With Mother’s Day just behind us and Father’s Day around the corner, we’ve been sharing some of our ideas for gifts for elder Moms and Dads, as well as gifts for people who are caregiving or facing a serious illness. If you have creative ideas to share, join us on Facebook and let us know!
One gift we suggest is a gift certificate for home care (or other household) services. This might sound like a practical but not very exciting gift…until you think of all the enjoyable things home care services can be used for. Not sure what we mean? Check out these creative ideas for how to use home care services to make life more enjoyable:
- Doing things together: Don’t think of caregiving as a one-way street. In order to stay mentally healthy, it is important that older adults stay active and engaged…feeling a sense of purpose and continued usefulness even when needing some help. Instead of just having a caregiver come in and cook meals for Mom, why not have Mom teach the caregiver some of her favorite recipes? Perhaps the client and caregiver can even work together to prepare a meal and have a friend or family member over to share the meal. A caregiver can help the client with projects such as putting together some family history or a scrapbook. Maybe the client and caregiver can take walks together so both can stay in better shape. We know our caregivers get many intangible things from working with clients, but there are also many ways to formalize this so the client can really feel he/she is contributing.
- Spiffing up the house/catching up on projects you’ve been meaning to do: All of us have these projects or wish lists for cleaning and updating our home or organizing our belongings, but it can be especially difficult as we get older or face health issues. The projects tend to pile up as we deal with more pressing issues. A home caregiver could come in to help with: organizing files and cleaning out closets together, a small gardening or yard project, going through old clothing with you to decide what needs to be donated (and taking the items to a charity for you), organizing old photos (get creative and make albums or scan items and provide to family members), and seasonal projects like spring cleaning or preparing holiday cards.
- A night on the town: This could be a day on the town as well, but a caregiver can serve as driver and/or companion for an outing of just about any type. EasyLiving’s Senior Concierge Services even offer help with planning and logistics to ensure safety and comfort (help getting accessible seating, determining timing of events, etc.). One of our clients goes out dancing every week, while another is thrilled to again be able to attend his favorite spring training baseball games.
- Personal shopping services: Home caregivers can run errands for (or with) you, from grocery shopping to helping you find gifts or even search for hard-to-find items online. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone handle the shopping for you or to have a little bit of assistance to make the process easier. If you don’t use the internet or feel confident with online shopping, you’d be amazed at what is available online and your caregiver could help you navigate the world wide web of shopping. At holiday times, you can go shopping together or send your caregiver out to pick up needed items, gift wrapping, cards, etc. (and your caregiver can help wrap gifts, prepare and mail cards and packages).
- Travel: Did you know you can hire some senior home caregiver services as a travel escort or concierge service? Want Mom to be able to attend the big family reunion or visit this Christmas but don’t know how she’ll manage? Want to take a trip as a family but worry about being able to properly assist your elderly parents and keep them safe? Even small day trips can be a wonderful use of senior home caregiver services, to take your loved ones comfortably to a favorite (or new) destination.
We bet you want to put home care service gift certificates on your wish list now too! Contact us at 727-448-0900 for EasyLiving gift certificates or help locating a home care provider near you.