With the holiday shopping spree going on, you may find that you have a senior on your list. When buying something for an elderly person, there are some things to consider. First, you want to make sure that what you buy is used and not just stashed away. Practical gifts can be tough when it comes to seniors. The list below contains ten gift ideas that may make your holiday shopping much easier.

1. If the senior lives alone, a Medical Emergency Notification System is a great gift to ensure their safety.

2. Cell Phones with Easy to see and use buttons.

3. If the senior is a pet owner, a pre-paid walking service or grooming is a great gift.

4. Gift certificates to the barber or hairdresser, especially if they will come to their home.

5. Pre-pay a season of lawn mowing and landscaping.

6. Wall clocks with a large face so they are easy to see.

7. If the senior is hearing impaired, a flashing light doorbell or telephone will be of great use.

8. Universal TV Remotes with large buttons.

9. Lap tables can be handy to eat on and can also provide a place for small items, such as remotes and eyeglasses.

10. Clothing with zippers or large zipper pulls.

Source: associatedcontent

Image Source: sxc.hu

Throughout the year senior caregivers have the tendency to put everyone else first. Over the holidays, the focus needs to return to their own well-being. Help them relax and step away from their caregiving responsibilities with the following gift ideas:

1. Respite care – a break from caregiving responsibilities is appreciated by most caregivers, whether they’d admit it or not. Hire a service to provide respite or step in yourself, offering assistance once a month, or even just one time!

2. Entertainment gift certificates – send them for a night out at the movies or dinner with a gift certificate

3. Spa services – a day out at the spa can be rejuvenating for a female caregiver. Treat them to the chance to relax!

4. Subscription to a book club or movie service – this is something they can do to relax while providing care. Movies can be enjoyed with their senior, and books can be shared

5. Service to help them at home – caregivers have so much to take care of, help them maintain responsibilities of their own homes with cleaning services for inside the home or for yard work

Via: AgingCare

Image Source: www.sxc.hu/

Many seniors with Alzheimer’s find themselves restless, and wandering is a common issue that many senior caregivers need to cope with. We’re not just talking about a trip to the kitchen in the middle of the night either; we’re talking about venturing outside of the house, often at unusual hours, and often without proper clothing for the weather outside. Wandering is a concern year-round, but for caregivers in colder climates, winter is even more concerning. So, this holiday season as a caregiver give yourself and the senior in your life a gift and take steps to reduce wandering:

1. Install alarms that tell you when external doors or windows are open – you need to give seniors with Alzheimer’s the freedom to move around their home, but even a home alarm system that chimes when doors or even windows are opened can warn you that your loved one might be wandering away

2. Disguise doors – if you don’t want seniors wandering between rooms or outside, paint rooms so the doors blend with the walls

3. Discourage wandering with signs – post signs on doorways inside the home, reminding seniors with Alzheimer’s what can be found on the other side. If there are rooms that seniors should not go in, or doorways that lead to outside, label them with “do not enter”!

4. Give seniors a safe area to walk around – seniors with Alzheimer’s often find themselves restless. Having a secure backyard or garden area can get them out of the home when they feel the need to wander in a safe manner

Via: About.com

Packing up and hitting the road or the skies can be exciting for many seniors who are anticipating visiting with family over the holiday season; however, taking a trip away from home can come with its stresses as well. Make sure that you’re not overwhelmed by your need to travel, try these tips to reduce holiday stress!

1. Don’t travel with anything you don’t need – keeping your luggage as light as possible will avoid extra baggage charges and be easier to manage. Ship gifts ahead of time rather than travelling with them

2. Remember it will be busy – leave extra time, it’s likely you’ll encounter crowds, such as long lines when checking in at the airport

3. Keep costs low – by researching your travel options you can keep costs low. Don’t book the first flight you find, find the best price, and if staying in a hotel, find the best deal!

4. Travel with a companion – travelling can be less stressful if you go with a friend or family member, so try to avoid travelling alone

5. Double and triple check your packing – make sure you travel with all of the essentials, especially your medications, so check what you’ve packed before you travel

Via: About.com

Sometimes caregiving responsibilities feel like they come at us out of nowhere, and when they do, the responsibilities are huge. You don’t have to become a regular caregiver for a loved one to play an important role in care; simply by helping to arrange the care of someone you love, you make a big difference and can call yourself a caregiver. Great, right? Now you have the title, but that just doesn’t make the process any easier; so here are some tips to follow when making care decisions and choosing a home care agency to get you through the process:

1. Know what’s out there – to choose the best option, explore them all. Even if you have home care in mind, visiting a nursing home will only help to reassure you of your decision

2. Ask the opinion of others – the best feedback you will receive on home care places you’re exploring is from other trusted friends and family members who have been through the process

3. Interview someone at the service – before you even meet with a caregiver, interview someone in charge at the home care service about what they provide, and what their specific policies are

4. Ask about licensing – the home care service should have appropriate licenses as required by their jurisdiction; ask about this, and also find out if the home caregivers have any specific level of training

5. Be straight forward – to make sure that that important senior in your life receives adequate care, don’t sugar coat what you’re dealing with. If your loved one is difficult with certain tasks or activities, let them know so they can reassure you by talking about how they’d address these circumstances

Via: Family Caregiver Alliance

We’re approaching a season with a full string of holidays – Halloween is just around the corner, followed by Thanksgiving, Hanukah and Christmas; and for many seniors it’s a time that also results in great loneliness known as the Holiday Blues. Holidays aren’t always like seniors remember them to be, with friends and family no longer around, celebrations and traditions can change and make seniors long for the past. The holidays don’t have to become a time dreaded by seniors; with these tips they can make the most of a time of the year that should be filled with joy, not despair:

• Don’t expect too much – if big family get togethers haven’t been a big part of holidays recently, don’t expect them or you’ll only face disappointment

• Don’t do things that are too stressful – holidays are meant to be a time of enjoyment, so if there are certain tasks that surround the holidays that stress you out, avoid them!

