Regardless of whether your loved one is in an aged care facility or receiving help in their own home, it’s important that they are staying as active as possible.
Given we are a provider of home care packages, this blog will focus on helping the elderly with a higher level of home care in the comfort of their own home.
To begin with, if you’re worried that your loved ones staying at home to receive their care is going to lead to boredom and isolation, you don’t need to worry.
Good home care involves keeping your loved ones active and connected while also keeping them comfortable at home.
There are a variety of activities that will ensure their time is occupied and their mind is kept active.
In this article, we have included some activities for your loved one that go beyond the usual suspects such as puzzles, television, Solitaire, and Sudoku.
Exercise
According to an aged care health website in America, regardless of your age, it’s never too late to start exercising and stay active.
However, it’s important to remember when it comes to exercise routines, there isn’t any particular routine that will suit all elderly people at all times.
Thankfully, there are plenty of resources available that your loved one will be able to use to find the exercise routine that suits them.
Here are some ideas to assist in keeping you active:
- Music – the right style of music can energise anyone and can help with motivation. Choose a style of music your loved one enjoys to encourage them to get active.
- Authorisation – be sure to check with their doctor that what they are doing is safe.
- Communication – if they are following a video or reading a book to get their exercises from, ensure that the instructions are clear, concise, and, more importantly, encouraging for them.
- Zoom – there are a number of gyms and personal trainers out there that can offer classes or sessions via Zoom. This option might be appealing to your loved one. The added bonus is that they might also be able to connect with others in the class.
- Quantity & Variety – if they are using YouTube as a resource, there’s never a guarantee that these videos will be available forever. To mitigate this, choose a number of different videos for them. At the very least, it will ensure they are staying active.
Baking & Cooking
The simple activity of baking & cooking can trigger many happy memories and create a really great bonding experience.
Particular tastes or smells can evoke a variety of emotions and memories that you can talk about with your loved one.
There are a number of ways this activity can benefit your loved one, and elderly people in general, such as emotionally, mentally, and physically.
The hardest decision you’ll need to make here is deciding what to cook. If you’re already helping deliver groceries to a loved one, and they’re still able to cook for themselves, why not ask them if they want to try cooking one of their favourite meals?
Alternatively, you can share recipe ideas and decide what would be best to cook together.
Activities such as cooking and baking involve a number of tasks that, in general, elderly people can assist with, depending on their abilities.
Tasks such as stirring, mixing, washing up, or even passing ingredients when needed will help them feel more engaged and feel part of the activity.
Staying Connected in a Fun Way
Staying connected using phone technology is incredibly important and has been amplified these past two years due to the pandemic.
But while talking on the phone is important it can feel a little awkward at times which is why we’d suggest implementing some ways to make the conversation fun and engaging.
You could send them a small gift that you could then talk about later on a phone call. This could be a new book, a framed photo of you both, etc.
If you would like to hear more about how Accent Home Care can assist you with home care services and a higher level of home care, call us on (03) 8720 1338 or email us at homecare@accenthomecare.org.au.