A big part of maintaining independence at an elderly age is for you loved one to stay occupied during their day.  There are various activities that they can do on their own, as well as with their care givers.  One thing they will always love however is company, and participating in activities with family.  I live away from my eldest relatives, but when I visit I make sure to take extra time to spend with them, and I usually spend some time each day, even if it is not a long period of time.

When you live in the same town as your elders it is good to try and maintain a schedule for when you visit.  If you live close, try to go daily or at least every other day, even for just half and hour, and they will appreciate and look forward to your visits.  My grandfather always has the news on so sometimes I just sit and watch it with him, discussing interesting events at times and at others simply watching with him, giving him a sense of company he does not always have.

Visiting frequently can also benefit both you and your loved ones as you can more regularly check up on their health, even if they have live in care givers.  Its good to keep in touch about things like that and it gives them a sense of well being knowing that they are being closely looked after, and maintaining their independence.

Tags: health inquiries, Spending quality time

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 11:44 pm and is filed under Home Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.