Loneliness is so common in the elderly. When senior citizens get older, they often lose touch with their family members and friends for many reasons such as incontinence, immobility, tiredness, and many other reasons, too. If you are caring for your aging parent, there are many ways to help them combat loneliness
A Listening Ear
It is very important that everyone, including senior citizens, have someone to talk to. If you just engage in a conversation with your elderly loved one, ask them about their life, and get them interested in certain things, this can greatly help to reduce their loneliness. If you can’t find the time to do this regularly, you can hire elder care providers to do so.
Plan and Do Activities Together
If your elderly parent is feeling lonely, it may be helpful to plan and do activities with them. You can hire elder care providers to plan and do activities together with your elderly loved one, too. There are so many things that most senior citizens enjoy doing such as:
- Knitting
- Crocheting
- Woodworking
- Other forms of handwork
- Doing puzzles
- Going to the mall
- Starting a new hobby
- Exercising
- Going on small trips
- Other DIY projects
If you are caring for your aging parent, these are some activities they might enjoy. However, you can also sit and talk with your parent to find out some other activities that might be fun for them, too. By spending time doing these activities with your aging parent, they likely won’t be as lonely. It may even be a good idea to put these activities on the schedule, so your aging parent can do them with you or the elder care provider who is caring for them on that day.
Connecting the Gaps
Does your elderly loved one only feel lonely on the weekends? Maybe, they feel lonely later in the month when they are strapped for cash. By finding out the reasons why your elderly loved one is feeling lonely, you can start connecting the gaps. For example, if your aging parent is lonely on weekends, it might be good to hire elder care providers to visit with them on those days. If they are strapped for cash later in the month, maybe you, a neighbor, or a friend could go to their house to visit.
Conclusion
There have been many studies done to show how often senior citizens get lonely. In some of these studies, it shows that some common reasons senior citizens are lonely are because their friends move away, family members pass away, or they can’t get out of their home as much as they used to. If you talk to your elderly parent and find out they are lonely, making a plan to have them visit other people or to have people visit them more regularly would be a good idea. That way, your parent gets the socialization they need to reduce the loneliness they are feeling and prevent some in the future, as well.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring elderly care services near Greer, SC, contact Heart of the Carolinas Home Care at 864-991-3116. Providing Home Care Services in Greenville, Simpsonville, Greer, Anderson, Spartanburg, Mauldin, Seneca, Laurens, Charleston, Columbia and the surrounding areas.
Sources
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/loneliness-and-social-isolation-tips-staying-connected
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