• Volunteer – surround yourself with others in the community by volunteering and giving back

• Don’t isolate yourself – when holidays aren’t the way they used to be, seniors might become isolated; join in on activities in the community, get together with friends and make sure you don’t have to be alone

• Maintain a healthy lifestyle – to keep your spirits up, take care of yourself. Exercise, eat well and limit  alcohol consumption

Sources:

1. 4Therapy

2. About.com

Do you feel like you’re missing out on the little things by not living near your grandchildren? You might hear about the big picture things like report cards at the end of the year, but you miss out on things like seeing your grandchild with a face full of tomato sauce after a spaghetti dinner. Now, with technology available like webcams, you can catch all of those little moments that you miss out on by being far away.

Here are some tips for using a webcam, and bridging that gap so you’re part of the daily lives of your grandchildren that way you don’t have to miss a beat:

1. Get the webcam – many laptops that are sold today come with webcams, even a few computer monitors also have webcams built in. If your computer doesn’t have a webcam, you can buy one for as little as $20

2. Set it up – most webcams will come with software and drivers you can install to get it setup. Follow the instructions and put the webcam itself so it comfortably focuses on your face

3. Find a way to chat – to connect with grandchildren, you will need to both use the same type of program that supports webcam chat. Instant messengers like MSN and AOL have webcam chat, or other programs like Skype offer it as well. Choose one that will also be safe for your grandchild to use

Sources:

1. CowboyFrank

2. All Business

Seniors with Alzheimer’s face a very real risk of getting lost, and this can lead to accident, injury, or risks to their health. When left to fend for themselves, seniors who have dementia out on their own might forget to take their required medications, remain outside dressed inadequately for the weather or worse.  Seniors can get lost when they wander away from home, or simply when they’re out running an errand and forget where they are or where they live as a result of their Alzheimer’s. In order to help prevent serious situations when 60% of seniors with Alzheimer’s do get lost, tracking technologies have been developed.

Tracking gadgets and wearable items of clothing, like the Ambulatory Tracking Shoes set for release in the spring, do come with controversy. Some are against the technologies as they feel that it allows “big brother” to always be watching, and eliminates senior’s sense of privacy and independence. But for those who support their technologies, that’s the idea; of course not to take away independence, but simply to provide an added element of safety for those who need it.

It seems like between the black and white, in the argument of tracking technology, there are a lot of grey areas from critics and supporters alike. Tell us where you stand and why.

Via: Washington Post

Pill boxes can help Los Angeles seniors to manage their medications, but the traditional kind don’t do much more than make sure that seniors take the right medications on the right days – after that, everything else is left up to them and that can mean that pills are missed or taken in extra doses. A new smart prescription dispensing system, the UBox eliminates these issues. Originally designed to help manage prescription treatment for tuberculosis, this innovation could go a long way to improve seniors’ independence and health.

uBox Smart Pill Box Features:

• Storage - 14 chambers for pill dispensing for 2 weeks worth of medication or multiple types of prescriptions

• Alert system – seniors who find themselves unable to remember when it’s time to take their medications are alerted with flashing lights and a buzzer

• Protection against duplication – so seniors do not accidentally take the same medication again, seniors cannot get the device to open unless it’s time to take a pill

1. MIT News

2. TrendHunter

Image: web.mit.edu

Loneliness can be an unfortunate reality for many seniors; after the loss of a spouse, family members or friends who are close in age, older adulthood can become a hard stage in life. For this reason, many elderly people turn to a different type of companion; pets, and for these seniors who choose to bring a dog or cat into their homes, an older pet is often recommended because there is typically less care and training involved.

In addition to the physical and emotional benefits that Los Angeles seniors receive when adopting an older pet; there are also incentives to encourage the adoption of pets aged 7 and older. The LA Animal Services Seniors for Seniors program gives members of the program 50% off the adoption costs plus free microchipping, and those with low incomes might also qualify to receive free or discounted spay/neuter and licensing fees. The City of Los Angeles, independent from the LA Animal Services program also offers free licensing to seniors who can show proof of vaccines, and many senior residents of the area can also be eligible to receive $70 off the cost of spaying/neutering their pet.

There’s a lot to consider when adopting a pet, but if you’re worried about the costs or care involved, check into the senior adoption programs in the Los Angeles area, because they’ll make sure you bring your furry companion home by addressing these factors. All you need to worry about is bonding with your new friend!

Via: LA Animal Services

Image: itchmo.com