Columbia Aged Care

Easter is this Sunday. Are you struggling for gift ideas or activities to do with your loved one?

The best gift you can give your loved one is to spend time with them.

Holidays can be a lonely time for elderly people if they are unable to spend it with family. By visiting your loved one over Easter it will show them how much you care about them.

There are many activities you can do together to celebrate Easter. Many families attend church together or share a meal for lunch or dinner.

Here is a list of things you can do at home or at your loved one’s nursing home:

• Baking Easter treats: making biscuits or your own chocolate Easter eggs.
• Easter parade: Family or nursing home members can create their own Easter hats and parade them for everyone else to see.
• Sing Easter songs: Hold a sing-a-long with your loved one or attend a local Easter concert.
• Games: Play board games or cards with your loved one.
• Craft activities: Create cards, Easter baskets, paint Easter eggs or sew Easter bunnies with your loved one. Here is a link to make your own simple Easter bunny.

Buying Easter gifts for your loved one can be difficult because not all elderly people can eat chocolate. It’s a good idea to find out what foods they enjoy and buy them instead.

Here is a list of Easter gift ideas for your loved one:

• Books with large font
• Cross stitch kit
• Knitting set
• Painting set
• Clothing
• Crossword books
• Puzzles
• Plants for their garden

Great gifts are ones from the heart, so think about making your loved one something special for Easter.

Have a happy Easter!

By giving your loved one a mobile, you are giving them a small, portable and light emergency link to you, reducing the stress and worry carers feel when separated. A mobile is something they can carry around with them when they go anywhere, whether it be from room to room or when they go on trips out of town.

However, mobiles have so much functionality it may prove difficult to stop your loved one from feeling intimidated and deflecting the suggestion that they need a mobile phone.

Boomers With Elderly Parents have written some great tips about how to look at, and talk about, using mobile phones without intimidating your loved one.

• Functionality: keep it simple, try to find an end of cycle or starter model that doesn’t have all the technological bells and whistles younger generations love.
• Cost: find a service provider that offers simple plans that can be customised for local use only or have a fixed price per month.
• Ease of use: take the time to teach your loved one how to use the device and limit the amount functions they have to accomplish to stay in contact.
• Speed-dialling: this function is especially useful for when caring for a loved one whose memory is becoming affected.

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