Housekeeping Services in Independent Living Explained

Everyone's immune system undergoes a process called immunosenescence, in which our bodies undergo radical changes. Our ability to react and defend against environmental threats, like allergens, decreases severely.

Succinctly, allergies can get worse as we age - which is one reason senior home cleaning services are vital. You can fight off allergies easily, but your elderly loved ones would have a much tougher time.

The risk of serious harm is greater if your parents have asthma or other respiratory issues. Cleaning services for the elderly help older adults live without worrying about their surroundings.

How, you ask? Keep reading, and we'll explain:

• What senior home cleaning services are
• Why professional senior cleaning matters
• The benefits of elderly cleaning assistance

What Are Senior Home Cleaning Services?

Senior home cleaning services are exactly what they sound like, cleaning services for older adults. Technically, there's little difference between housekeeping services for you and your parents.

Both offer most of the same services. The distinction is that cleaning services for the elderly have a stronger focus on disinfection and health.

For example, there's more attention on keeping surfaces clean and disinfected. Air filtration is another area of heavy focus. Remember we mentioned respiratory issues and difficulty healing earlier?

You can expect a greater focus on dusting and humidifying to make breathing easier for your loved ones. Below is a list of what you can expect from professional senior cleaning:

• Organizing and decluttering
  • Helping organize belongings to create a neat living space
• Kitchen maintenance
  • Includes disinfecting countertops and tables
  • Removing expired food items
  • Cleaning after food prep
• Bathroom cleaning
  • Disinfecting surfaces
  • Cleaning sinks, tubs, and showers
• Laundry assistance
  • Transporting and washing clothes
  • Folding and organizing clothing
• General cleaning
  • Vacuuming
  • Sweeping
  • Mopping
  • Dusting
  • Change HVAC filters
• Deep Cleaning
  • Cleaning hard-to-reach areas
    • Baseboards
    • Behind furnishings
    • Ceilings and ceiling fans

You can expect the housekeeping staff to spot and notify the maintenance team about damaged items, areas, and appliances. They'll alert maintenance about non-working light switches and refrigerators.

Senior Housekeeping: Independent vs Assisted Living

Something else to note is these cleaning services aren't necessarily for people who can't clean. Many seniors who use these services are fully independent.

It can become harder to clean as we age; we lose flexibility and dexterity. A fall can be very harmful to older adults and can result in an emergency room trip.

Still, it's not the same as an outright inability to handle household tasks. It's more a way to make life in the twilight years easier.

It's like hiring someone to repair your roof. You can do the work yourself, but it's riskier than if someone with the training and proper tools handled it.

This said, some housekeeping services offer cooking and medication management services. These communities and organizations may also shop, run errands, and aid with activities of daily living (ADLs).

ADLs include walking, grooming, toileting, and dressing. As mentioned, this article focuses on services for more autonomous older adults enrolled in independent living programs or who can live alone.

The services we've just mentioned are more assisted living tasks. Older adults enrolled in assisted living or have assisted living carers need extra help with tasks like ADLs.

Senior Cleaning Benefits: Why Professional Cleaning Matters

Professional senior cleaning matters because it keeps your loved ones safe and healthy. Let's discuss falls for a minute - we mentioned a fall can result in a trip to the emergency room.

Home care cleaning tips often state that a clutter-free home is a safe one. This is because keeping pathways clear is part of proper housekeeping.

Cleaning staff remove shoes, bags, and other personal items from pathways. Stairs are cleared of obstacles to make them as safe as possible. Staff push chairs under tables and ensure carpets and rugs lay flat.

Lowers the Risk of Illness

You can't avoid germs and bacteria because they're in the air. The issue is when they multiply in unclean areas. Surfaces like doorknobs can harbor flu for up to eight hours.

Viruses that cause the common cold can live up to several months. Cleanliness and disinfection kill germs and bacteria that would otherwise infect your loved ones.

Humidifying also helps eliminate germs. Viruses live longer in dry air, making it easier for them to spread.

Improves Mental and Emotional Health

Cleanliness helps foster a stress-free environment. Stress produces more cortisol, which triggers anxiety and depression.

As expected, clean living quarters may boost comfort and happiness. When people feel safe, they feel more confident moving and living in their surroundings.

People worry less when they don't have to worry about cleaning and aren't concerned about whether an unhygienic environment will harm them.

Organizing one's living space goes far in improving mental and emotional health. It makes it easier to find things and makes surroundings less distracting and chaotic.

Mental Health and Sleep

While less clutter and filth means less stress, it also means better sleep. Clutter can keep your mind busy, which keeps you awake. People may spend their nights mentally tracing objects in their messy environments.

Studies have found poor sleep affects biological aging. A partially deprived night's sleep was shown to deteriorate cell growth.

Lack of sleep can increase the risk of chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. People with these conditions were found to have higher levels of depressive symptoms.

Professional Senior Cleaning Makes Life Easier

Senior home cleaning services for independent living combine convenience with safety. Your loved ones don't have to concern themselves with the hassle or safety risks of cleaning.

The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights offers housekeeping and laundry services for our independent living residents. Boarders have access to:

• Residence and ground maintenance
• 24/7 Concierge services
• Dry cleaning services

We pride ourselves in giving our residents access to services that will make their lives easier and stress-free. In turn, you can relax knowing your parents are in our hands.

Are your loved ones tired of the rigors of maintaining their household? Contact us to discuss your loved ones becoming part of our community.