Your senior loved one needs to spend time with friends and family members to enjoy positive mental health. Over the years, you loved one may have stopped being as social as he or she once was and may have challenges that interfere with the ability to get out and make new friends. When your loved one seems lonely, try using these five strategies to enhance his or her social life.
1. Bring People to Your Loved One’s Home
Seniors who face challenges with getting out of the house are at high risk for isolation. This tends to become a concern once a senior has a health condition that limits mobility or makes it unsafe to go too far from home. If your loved one is housebound, arrange for people to stop by regularly. Start by asking friends and family members to visit. Then round out your loved one’s social schedule by having a professional home caregiver stop by to fill in any gaps.
For families living in
Winnipeg, respite care can be a wonderful solution when their aging loved ones need companionship and socialization a few hours a week or just need minor assistance with daily household tasks. At Home Care Assistance, we thrive on helping seniors maintain their independence while living in the comfort of home.
2. Provide Something to Talk About
Some older adults are naturally shy. Your loved one may also feel as if he or she has little to say when the day is filled with the same old routines. Try helping your loved one develop a few conversational skills by doing things that help him or her stay current. For instance, you can talk about recent news stories or share a tidbit about the grandkids. Even giving your loved one a family photo can help him or her spark up a conversation during opportunities to socialize.
3. Look for Senior Events in the Community
Older adults often need to put effort into finding places to socialize with other people their age. Community senior events range from dances to special lunches that make it easy to form new friendships. Your loved one may also want to take a senior class that puts him or her in touch with others who share the same interests.
Winnipeg, homecare service, homecare service agencies can be a great boon to seniors. With the help of the caregivers at Home Care Assistance, your aging loved one can lead a happier and healthier life. We offer a revolutionary program called the Balanced Care Method, which encourages seniors to eat nutritious foods, exercise and socialize regularly, and focus on other lifestyle factors that increase life expectancy.
4. Address Transportation Issues
Your loved one may be choosing to stay stuck in the house because of anxiety about driving. If your loved one lives with issues such as vision loss, he or she may prefer to drive only when necessary. If you suspect this is the case, offer to find transportation assistance that allows your loved one to stay mobile.
5. Ask if Your Loved One Needs Help Getting Ready
Socializing may not seem like much fun to your loved one if his or her hair is dirty or he or she is no longer able to get dressed easily. While this can be a sensitive subject, you need to know if your loved one is having difficulty with personal hygiene. Consider arranging for someone to wash and style your loved one’s hair once a week. Sometimes just having someone help with laundry is all it takes to give seniors confidence to spend time with other people.
Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of
elder care. You can rely on Home Care Assistance to provide individualized care plans to meet your elderly loved one’s unique care needs. Our holistic Balanced Care Method was designed to help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and our Cognitive Therapeutics Method offers mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. Rely on the professionals at Home Care Assistance to provide high-quality compassionate care for your loved one. Give us a call today at (204) 489 6000 to learn about our flexible in-home care plans.