While many find the holidays to be among the happiest times of the year, the end-of-year festivities are often when seniors are most susceptible to depression. The loss of loved ones who used to be present during the holidays, combined with health or financial problems, weigh heavily on seniors and make it difficult to get into the holiday spirit. Couple that with the isolation that colder weather brings, and lifting the spirits of a senior loved one becomes even more important for their health and wellbeing during this time of year.
Follow these tips to lift your loved one’s spirits while you celebrate the holidays and show them how much you care!
Eight Tips for Lifting a Senior’s Spirits
1. PLAN FAMILY GATHERINGS
Family gatherings are not always easy to plan – especially if your family members live in different places. However, video technology, like Facetime and Zoom, has made contact easier virtually any time of year. Whatever form the gathering takes, the important thing is that it is a time to share the simple joys of the holiday season with each other.
2. ENJOY THE HOLIDAY LIGHTS AND DISPLAYS
If your seniors drive, encourage them to tour their neighborhood and see the holiday lights. If they don’t, take them on a tour with you. Also, family members can take videos of their own decorations and of the homes decorated in their neighborhoods, and share them over a video conferencing app. It’s a tradition (with a little modification) that can hearken back to holiday celebrations of the past and will certainly get everyone in the holiday spirit.
Every year, Bethesda Health Group’s senior living communities (excluding Memorial Care Center in Belleville, IL) are adorned with twinkling holiday lights. Each campus is different and provides a great opportunity for you and your loved ones to enjoy easily accessible holiday lights displays. Drive through Bethesda Southgate’s “Winter Wonderland” or surround yourself with beautifully lit trees lining the streets of The Oaks at Bethesda. For many, including Bethesda Director of Business Development Carrie Wetzel, Bethesda’s holiday lights are a yearly tradition.
“Not only do I go look at them – my daughter helped set them up at Southgate for the last few years for their event. And last year, we did caroling outside of Bethesda Gardens with my church,” Carrie says.
3. HOLIDAYS ARE MADE FOR MEMORIES
It doesn’t always take a lot of effort to make special memories. Calling your aging loved one on the phone or via video could serve as the perfect time to reminisce by sharing stories and fun times together. These simple conversations will mean more to your loved ones than you know. It’s a simple gesture, but sometimes, simple gestures mean the most! Update your senior loved one on what is happening in your life, share how you are going to celebrate the holidays, and ask how they are doing.
4. MUSIC FESTIVITIES
Music is a fantastic mood booster. Attend a local holiday concert or play. Bring some old records or CDs of your senior’s favorite holiday songs to their home to listen to together. You can even sing along or listen to music with them over the phone.
5. SEND A HOLIDAY CARD
You can post a holiday family photo on your Facebook timeline with a message, or use Instagram, whose photo-sharing site makes it easy for you to edit and post your smartphone pictures. But perhaps the best option is the good old-fashioned card you pick out specifically for your senior loved one, with a handwritten note to let them know you are thinking about them.
6. GET OUT AND ABOUT
A change of scenery is refreshing for everyone, especially seniors. If your senior is not able to leave their home to celebrate the holidays, Window Swap offers video and sounds of different scenic window views around the world.
For a change of scenery closer to home, send videos or photos of past holiday celebrations to your seniors and reminisce on your favorite memories.
7. DO AN ACTIVITY TOGETHER
Board games and card games, along with online games and puzzles, are fun activities you and other family members can play with your senior. Other options — you could cook a meal together, work on a craft together or create a family photo album.
8. DECORATE
This tradition, if appropriate for your loved one, is definitely worth keeping! Have the senior share what decorating has been done in his or her home to get into the holiday spirit and family members can also share how they have decorated. Swap decoration ideas to send to each other. Changing the look of where someone is living can go a long way towards improving the mood of the people living in it.
If your senior finds themselves feeling isolated at home, consider speaking with them about moving to a senior living retirement community, where the risk of depression can be reduced through daily interaction with other people who share their interests. A senior living community offers a sense of family, with great activities to help them live an independent and active lifestyle without the burden of home ownership and maintenance.
