A leisurely activity like gardening can extend your life, and it is beneficial for your health.
In 2016, a Swedish health study discovered a link between light activities, such as gardening, and overall health and longevity. It concluded, “A generally active daily life was, regardless of exercising regularly or not, associated with cardiovascular health and longevity in older adults.”
Hobbies such as light gardening as the sort of light activity could be beneficial to people. Especially for our elderly parents, there are so many benefits of it. Among them are:
Benefits of Gardening for Seniors
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- Enjoyable Form of Exercise
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Gardening contributes to a healthy lifestyle. It can be an enjoyable form of light exercise. While digging, planting, and watering, it burns calories and makes muscles and bones strong.
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- Increases Mobility
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Gardening involves squatting, stretching, pulling, and bending, which helps increase your mobility.
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- Improves Strength
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Gardening has the effect of boosting our immune systems. As an exercise, it strengthens your bones and muscles and boosts your energy level.
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- Reduces Stress Level and Boosts Relaxation
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It can lower your stress level, boost relaxation, and even reduce high blood pressure. Additionally, it increases life satisfaction, quality of life, psychological well-being, and more.
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- Stimulates Interest in Nature
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Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo, a fashion designer, said, “Gardening is how I relax. It’s another form of creating and playing with colours.” There is something inherently satisfying about watching a plant grow from a seed to a mature plant and watching the greenery with colourful flowers and fruits. Thus, it stimulates interest in nature.
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- Boosts Mental Health
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Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realised. Gardening has the effect of reducing hormones like cortisol, which is a response to stress. Time spent in the garden has been shown to improve the moods of people suffering from depression. This promotes the health and activity of their minds.
Safe Gardening for the Elderly
For many, gardening in their own home is simply off limits. Falling in the home is a hazard and one not to be taken lightly.
There are a number of safety tips that older people should follow, including:
- Take care in the use of gardening tools.
- Have secure gates and fences.
- Make sure all paths and walkways are flat and non-slip.
- Take frequent breaks while gardening and warm up before you begin.
- Stay hydrated by drinking water or juice.
- Wear protective shoes, lightweight comfortable clothes that cover exposed skin, a hat and gardening gloves.
However, falling in the garden brings with it a whole host of further dangers.
Our pendant alarm allows the user to move freely about their garden, safe in the knowledge that should it fall, the unit will still dial through to the 24-hour Careline team and assistance will be raised.
The pendant button has a range of up to 100 metres from the base unit. This is wide enough to cover the vast majority of UK homes and the surrounding area, providing freedom, independence, and peace of mind for those previously afraid of venturing outdoors to make the most of our beautiful autumn days.
So, our advice would be, “Go and enjoy the garden!” Always take care, but, above all, don’t forget to wear your personal alarm.
Thank you for reading this article. We hope you found it helpful. For more information like this, please visit our blog.
