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Senior Care Fun: Visiting a Hands-on Aquarium with Your Parents

Senior Care in Ashland OH

Going out on adventures is a fantastic way to enhance your senior care journey with your elderly loved ones and pursue your care goals for them in a way that is engaging, interesting, and meaningful for everyone involved. One particularly fun and exciting activity for you to do together is heading to a local aquarium. Great any time of the year, whether it is simply too cold to be outside, so hot you want to escape into the air conditioning, or perfect weather but you want to do something that is indoors, visiting a hands-on aquarium stimulates your parents’ minds while also encouraging them to get out of the house, experience new things, interact with others, and even exercise their bodies.

Heading to the aquarium gives your seniors an opportunity to experience a range of sensory stimulation and to learn new things, both of which strengthen the mind and improve cognitive functioning. Use these tips to help you plan a successful, safe, and enjoyable visit to a hands-on aquarium with your parents:

• Research ahead of time. All aquariums are different, so make sure that you do some research ahead of time so that you know what types of animals the particular aquarium you have chosen has on exhibit, what types of encounters you can expect, and if there are any tours or experiences that you can buy separate tickets for that will give you an even more interaction with the animals.

• Follow instructions. If you intend on interacting with the animals, particularly if you have the opportunity to feed them, make sure that you go over the instructions with your parents carefully, or ask that an animal handler who works at the aquarium helps your parents understand the safe, healthy way to handle the interaction so that the animals and your aging loved ones can enjoy the experience. This is especially important if they have never had the opportunity to feed an aquatic animal before, since the sensation can be strange and may startle or upset sensitive seniors.

• Wash their hands. Make sure that your seniors wash their hands carefully after any interactions with animals. If they are going to interact with more than one type of animal, it is recommended that they wash their hands in between the animals so that there is less risk of contamination between the aquariums.

• Get help. Any time you are away from the home with seniors who have mobility, balance, other physical, or cognitive limitations, you could face serious challenges. This can be especially true at an aquarium where the lighting is often low to accommodate the needs of the fish and there may be changes in elevation that could cause movement problems. Consider asking your parents’ senior health care services provider to come along for the trip so that you have an extra pair of hands available to assist your parents as they get the most out of their experience, and to provide direct care to one parent while you spend time with the other so that everyone can have fun and stay safe.

If you are considering hiring senior care services near Ashland, Ohio, call the caring staff at Central Star Home Health at (419) 610-2161.  Providing services for families in Mansfield, Lexington, Bellville, Mt. Gilead, Loudonville, Crestline, Galion, Shelby, Ashland, Wooster, and the surrounding areas.

Stephen Sternbach

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