Getting More Socialization Into Your Elder Care Plan

Elder Care in Calgary

Socialization is an important aspect of maintaining mental and emotional health and should be a key component of your elder care plan for your aging loved ones. Keeping your seniors socially active offers a wide variety of cognitive and emotional benefits, including:

• Reducing feelings of isolation
• Warding off feelings of depression
• Easing anxiety
• Reducing stress and tension
• Supporting expression of range of emotion
• Stimulating cognitive processing
• Strengthening and supporting memory skills
• Providing a sense of importance and relevance

For many seniors, getting enough socialization becomes more challenging the time goes ont. No longer driving, retirement, loss of friends and family, less engagement in past activities, and physical, mobility, and cognitive challenges can lead to your elderly loved ones not interacting as much as they once did. Finding ways to integrate more socialization into their elder care plan supports their health and wellbeing while also making your routine more interesting and exciting for all of you.

Try some of these ideas to get more socialization into your care journey:

• Adult education. Learning opportunities are always a fantastic way to stimulate your parents minds, but joining an adult education class adds the benefits of social interaction to the learning experience. Look for classes that you can do together to extend the benefits and have fun together. Your classes do not have to be purely academic in nature. You can also look for a class that teaches a skill or craft;
• Find a club. If your aging loved ones have a particular interest or activity that they enjoy, research the area to find out if there are clubs they can join. This lets them make new friends, share their interest, and even learn more about this special activity;
• Join up with other caregivers. Create an elder care network and share the efforts of getting your aging loved ones socializing with other caregivers in your area. Get in touch with the elder care agency in your area to find out ways to connect with other caregivers and make plans to go on outings together, share meals, and enjoy activities so that your aging parents can make new friends, and you can also create new relationships with others who understand your daily challenges;
• Volunteer together. Make meaningful memories, enjoy social stimulation, and help the community by finding volunteer opportunities you can engaged in with your elderly loved ones. You can find ones to do with both of your parents, or research opportunities and choose ones that you do with each of your parents individually to address their interests, skills, and capabilities;
• Hire a care provider. Even if your parents are able to live largely independently and you have been able to offer the care and assistance that they need, hiring an elderly health care services provider can have a variety of benefits. Not only is this care provider another source of social stimulation, she can provide transportation to activities and appointments more frequently, and give you extra time to focus on other aspects of your life.