Being prepared for the future is essential at any age. Even if you’ve spent years as a prepper, your strategy doesn’t end when you reach your golden years. In fact, you might need to make some changes to adapt to your mental and physical needs as you age.
Tailoring your preparedness strategies specifically for aging can help you to stay healthy, stronger, and prepared for just about anything the future might hold.
Let’s cover a few important tips that will keep you safe and healthy throughout your golden years, no matter what emergencies or disasters you might face.
1. Understanding Health Concerns
Before you start putting together a preparedness plan, it’s essential to understand some of the common mental and physical health concerns seniors can face as they get older. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll experience all or any of these possible conditions. But, educating yourself on what they can do and what they might mean for the future should be the first step you take before deciding the right strategy for your well-being.
Some of the most common health concerns for seniors include:
- Arthritis;
- Heart disease;
- Cancer;
- Respiratory issues;
- Alzheimer’s Disease;
- Osteoporosis;
- Diabetes.
In addition to educating yourself on some of the common physical issues seniors have to face, it’s important to note that older adults can be more susceptible to mental health issues, too. That’s especially true if you face isolation and loneliness. It’s not uncommon for aging adults to spend more time alone, but that kind of isolation can lead to damaging mental and physical health problems, including depression and anxiety, or even low mortality.
2. Taking Care of Yourself
Of course, educating yourself on some of the potential risks that come with age is only half the battle. The other half is being able to care for yourself and being proactive about your well-being. While it’s not exactly everyone’s cup of tea to regularly go to the doctor, preventative health is an important resource that can help you to stay healthy and catch potential conditions early on before they become problematic.
Some of the biggest benefits of preventative healthcare include a longer lifespan, better quality of life, and reduced expenses when it comes to disease management. Things like regular medical screenings and vaccinations should be prioritized. That includes dental exams and regular vision exams, too.
Vision impairment can severely impact preparedness and response capabilities. If you’re struggling to see clearly or your eye problems are causing headaches or focusing issues, don’t hesitate to make an appointment with an eye doctor. For instance, cataracts, which can be caused by prolonged exposure to UV light and age itself, are very common and cause problems for many older adults. You might be in need of cataract care or other procedures that will keep your vision clear and your eyes healthy. Working with medical professionals now and developing a treatment plan or stocking up on medication can be a big help, especially if you eventually plan to go off the grid.
In addition to getting help from medical professionals, you can stay prepared for just about anything by prioritizing your health at home. Self-care is important for everyone, but it’s especially effective for seniors who want to maintain their health and wellness. Things like prioritizing sleep, eating a healthy diet, and staying active are all essential components to staying physically and mentally healthy.
Where you live can also play a part in how well you’re able to take care of yourself. It’s not uncommon for seniors to consider downsizing, and the rural lifestyle has health benefits for many people. As a prepper, you can either use your existing rural life to stay active or you can decide to move to the country and rely on the land more often. Rural living can help you learn new skills, encourage more physical activity, and make it easier to eat a nutritious diet and get more sleep.
Don’t forget to take care of your mental health, too. While eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep are all good for your mental well-being, things like journaling, practicing mindfulness, and meditating will take things one step further, especially when you’re in the middle of an emergency situation. Being able to manage your stress levels will reduce your risk of developing anxiety or depression, and you’ll be able to stay more focused on the things that need to be done to survive.
3. Adapting Existing Strategies
If you’ve been prepping for any length of time, you probably already have strategies in place to implement in emergency situations. How many times have you changed and adapted those strategies over the years? It could be time to make a change based on your current needs and abilities.
First, consider what skills you already have and which ones you need to work on in order to prepare for disaster. Basic survival skills are important, and even if you learned those skills in the past, consider how well-versed you are in things like:
- First aid;
- Weapon safety;
- Outdoor safety.
Now is a good time to take a training course to refresh your skills. Seek out mentors or classes, either in person or online. These survival skills can help to save your life or the life of someone you love.
If you feel like you’re at an age where you’re no longer equipped to handle things like first aid or outdoor safety, adjust your existing strategies. Designate another family member or friend to take over that role if a disaster occurs, and do your part to make sure you have all of the necessary supplies to help them.
Your survival kit should include water, flashlights, nonperishable food, a first-aid kit, a multipurpose tool, and more. Brush up on your skills as needed, double-check your supplies, and make sure your existing strategy fits with your current abilities.
