Social Seniors Archives - Golden Heart Summerlin

4 Reasons Why Senior Pets and Seniors Are a Perfect Match

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Craig Bass

Personal Care at Home in Summerlin NV

It’s Adopt A Senior Pet month which means it’s a great time to consider adopting a senior pet for your senior loved one. Pets and seniors are a perfect match. Pets provide love, companionship, and socialization for seniors so that they have a lower chance of developing depression. Spending time with pets has been proven to lower stress levels for seniors and reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke. Adopting a pet that needs to be walked, like a small dog, is the perfect way to get your senior loved one out of the house on a regular basis. Here are a few more reasons why senior pets are the best companions for seniors:

They’re More Settled

Puppies and kittens are adorable, when they’re sleeping. When they’re awake they become tiny furry balls of chaos flying through the house. They get into everything. And they climb things, knock things over, pull down curtains, and use their tiny baby teeth and claws on everything with paw range, including humans. Older pets have already gone through their crazy baby stage and they are more settled into adult behaviors.

They Don’t Need A Lot Of Vet Care

Older cats who have been neutered don’t really need a lot of vet care except for their yearly checkups and vaccinations. They don’t need multiple rounds of expensive vaccinations like babies, and they don’t need expensive spay/neuter surgery. A healthy older pet can be very affordable for seniors, especially if you choose a high quality food that will keep them healthy.

They’re Perfectly Happy To Nap All Day

Senior pets are the best napping companions. They are perfectly happy to curl up with your senior loved one and sleep away the day or the night. Seniors can enjoy having their furry companions around while they watch TV, read, play games, or do tasks around the house. But when it’s time to nap or to sleep at night seniors are more likely to get the deep rest they need when they have a furry cuddly bundle of love to curl up with.

They’re Easier To Care For

Caring for senior pets is much easier for seniors than caring for puppies or kittens. Crate training a puppy, or training the puppy to signal when it needs to go outside, can both be time-consuming, difficult processes. Older dogs are already trained and don’t need the extra time and care that puppies do. Older cats are pros at using the litterbox and tend to not have accidents like kittens do. And seniors who are worried about taking care of their senior pets can get help from a personal care at home provider. A personal care at home provider can make sure that the pets are walked and fed and have plenty of clean water so that your senior loved one doesn’t have to.

Source:
https://aginginplace.org/seniors-and-pets/

If you are considering personal care at home in Summerlin, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

How Senior Women Can Keep Friendships Strong As They Get Older

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Craig Bass

Senior Home Care in Summerlin NV

September is Women’s Friendship Month, which makes it the perfect time for senior women to check in with their female friends. Taking the time to keep friendships strong will mean better mental and physical health for senior women. Over time women can drift away from their female friends because of the demands of taking care of their families and working. But as they get older when their children have grown they have more time to nurture those friendships. And those senior years are when women need their friends the most. If your mother, aunt, or older sister is lonely aging at home and not quite sure how to reach out and renew some of those old friendships these tips might help her:

Use Social Media

Social media is a fantastic way to track down old friends. Often people move, change jobs, or end up in totally new areas of the country which makes it difficult to track them down. Social media is a fast and easy way to reconnect. And it gives the other person the option to either accept the friend request or ignore it so there’s no awkwardness. If the person wants to be friends they will accept and if they don’t they’ll ignore it and your senior loved one can move on.

Send A Card

A handwritten card or note is a lovely way to rekindle a friendship. If your senior loved one knows the address of an old friend and knows they are still at their home, or knows their current address, sending a cute little postcard or a handwritten note indicates that they are opening the door to friendship again. And just like with social media a cute note or card gives the other person the option to ignore it if they’re not interested so it’s not uncomfortable or awkward. A senior home care provider can help your senior loved one purchase cards or stationary and can help them mail the cards they write.

Be Honest

There’s no easy way to start a friendship again after a long time apart. But if the friendship didn’t end because of a fight and instead it just fizzled the best way to start a conversation about being friends again is to be honest with the other person. Your senior loved one should let that person know they missed the friendship and still thought about them after these all these years and want to get to know them again.

