Top Ways Dogs Help Relieve Loneliness in the Elderly

Do you have to take care of your elderly loved one? If so, there are numerous tips that might be able to help you do so. One of the things that you may want to learn more about is how dogs can help relieve loneliness in the elderly. With the way the world is today, there are more and more senior citizens staying home often. When they do this, loneliness can creep up on them fairly quickly. However, a dog might help them to feel better. This may be something that you want to consider for your elderly loved one.

Companionship

One of the best ways that a dog can relieve loneliness is by providing companionship. Sometimes, people just need another living, breathing thing around them. Dogs are great for this because not only will they keep your elderly loved one’s mind occupied, but your elderly loved one can spend time with them, talk to them, and cuddle with them. All of these things can help your elderly loved one to feel less alone.

Bringing a Sense of Connection

If your elderly loved one is home a lot on their own, they may feel like they don’t really connect with anyone. However, if they were to have a dog, they could spend time with that dog. They could get to know the dog’s personality and really connect with them. There is a reason they call dogs man’s best friend. The connection and companionship they bring to a person is really unique and amazing.

Receiving Unconditional Love

Does your elderly loved one spend a lot of time on their own? Sure, they may have you and the companionship of senior home care providers. However, that doesn’t mean they have a lot of other connections with loved ones or friends. If your elderly loved one needs to feel more unconditional love, a dog could be a great addition to their family/household. Dogs have a way of recognizing a person’s emotions and making them feel better. They are there for their owners no matter what. This may be something that could truly benefit your elderly loved one.

Conclusion

These are some of the top ways that dogs can help relieve loneliness in the elderly. Now that you know about these benefits, you may want to talk to your elderly loved one to see if they would like a dog. It is important to make sure your elderly loved one can care for the dog before getting it for them. With this being said, you or a senior home care provider might be able to help a bit with taking the dog outside or going to the store to pick up its food.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Home Care in Galt, CA please contact the caring staff at Aging Assistant today. (916) 897-4752

Source

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3944143/