EFT and the Elderly

Jun 25, 07 EFT and the Elderly

An area that offers great potential for healing and helping people is using EFT with the elderly. EFT can be used for physical issues like increased mobility, flexibility and pain. Perhaps EFT’s most important value is helping the elderly ease their fears with issues like abandonment, family, finances, health, insomnia, panic attacks and worrying in general. EFT can certainly help the elderly with their most common fear which is the fear of falling.

According to USA Today, each year, more than 11,000,000 people over the age of 65 will fall. Research at the Boston University School of Public Health, indicates that a fear of falling is a major problem confining older people to their homes. Interestingly, the fear of falling isn’t for the injury itself, but the fear of being institutionalized and labeled as unable to take care of themselves. As a result, elderly people keep their fears to themselves instead of opening up and sharing their feelings with their children or health care providers. Further, when elderly people are afraid of falling, they often restrict their activities, thereby limiting their mobility. The less movement, the less muscle conditioning, balance, etc.

There is also a strong belief that falling and breaking a hip means that “it’s all over.” Hip fractures often lead to blood clots, pneumonia and complications due to weeks or months of immobilization. Also, a challenge for the elderly is whether their hearts can withstand hip surgery. According to research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, 29 percent of older people who break a hip die within a year. Every year, approximately 300,000 Americans over the age of 64 break their hips. The elderly with hip fractures are two to five times more likely to die within a year than seniors of the same age without a break. The Osteoporosis Society of Canada says that of those who fracture their hips, around 20 percent will die within one year due to complications.

One of the key factors within every patient’s control in recovery is the patient’s self-confidence and desire to recover. Again, these are areas where EFT can help erase negative feelings, fears and beliefs. If they are open to the idea, you might teach your elderly family members how to use EFT as a self-help tool. For those unable to tap for themselves, you can use surrogate tapping, which is tapping on yourself for them.

There are a myriad of ways EFT can benefit the elderly. Here are some specific examples.

Lastly, if you’re a caregiver for your parents, it can be emotionally exhausting and stressful. Use EFT for yourself as a tool for releasing bottled-up emotions.

1 Comment

  1. Mayra /

    Thanks a lot for your post!! My sister and I are my mother’s caregivers. I’ve known about EFT for more than 6 years now, but I needed some specific articles to deal with my mom’s emotional problems. “EFT for elderly people who stuff their feelings” will surely be a lot of help!!

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