Family matters now more than ever. The world seems to be going to shambles during these uncertain times, but our loved ones help to make some sense of it all. Sure, we might argue with a family member or two, or get on each other’s nerves from time to time, but at the end of the day, your family is there to help guide you through those rough patches.
Parents are a big part of helping us out during times like these. As they continue to age, you want to do your best to provide for them as much as you can. What better time to do this than during the holidays? You want to find ways to get through the holidays with your elderly parents, while also showing them how much you care for them. So, here are a few tips on how to do just that.
Gift Giving
Everyone loves presents. We love receiving them, and we love giving them to loved ones and watching their faces light up. Gift-giving provides people with a sense of camaraderie, love, acceptance, and simply good vibes all around. Gifts can be given for whatever occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.
The holiday season is a time of year where you can celebrate an elderly parent through the simple act of gift giving. Christmas has become synonymous with giving gifts, and with this time of year fast approaching, this can be one way of getting through the holidays with an elderly parent.
If your parent has recently retired from their job, you’ll need to come up with some retirement gift ideas. You can use Thanksgiving or even Christmas to give them a nice set of retirement gifts. You can even personalize some thoughtful retirement gifts by checking out Shutterfly for some ideas. A fun gift might include you personalizing a memento (like a frame or mug) from their former place of employment, or add a photo frame featuring your parent and a former fellow coworker. Your parents will enjoy the effort you’ve put into finding them a great retirement gift.
Items like these show that personal effort has been put into the gift selection. Imagine giving your parent a funny retirement gift on Christmas morning, and seeing their eyes light up, while they smile at a fun memory from their past. These items can be the perfect gift for your parents. Your favorite retiree will appreciate the gesture and see the present as a truly thoughtful gift.
Accompany them to the doctor.
A lot of people will use the holidays as an opportunity to visit their physician. During the holidays, a lot of people have a bit more free time to run errands, and doctors’ visits are usually added to the list of to-do tasks. You can use this free time to help your elderly parent by taking them to doctors’ appointments. The best thing about this is that your parents will love having you come along for support.
Sometimes going to the doctor can be daunting, especially for senior citizens. For some seniors who might be suffering from profound hearing loss, or recently receiving an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, sometimes going to a doctor can be a little scary. Imagine being diagnosed with memory loss, or even a serious neurological condition like Alzheimer’s disease. Now imagine having no one there to help you through such a life-changing diagnosis as you speak with an Alzheimer doctor. For seniors, this can be extremely daunting.
Imagine being your parent alone at the audiologist’s office, who is suffering from severe hearing loss and struggling with the background noise of the waiting room. Think about them, growing more and more frustrated by simply not being able to hear clearly in a noisy environment, where they might not even be able to hear their own voice. The sound quality is a struggle to deal with, and then comes the actual visit with the audiologist. Once again, in situations like these, seniors can be put on edge with having to deal with such visits by themselves. Offering to help find and pay for the best hearing aids for them is an excellent gift as well. The entire family will benefit from the improved quality of life and socialization that digital hearing aids for your parents will bring.
In both scenarios having you at their side during such visits can mean the world to seniors. In the case of having a parent who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it would be best to be there as they speak with a neurologist or neuropsychologist. You can help your elderly parent to wade through discussions of memory problems, different medications which they might need, support groups which they might be able to try, and even what their quality of life will be like going forward after receiving an early diagnosis.
In the case of dealing with an audiologist, having you there to focus on such topics like what your parents level of hearing loss is, what the best hearing aid is, what today’s hearing aids include, determining if your parents are suffering from severe hearing loss, whose the best hearing aid manufacturer, and determining the cost of hearing aids can be invaluable for your parents. Other topics that you might be able to help them to sift through include locating different, hearing aid brands, figuring out what advanced features come with a new hearing aid, and even what type of hearing aid your parent might need. Something as simple as finding out from the doctor how much a canal hearing aid retails for at Costco can be a lifesaver for your elderly parents.
Whether it’s a visit to an Alzheimer’s doctor for their Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, or going to an audiologist to get a new set of the best hearing aids on the market, your elderly parents will appreciate you taking the time to go with them on these health-related visits.
Do some traveling.
Going out to different places is something which your parents might like to do. As we get older, we aren’t able to stay as mobile and as active as before. When spending time with your parents, it helps to simply have the fun idea to get them out of the house.
This might include a visit to a local holiday attraction, a shopping mall, or a nearby restaurant. The point is to give your parents an opportunity to see something outside of the four walls of their homes while finding a great way to have some fun. Even if it’s just taking a drive on a long day, it’s always a good choice or a good idea to do some traveling with your elderly parent around the holidays.
