Each year we put together some of our favorite gifts for older loved ones (and even caregivers and people dealing with illness). These are some of our most popular posts, so we started keeping a board of our favorites on Pinterest you can access anytime! If you’re looking for the best gifts for parents who are older or have everything, here are our top picks this year.
2018 Hot Gifts for Parents and Older Loved Ones
The Gift of Safety in a Trendy Package
When you think of “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” buttons or pillboxes, you (and your older loved ones) probably just think OLD. Home safety has this unfortunate marketing issue. None of us want to think of ourselves as old or helpless. Fortunately, people are embracing smart home tech at all ages. Many of us are getting accustomed to (and enjoying) assistive tech making life easier at home.
Apple Watch’s Fall Detection is bringing “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” into a new era. Here’s more about how it works. An Apple Watch offers lots of fun and practical features for anyone. If your parents already use Apple products, this is a natural gift. You can set it up for them and show them how it works.
We’ve been recommending the Amazon Echo Show for both fun and practicality. Your parent can use it for video calls, listening to podcasts or music, and can monitor home security with it too. It’s a great way for you to check in visually as well, so you know your parent is doing okay.
Medication Apps are much more sophisticated than the weekly pillbox of the past. If your parent already uses a smartphone or tablet, check out the apps available to see what might work best. Here are some top medication reminders, ranging from electronic to analog.
Who Needs More Stuff? Services as Gifts for Parents
Ask anyone who’s ever helped a parent move to a retirement community. Your parent probably doesn’t need more stuff. But, there are likely many areas where life could be easier. And, if you think of it, there’s probably a service/app for it. Rather than the same old gifts for parents, you might set up one of these services. Or, give them a gift certificate for anything from groceries to a manicure or massage.
A few of our fun favorites include the Puzzle of the Month club and Flower Subscriptions. For practicality, nothing beats meal delivery services, access to Lyft Concierge or Tile Bluetooth Tracker for finding those missing keys. Find them all on our Pinterest board.
A service we often recommend is Shipt, which offers convenient grocery delivery.
And, don’t forget, EasyLiving offers services ranging from meal preparation to helping with errands like shopping and wrapping gifts. Contact us to arrange for some holiday help, or better yet, regular service to make life easier at home.
You can find more services we recommend in our article Five Services to Make Life Better as You Age.
Comfy and Cozy Gifts for Parents
There’s nothing better than adding a little comfort to life at any age. A few top gifts we’d recommend this year in this category include:
A warm neck and back wrap (30% off for Black Friday)
A polar fleece shawl from Buck & Buck, one of our favorite outfitters for adaptive clothing (and my grandmother’s all time favorite gift)
Luscious lotions, such as these from Kiehl’s with beautiful heritage scents or their old favorite
A diffuser to fill the home with lovely scents (and other benefits of essential oils) or flameless candles like this festive holiday poinsettia set
Check out our continually updated gift guide on Pinterest and let us know your favorites!
Related Reading:
Giving Gifts to Caregivers (Etiquette, Rules and What to Gift)