The Benefits of Social Media for Seniors (and Family Caregivers) Seniors are jumping on board Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more as they realize it is fun and provides real benefits. Are your senior loved ones participating? Here are five ways social media is beneficial for seniors. 1. Social Media Keeps Families Close “I wish I heard more often from my children/grandchildren” is a common refrain of seniors. You’d think that with seemingly everyone carrying their own phone, calls to senior loved ones would be more common than ever. However, those phones are used less for making phone calls than for connecting by other means, particularly social media. More and more seniors are realizing that going where their family members are going, most frequently Facebook, makes it easier to link up and keep up with what is going on in the lives of loved ones. It also makes for more frequent and comfortable conversations between generations than most would experience through calls. 2. Family Photo and Video Sharing With the overwhelming majority of photographs…
Nursing Homes and Long Term Care – tips and questions Don’t just sign up for an official tour. Walk around and see the place for yourself. If you’re on the official tour ask to see other floors, otherwise you may only be shown the cleanest floor with the low maintenance patients. Ask what the resident mix is. Ask who your loved one may have for a roommate. Find out if it is possible that they could be placed with a resident with aggressive behaviour? Hang out in the lobby and see what kind of people surface. A lot of the time the physically fit, younger people will hang out there because they don’t have anywhere else to go. Visit the homes at meal time. This will allow you to see what the staffing ratio is and the resident mix for yourself. Also see what it’s like after meal time. How are the residents returned back to their rooms? Is there enough staff to care for them? If possible, go early in the morning to see if the residents are dressed for breakfast. If not, there likely isn’t enough staff to care for them all. Talk to the…
Things to ask your aging parents… It’s not easy. A growing number of families with aging parents and grandparents are facing some very tough questions. Where will their senior loved ones live? Who will care for them? Where can they find affordable care? The goal for many families is to help seniors remain independent and in their own homes as long as possible. Most don’t require constant supervision or medical attention, yet. Right now, all they really need is a helping hand. “Most seniors want to remain in the comfort and security of their own homes, and can do so safely with a little bit of help,” said Amy Szewczuk, Care Director and Owner of Amy’s Helping Hands. The company provides compassionate caregivers who go to the senior’s home and help with chores, such as light housekeeping, laundry, meal preparation, transportation, bathing, grooming, and medication reminders – tasks that have become difficult for seniors to perform. “Family members are the largest group of caregivers,” said Szewczuk. “Two…
