Parents are the father and / or mother of a child, either through biological or social relationships. Generally, parents have a very important role in raising children, and mother / father calls can be given to women / men who are not biological parents of someone who fills this role. Examples are in adoptive parents (or adopt) or stepmother (wife of child biological father) and step father (husband of child biological mother). According to Thamrin Nasution, parents are everyone who is responsible in a family or household duties that in everyday life referred to as father and mother.Jika according to Hurlock, parents are adults who bring children into adulthood, especially in times of development . Parent duties complement and prepare the child to maturity by providing guidance and direction that can help the child in living the life. In providing guidance and direction in children will be different in each parent because each family has certain conditions that are
As a child, it is our duty to worship parents. Moreover if our parents are elderly, where usually their body condition began to weak and sickly. For that, it is necessary we as a child know how to care for parents well. On this occasion, we will discuss various matters relating to health problems that are common in elderly people and how we can assist them in living the days of old age.
Exchanging Roles
We need to understand that every phase of our lives will go on and change. If it was the parents who nurtured us as a child with great patience, it is time to repay their kindness by caring for them when they are elderly. The process of "role exchange" is a very natural thing and we need to be grateful. Imagine, there is even a hadith of Muslim history, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allaah sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam once said: "Woe! Woe! And really wretched! "Some asked," Who is the Messenger of God? ". He replied, "One who finds one or both parents to the elderly, but can not cause him to enter heaven (because of his attitude to his parents)."
The Aging Process
Many changes that occur in various organs of the body that we can meet in elderly people, such as: the ability of vision and hearing is reduced, the heart becomes somewhat enlarged, the maximum use of oxygen decreases, increased blood pressure, arterial blood vessel wall, muscle mass as well as decreased hand-holding power, decreased maximal breathing capacity, decreased brain damage and nerve cell damage, decreased bladder capacity so that urinary frequency (sometimes even wet bed), and kidneys become less efficient at removing waste from the bloodstream. Conditions like these will raise many health problems in the elderly.
What we can do?
In caring for elderly parents, we need to know some important things as follows:
Intend to seek the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. With sincere intentions, we will do the job with a broad heart, so that the hard work will be light. Caring for parents is not a trivial matter, because it takes patience, especially if our parents are sick, weak, or even no longer able to perform activities independently.
Speak and be gentle. An elderly person is particularly vulnerable to depression. They are easily grieved and stressed out by thinking of something. It takes a warm and familial atmosphere so our parents are happy and feel cared for. In addition, teach our children to respect and care for our parents. If the parent has experienced hearing loss, then we should approach when talking to them, and not by shouting or voicing loudly. Do not occasionally yell at them, because it will hurt the parents who have taken pains to nurture and educate us from childhood. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said in Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Isra 'verse 23 (which means): "And your Lord has commanded that you should not worship other than Him (do shirk) and you should do good to your father's mother as well - better. If one of them is either old or old in your care, then never say to them both "ah" and do not yell at them and say to them noble words. "
Exercising together. If the condition of the parents allows, occasionally invite them to exercise with other family members. Of course we have to adjust to the condition