It can be easy to forget about senior citizens and their contributions to our lives and the world around us. With hectic schedules and daily life taking most of your focus, it can be quite easy to forget to think about anyone who isn’t involved directly in your usual routine. While this is perfectly normal and understandable, it’s also important to recognize how this might affect others around you, particularly elderly relatives who might be living alone and feeling isolated. No one wants to feel insignificant or like they’re a burden on others, but this can happen to your senior family members more easily than you might realize. To make sure that your elderly parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles still feel appreciated and important to you, try to do more of the following.
Call Them
Try to make sure you’re calling them on the phone at least once a week to check in. Sometimes this might be hard to manage if you’re busy working and running a household, but even if you just speak to them for 20-minutes, they will be happy you made the time. If they are comfortable using technology, you could even take this one step further and schedule a video chat with them. This way, you could also get your kids or other relatives who are with you to get involved in the conversation too.
Make Time for In-person Visits
Although this last year has made it difficult to do this, as restrictions ease over time, arrange to go and visit them in person or invite them to come and stay with you. Even if you just go over to enjoy a cup of coffee with them for an hour, this type of social contact will be good for both of you, particularly if your elderly relative lives alone. While phone and virtual conversations are great, nothing beats face-to-face contact, and making the bit of extra effort will show them how much you care.
Encourage Them to Pursue Hobbies
When you get older, it might be easy to get used to settling down in front of the TV during the afternoons, or you might generally lose your motivation to get out and keep active. However, senior citizens must remain active both physically and socially. If your elderly relative lives alone and doesn’t seem to get out much, you should encourage them to find a new hobby to enjoy. If you can find a local club that accommodates these interests, that’s even better, as this could be a great opportunity for them to make some new friends and have something to look forward to each week. Why not try out a few different things with them to help them find something they’re passionate about? It could be a wonderful bonding experience for you both.
Look Out for Signs That They Might Need Specific Care
Another way you can show your elderly relatives you love them is by paying attention to their general well-being. It might be a sensitive subject, so it should always be approached gently, but if they are showing signs that they are struggling to take care of themselves it might be time for that conversation. If you have noticed that their home is not as tidy and clean as it used to be, that they have lost weight, there is a lot of out-of-date food in the fridge, or that their hygiene is in decline, these are things you should be concerned about. In these circumstances, you might want to look into assisted living facilities or in-home care options to get them the right support they need. Frontier Management https://frontiermgmt.com offers assisted living, independent living, and memory care options if you’re interested in learning more about this.
Encourage Your Kids to Make an Effort Too
For many grandparents, their grandchildren are the light of their lives. When your children are small, they might relish spending time with their grandparents, but as they move into their teenage years, their interest in hanging out with the adults might be something that they resist. While it’s understandable that teens want to spend more time with their friends, family is still very important. Try to encourage your kids to make more of an effort with their grandparents and close senior relatives. This will mean so much to them. Your kids might even be surprised to learn things about their grandparents that they haven’t heard before and be impressed with their past achievements.
Invite Them to Things
Visiting them as often as you can is great, but you should also try to make more of an effort to invite them to things that you’re doing with the family. For example, are you planning to spend a day out at the beach with the kids this weekend? Why not see if your elderly relative would like to join you? Or perhaps having them over for Sunday lunch once or twice a month? Even asking them to accompany you all on your next vacation would be a nice thing to do. They might not always accept your invitation, but the fact that you asked them will be enough to make them feel loved and appreciated.
Actively Listen to Them
Another thing a lot of people can be guilty of is passive listening. Again, it’s easy to do when you’re distracted by things that are going on in your life, but it can be hurtful to the person who is trying to have a conversation with you to feel as though they aren’t being heard. When you are calling your elderly relative or spending time with them, try to make more of an effort to pay attention to what they’re saying to you. Be present in the conversation, so you don’t risk them feeling as though they are boring you or you’re not interested in their company.
Getting older is inevitable, but everyone can find it hard to accept these changes at one time or another. Make sure the senior citizens in your life don’t feel forgotten or left behind but using these tips to help you engage more with them and show them how much you appreciate them being in your life.
My name is Sardar Ayaz a professional content writer and SEO expert having Proven record of excellent writing demonstrated in a professional portfolio Impeccable grasp of the English language, including idioms and current trends in slang and expressions. I have ability to work independently with little or no daily supervision with strong interpersonal skills and willingness to communicate with clients, colleagues, and management.
I can produce well-researched content for publication online and in print, organize writing schedules to complete drafts of content or finished projects within deadlines. I have 12 years’ experience to develop related content for multiple platforms, such as websites, email marketing, product descriptions, videos, and blogs.
I use search engine optimization (SEO) strategies in writing to maximize the online visibility of a website in search results