As a prepper, you should also pride yourself on being a life-long learner. It never hurts to hone your skills at any age, and it never hurts to pass the torch to the next generation if there are certain things you can’t do as well as you used to. Surviving and thriving in emergency situations isn’t about preserving your ego, it’s about doing what’s best for all involved.
4. Ensuring Accessibility
One of the ways you might need to adapt your strategy is by understanding the accessibility challenges you might face.
If there’s a disaster or emergency situation, you might have to deal with things like power outages or evacuations. Older adults can sometimes have mobility issues. As many accessibility measures require electricity. If the power grid goes down for any length of time, you might be forced to stay at home for a while. You also might have a difficult time traveling elsewhere with limited mobility.
What can you do? Have a preparedness plan for staying at home. That plan should be able to sustain you for at least two weeks, if not longer. That includes having enough food, water, and medication to keep you healthy during that time.
If you do have to evacuate, put a plan in place that ensures you’ll have all of your proper medications and mobility aids, and consider what you’ll do if you run into accessibility issues in public. You should never travel alone, especially in an emergency situation. Having a support system at your side to get you from point A to point B is essential.
If you do have an evacuation plan in place, it should include a designated destination that meets your accessibility needs.
5. Relying on Social Support
Speaking of a support system, it’s a crucial component to survival at just about any age. But, it’s even more important in your golden years, especially if you’re dealing with health or mobility issues.
Your support system could include your family, but if they aren’t around, make sure it includes at least three people you trust and can count on in an emergency situation. A good rule of thumb is to establish a phone chain so you don’t have to waste time making multiple calls. Designate one person to be the first individual you call. It will be their responsibility to call the next person, who will call the next person, etc. Your support system can include as many people as you want, but they should all be given the same expectations and information during an emergency.
In addition to making sure you have people you can contact during a disaster, it’s also necessary to have a plan in place with them if you need to evacuate your home or be taken somewhere. Who would pick you up from your home? Do you have a backup ride available? Does that person have a vehicle that can accommodate your needs if you have health or mobility problems? While these might seem like minor details, they’ll make all the difference if an emergency event strikes and you need to leave home quickly. If you want your strategy to be executed properly and smoothly, these details matter.
6. Preparing Documents
No one expects the worst to happen when it comes to a survival situation. But, being prepared for emergencies means being prepared for everything. As you enter your golden years in a world that’s unpredictable, at best, it’s important to have all affairs in order. Prepare key documents now that you want your loved ones to have access to if you aren’t able to take care of yourself, or if something happens to you.
Leaving things behind for others to take care of is a headache your family doesn’t deserve. Important documents to have on hand include various forms of identification, financial information, legal papers, and medical information. Make sure those closest to you know how to access that information and where the documents are.
It can also be helpful to wear a medical ID bracelet. These bracelets can offer information like any existing medical conditions, allergies, and emergency contact numbers.
7. Practicing Your Plan
Once you’ve revised your preparedness strategy to meet your needs as you age, one of the best things you can do for the well-being of yourself and your loved ones is to practice. First, do what you can to obtain copies of your community’s disaster preparedness plan. Your local government might have an evacuation plan in place, and it’s important to learn what that is so you can safely get away from danger.
If you reside in an assisted living community, they also likely have procedures and policies in place regarding evacuation and safety plans.
If you live on your own or with your family and you’ve come up with your own plan to survive an emergency situation, consider participating in regular drills. Establish a meeting place so friends and relatives will always know where to find you if disaster strikes. While running drills and having these plans in place might seem like overkill, participating in them regularly will help you to gauge your overall ability to complete them. You might not be able to travel long distances on foot the same way you could twenty years ago. You might not be able to climb out of a window or go too long without certain medications. Practicing how you’ll respond will help you learn which parts of your strategy need to change and adapt to your needs and abilities.
It can be a humbling experience to tailor your survival preparedness strategies for the golden years. But, if you truly want to keep yourself and your loved ones as safe as possible in an emergency situation, shifting your strategies is necessary. Keep these suggestions in mind to make small changes to the plans you might already have in place. Those small shifts can make a big difference in your health, wellness, and safety, and will help to ensure that you actually get to enjoy your golden years without falling victim to disaster.
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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