Older adults commonly experience fine motor skill changes as they age. This can depend on any individual conditions that they may have, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, as well as their fitness. This is one of the reasons yoga and pilates can be great for older adults. They are low impact workouts that strengthen their muscles and can improve or preserve flexibility. Today we are going to discuss certain tasks and how we can adapt them as someone ages. This can of course be done with the assistance of a caregiver or sometimes through a modification with the help of assistive technology.
Difficulty Holding Slender Tools
Older adults may struggle with holding a wide range of everyday objects, from toothbrushes and hairbrushes to utensils and pencils and pens. Senior Safety Advice has a great post about this titled “7 Fine Motor Challenges Seniors Face and How to Overcome Them.” One way to accomodate these challenges is to look for tools that are wider and thicker. I know for pencils you can usually find thicker ones that are designed for small children, but there is no rule that they have to be only used by kids.
Using Buttons and Zippers
Clothing with buttons and zippers can be challenging for someone who is experiencing changes in their fine motor skills. This is one of the many reasons why we frequently recommend that older adults use loose fitting clothing either without these items and we also recommend items like shoes with velcro. We want to promote independence by having the older adult still dress themselves as long as they can.
Tomorrow we will be talking way more about this topic. Then, we’ll talk about some great fine motor exercises we can utilize.
Written by Brigid Coffey
