The holiday season truly feels like a wonderful time of the year for so many people, but for some older adults it can bring about feelings of wistfulness and loneliness. Loss of loved ones, physical challenges, and remembrances of seasons past can dampen the holiday spirit for seniors. Fortunately, we can all help brighten the lives of our older loved ones.
THE MEDICAL TEAM’s in-home senior care experts offer the following suggestions to bring joy to this year’s winter holidays for seniors in your life:
- Host a decorating party at the senior’s home. It can be difficult for a senior who lives alone to manage holiday decorating. At the start of the holiday season, bring family and friends together at the older person’s home. Coordinate a potluck lunch or order in a festive holiday meal, and spend an enjoyable afternoon reminiscing over favorite ornaments, decking the halls, and filling the home with festivity.
- Make a special holiday treat together. Pick a favorite holiday cookie recipe and spend an afternoon making it together and then enjoying the rewards of your efforts. Baking fills the home with delicious aromas to warm the heart and brighten the mood, and sticking to one recipe keeps it simple and enjoyable.
- Get involved in community activities. Community centers, schools, churches, and more offer opportunities to go caroling, watch plays and holiday musical programs, attend bazaars and luncheons, and more. Pull together a list of community events and provide transportation for seniors to attend and enjoy holiday happenings.
- Help another. Nothing boosts the spirit like helping those in need. Older adults can fill a great many needs over the holidays. They can visit other seniors who are alone, collect blankets, food, and other needed items for animal shelters, donate books or toys to the local children’s hospital, and write cards for veterans. Talk with the senior to find out what needs he or she is most passionate about, and then implement a plan to help.
If you’d like more ideas on ways to brighten the holidays for seniors, contact THE MEDICAL TEAM. We can also provide hands-on assistance to help seniors live happier, healthier, and more independent lives at home, through customized skilled home health care services, friendly companionship to keep isolation at bay, assistance with home care needs such as bathing, dressing, meals, light housekeeping, and more, specialized care for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic conditions, and so much more.
Serving seniors throughout New Orleans, Detroit, Austin, Dallas and the metro DC area, contact us any time to learn more about how our in-home care solutions improve quality of life for older adults, right in the comfort of home.