Start Slow

After an absence of many years there will probably be some hesitancy on the part of both people. It’s unlikely that even former best friends will just fall back into daily conversations or spending lots of time together. That’s ok. Start with a few phone calls each week, or a weekly lunch, and let the friendship naturally develop again. If your senior loved one can’t drive any longer a senior home care provider can help arrange transportation for lunches out or shopping excursions.

If you are considering senior home care in Summerlin, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

Use National Anti-Boredom Month to Explore New Outdoor Activities

Posted on July 14, 2021 by Craig Bass

July was chosen as National Anti-Boredom Month because it’s the time of year when kids are out of school and starting to miss their friends. Boredom isn’t just for kids. When it gets hot outside, you may hear your parents complain about being stuck inside. What can you do?

During summer’s heat, you may not be able to get outside as much, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay trapped inside all of the time. Here are some of the outdoor activities that help your parents avoid feeling bored while also staying cool.

Fish for Fun or Food

Invest in some fishing poles and head to the nearest fishing hole. Your parents can keep what they catch and have fresh fish for dinner. Or, they could catch and release if they’re not interested in eating fish. You might want to see if fishing charters nearby can take your parents out onto the lake or ocean. That enables them to try to catch fish they don’t see as often.

Go Swimming or Soak in a Pool

Elderly Care in Summerlin NV

Swimming pools aren’t as expensive as they were in the past. An inflatable ring pool is a suitable solution to summer’s heat. You don’t have to purchase a big one either. Get a small pool, fill it with water and soak in that on a hot summer’s day.

If you have a full-size pool or live near a public pool, take advantage of it. Your parents get plenty of exercise swimming laps. If they prefer, they can walk laps and use the resistance of the water to help them work out their leg muscles.

Photograph Nature

Grab a camera and head into the forest. The shade of the trees keeps you cooler, and your parents can get photos of nature along the way. If they don’t want to go into the forest, look for other scenic areas like rivers with waterfalls, lakes, and public gardens.

Play Water Volleyball

Head to a lake or ocean cove where the water is waist-deep and play water volleyball. You can get inflatable nets and an inflatable beach ball to make it easy to bring with you. The benefit to the water is you stay cool, and falling doesn’t hurt.

In between your visits, who helps your parents with daily activities? Call a home care agency and look into elderly care providers. Caregivers assist their elderly clients with housework, meals, transportation, laundry, medication reminders, and so much more. With elderly care aides helping them, your parents are able to age at home independently and safely.

If you are considering elderly care in Summerlin, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

Socializing and Fun: Two Things the Elderly Need

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Craig Bass

Caregivers in Las Vegas NV

The elderly need to keep socializing and having fun. If they don’t do this, their memory and other health aspects are likely to decline. The good news is there are many ways for elderly people to have a great time in life. If you are a family caregiver, keep reading here to find out more about how your elderly loved one can socialize and have fun at the same time.

Joining a Club

What interests does your elderly loved one have? Do they like gardening, reading, crocheting, or singing? Talk to your elderly loved one to find out what passions they have. Then, you can help your elderly loved one to find clubs in their area or online that fit with these passions. If needed, you can even hire caregivers to drive your loved one to these clubs. By attending a club, your elderly loved one can feel like they belong somewhere. They can also socialize and have fun.

Humor

Another way for your elderly loved one to have fun is by hanging out with people who enjoy laughing and having a good time. Think about the people your elderly loved one spends most of their time with. Now think about the times when you see your elderly loved one smiling around certain people. Who are those people? These are the people they should be spending more time with.

Hosting a Gathering

Your elderly loved one can have fun and socialize by having a small get together at their home. There are so many different types of parties they can throw. You or their caregivers can help to put on the party, too. A dinner or game party can be a fun way to see longtime friends or family that haven’t been together in awhile.

Conclusion

Socializing and having fun are very important for the elderly. Doing these things helps the elderly to reduce stress, ease their pain, express themselves, and much more. If you want to help your elderly loved one obtain these things in life, you should encourage them to do the things mentioned above. If needed, you can hire caregivers to help your elderly loved one with these things, as well. Caregivers can even visit your elderly loved one regularly. This way, your loved one doesn’t feel alone. The caregivers can play games with them, have conversations, and much more.

Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7233208/

If you are considering caregivers in Las Vegas, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.