Your Senior and Spring Activities to do with a Home Attendant and Family
Springtime is finally here! Everyone does better in good weather when it’s bright and mild outside. Especially your senior citizen who has been confined indoors due to harsh weather and Covid-19 concerns. There are also more hours to be outdoors safely. Take advantage and help your senior refresh and renew herself.
Take heart and take her out into the sun. She needs to interact with a green environment and more people than in her in her own apartment. Vitamin B12 is good for her. So is fresh air.
Go visit the neighborhood flowers and shrubs in bloom. It can be a cherry tree walk, a tulip stroll, or a forsythia ramble. Go out with intentionality. Look for lilacs trees and peony bushes, which won’t be as common as hostas and hydrangeas. Talk about gardens she has cultivated in the past. Did her mother teach her to garden? Did they plant and harvest melons back home? Don’t just walk. Talk!
Do exercises in the park. Movement outdoors is more invigorating and fun. One is more likely to push oneself if one is in a pleasant environment. Ask the physical therapist to help encourage and advise.
Visit local nurseries, botanic gardens, and preserves. Springtime brings fewer visitors than summertime when children are off from school and families vacation. Often there are festivals and fairs nearby which offer new experiences, tastes, and performances. Volunteering at a community garden or botanic garden is also an option.
Picnic in the park with family and friends. Make the outdoors the venue for get-togethers and quality time. You can always bring along a board game. Don’t forget to pose for pics and put together a spring 2022 album on rainy days. The home care aide can help with the technology.
Start planning for the summer. List the nearby lakes and parks to visit so you’ll be able to schedule it on a pleasant day. Many have wheelchair accessible trails. Calendar the free Shakespeare performances and outdoor concerts that many urban areas offer. Plan to make a day of it and think about food, supplies, bathroom access and other matters of importance when going out for the day with a senior. Even if the elderly person can’t participate in all the activities and sports on offer at a venue, seeing people engage in them and rooting for teams can be great fun. NYC and other cities with ferry service offer easy ways to go and enjoy the trip as well as the destination.
Don’t forget to bring the outdoors indoors. Decorate the apartment or home with spring colors and decorations. Bring on the pinks and greens.
Bring in more plants and plant some vegetable seedlings on a windowsill. The caregiver and senior will enjoy the results of caring for the seedlings. The nurturing instinct never dies.
