family, and loved ones as often as you can. It doesn’t need to be every day, but it should at least be once or twice a week. Time spent with others is good for the mind and body!
The “You” Factor
You may be living alone at 70+ like many others, but we don’t need to tell you that you’re a completely unique person. Chances are that you know a lot of people around your age who are nothing like you. This is why the most important consideration for maintaining a good quality of life is considering what you want and need, and then finding that balance.
Ask yourself what you want your Retirement years to look like, then make a plan to make it happen!
Making the Most of Your Later Years: Supporting Quality of Life When Living Alone at 70+
Prioritizing a healthy mind, body, and social connections can make your later years a gift and an opportunity. These steps can help.
Find Passions That Keep You Engaged
One of the best and easiest ways to maintain a high quality of life in your later years is to find activities that you are passionate about. Don’t limit yourself to just one thing—you can find many passions to fill your retirement years!
The best passions for late-life will keep your mind sharp, your body engaged, and your spirit light. Here’s a starter list if you’re not quite sure where to begin:
● Painting
● Drawing
● Gardening
● Yoga
● Zumba
● Animal rehabilitation
● Volunteer work
● Puzzles
● Book clubs
● Tabletop Strategy Games
Find Your Tribe
Living alone at 70 and beyond means you have probably had your fair share of good friends and not-so-good friends too. This is great—it means you know what you like in the company you keep!
As you get older, it is crucial to find a good social group. This may happen as a result of your passions, or you may just regularly meet up with your neighbors. What matters here is connecting with others and having fun while you do it!
Many seniors have various social groups—lifelong friend groups, interest-related groups, and industry-specific groups. Find a point of connection, and enjoy time with people who keep you engaged.
Plan for the Future
Aging changes us over time, and those changes often arrive sooner than a lot of us expect. To truly maintain your quality of life, you will need to make accommodations for these changes. The more preparation steps you take today, the more prepared you will be to ease into your later years as changes come up.
Planning for the future means making decisions for some key areas, including:
● Living situation details
● Ongoing health support
● Emergency considerations
● Finances
● Physical belongings
● End-of-life care and planning
Don’t Be Sedentary
It is a wonderful thing to be living alone at 70, but physical movement is very important if you plan to maintain your independence past 70 as a senior. More often than not, health and mobility will determine if you are still able to live alone at 75, 80, and beyond.
To maintain your independence as a senior, you want to be reasonably active. This means going for walks and avoiding long spans of sitting each day. However, it can be even more beneficial to engage in low-impact exercises.
Check your local recreation center to find senior-friendly fitness options!
Have Daily Contact With Family and Friends
The unexpected can happen to anyone at any time, but for seniors, the risk is much higher. Daily contact with loved ones is one of the best ways to make sure you receive help if something unexpected happens in your home.
If you or your loved ones are living busy lives, daily contact might not seem possible, but you may be surprised. To really simplify things, it helps to use a check-in service. This simple approach lets you check in daily in a matter of seconds while keeping your loved ones informed.
In the event a check-in doesn’t go through, your loved ones will be alerted that something may be wrong. These services are excellent for everyone, even fiercely independent seniors!
Live a Wonderful Life at 70 and Beyond
Our later years are a gift, but there is no denying that they can come with some unexpected challenges too. At CheckinBee, we help seniors stay connected with their families through a simple daily check-in. A couple of taps a day lets your loved ones know that you’re thriving—and if something goes wrong, we’ll make sure they know that too.
To learn more about how our service works or to sign up for a free trial, connect with our team today. Senior independence is our top priority, and we are happy to help you maintain yours!
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