Tuesday, November 17, 2020

How Caregivers Can Help Seniors Prepare For the Holidays and the Fall/Winter Seasons Change

Professional home caregivers can help seniors enjoy holiday fun and create meaningful memories in a well-tended home. As you look forward to Thanksgiving, Jewish holidays, or other celebrations, you may contemplate how to involve your elderly loved one in the festivities. Professional home care can make a positive difference and alleviate those concerns. One year, Lisa helped Norma host family members for a Thanksgiving meal at Norma’s home. “Norma shared her recipes, and I had her guiding me in making them,” Lisa says. At the same time, she arranged for Norma to help where she could, with tasks like shopping and prepping ingredients.

Having a home care helper allowed Norma to shop for and prepare food and enjoy the day surrounded by family without leaving her home.

Professionals who perform home care services can help your loved one continue family holiday traditions by putting up festive decorations around the house and planning menus or special foods. To make gift-giving more manageable, a professional caregiver can assist with shopping, either in local stores or online sites and help with gift wrapping. Sending holiday cards or notes could be made possible for your loved one with the help of a home care professional. These caregiving professionals could work with your senior to purchase cards and stamps, address envelopes and mail the cards out.

Caregivers can help seniors attend virtual holiday religious services or other online activities by assisting them with setting up and using their smartphones or computers. Even a seemingly small thing, like helping your mom or dad find a familiar and favorite holiday show on television, can make your loved one feel connected to special times of the year.

Holiday preparations and customs can keep seniors engaged with friends and family, give them events to look forward to, ward off loneliness and lift them out of their daily routine. They can also cement relationships with their professional caregivers and spend time reminiscing together about holiday memories and traditions. Remote visits with extended family can also be a time to check on your loved one’s overall well-being.

On the other hand, if you are a family caregiver, respite home care allows you to take time off during the holidays to take care of your own needs.

Home caregiver wrapping a holiday present

Home Caregivers Help Seniors With Seasons Change

Of course, not every day is a holiday. Even mundane matters can be more comfortable for your elderly loved one with the help of personal home care assistance from a professional caregiver. With the change of seasons, new maintenance tasks often pop up around the house and outdoors.

If you arrange for landscaping, furnace inspection, leaf raking, window washing, or snow removal for your loved one’s home, a professional home care provider can ensure those services are performed regularly and thoroughly. Helping your senior schedule, managing and paying repairers and service providers is also a responsibility that professional home caregivers can take on.

At this time of the year, professional companion-care for the elderly can help your senior sort clothes, putting warm weather clothing away in storage, and pulling out seasonal coats, hats, and gloves. Any clothing that no longer fits or isn’t needed can be taken to a charity. Having your loved one involved in some housekeeping tasks can help him, or her feel productive and needed.

Lisa asks seniors in her care to help her with simple chores like drying dishes or dusting. “It keeps their hands busy,” she says. “It’s like occupational therapy, too.”

Fall is an enjoyable time for private home care aides to help seniors in their care enjoy some time outdoors before winter arrives. A walk or ride in the neighborhood offers seniors a pleasant view of fall foliage and provides the opportunity for them to feel like an active part of their community.

Home Caregivers Prepare Seniors For Winter

Shorter days can make all of us–regardless of age–feel like hibernating. A professional caregiver can keep an eye on your loved one’s behavior as the nights get longer, watching for mood changes and helping him or her remain as active and engaged as possible during the fall and winter months.

If you’re concerned about an elderly loved one during this time of year, contact Visiting Angels Newton/Canton to find out if an in-home caregiver could help both you and your senior enjoy holidays and every day.

About Visiting Angels Newton/Canton

Visiting Angels Newton/Canton MA is an award-winning local home care agency providing high caliber in-home care services to the elderly and people with disabilities. Countless families have benefited from our in-home Alzheimer’s care, dementia care, 24 hour and live-in care, companion care, senior care, respite care, transitional aid, and in-home care services in Watertown, Brookline, Stoughton, Canton, Dedham, Needham, Westwood, Norwood, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Chestnut Hill, Roslindale, and nearby towns. The essential personal care provided by Visiting Angels Newton/Canton can make a significant impact on your loved one’s happiness and quality of life.

We are staying Diligent

As the confirmed cases of COVID-19 continues to rise in our area, we are monitoring the situation and the advice from public health authorities. Visiting Angels Newton/Canton remains committed to our responsibility as your senior home care provider during this time. We recognize that our Visiting Angels home caregivers allow seniors to age safely and comfortably in their own homes, wherever that may be, and that some of our clients cannot get through the day or night without a home care aide. We want to assure you that our caregivers follow best practices, including hand-washing and staying home if they feel ill or have traveled. Our staff and caregivers are vigilant about wearing face coverings, gloves, and other protective gear when working with clients or in our home office.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.