Senior Care is More Than Just Cleaning and Cooking
While nutritious meals and a clean environment are very important for seniors, what many older adults really need and value is socializing with a friend and engaging in activities that are enjoyable. The aging process often means that we are less able to do things we did in our younger years; it doesn’t mean that enjoyable activities are no longer possible.
The key is knowing what has been enjoyable in the past and adapting the activity for what the senior is now able to do. My mom used to love to knit; she was an expert knitter. During the last year of her life when she was in the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease, most of the time, she was disoriented to time and place, and many days she did not recognize me or my adult children. But she enjoyed it when I brought my knitting. She enjoyed touching the yarn, smelling of it, looking at the colors and the pattern book. Some days she was able to reminisce a little about items she had knitted in the past and about how she used to help me with the finishing of a sweater.
Almost all people love to go places and do things. For seniors with physical and cognitive impairments, combining their interests with adapting the activity to their abilities means thriving, not just surviving.
At Seniors’ Choice at Home, our first priority in hiring care givers is the ability to develop a friendly relationship with clients. Some examples of enriching, enjoyable and stimulating activities we have done with clients, are: taking a client for rides around a lake in the fall and out for an ice cream cone; taking a client to a large florist where the displays are gorgeous to see and to smell; taking a man skeet-shooting once a week, because that’s what he loved to do; taking a client to museums and galleries; taking a client to tea at a fancy tea shop where wearing a hat was encouraged.; taking a client on a short trip to Branson; taking a client to a golf tournament in a golf cart.
For more information about Seniors’ Choice at Home, check out our website at: www.seniorschoicemn.com or call Marilyn at 763-546-1599
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