Elderly Parents During Holidays and Family Gatherings

Elderly parents require special care at family gatherings and holiday time. Taking care of their needs first will help make the event even more successful.

When you are a Family Caregiver it is important to maintain the celebration of life for festive holidays, and when family and friends come together for those special occasions at parties and dinners.

Planning a special occasion or even attending one can be stressful for Family Caregivers, requiring special occasions to be less formal and more intimate as you have enough to cope with caring for your loved one in need. The best rule – keep it simple, relaxed and cheery, so you can delegate certain jobs out to your guests, who will understand you are juggling enough responsibility, and will enjoy helping out. Just make sure everything is set up so your guests can help themselves by turning your celebration into a buffet style dinner. This way you are not so stressed out taking care of everyone else.

You a have a big day ahead of you, getting your dinner party ready and without failure, your loved one will cause something to create extra stress you certainly do not need at that time. You have your hands full. Always prepare for these mishaps to happen. Why? Because you are a part of your loved one’s world and all of a sudden you are changing your loved one’s routine causing stress in their life. Also, the excitement of the day can be a bit overwhelming for elderly folks, who need a bit more space than younger people, so they may feel a bit misplaced. Always, be in tune with your loved ones stress levels, even if they are excited about the day, family gatherings can be too much activity for the frail and elderly.

Always make sure your loved one is placed where they are part of the activity, but distant enough where they feel they are in control and feel safe. This will help greatly for feelings of anxiety with so much activity going on around them. Keep high activity and music down. Keep the ambiance of the gathering simple and one that is easy for your loved one to relate to and interact with.

Also, interactions with guests may cause a loved one to feel exhausted very quickly. The best solution is to provide your loved one with a chair with arm rests so they may sit right back and to provide a blanket to cover them up with so they feel warm and protected. Give your loved one their own comfort zone.

SUMMARY:

ELDERLY PARENTS - During family gatherings, elderly parents require additional care.  Provide them with more space and quiet time.

CAREGIVER RESOURCE - Always locate caregiver resources to keep up to date and to learn how best to care for elderly parents.

FAMILY GATHERINGS – The elderly can find themselves isolated from friends and family and enjoy family gatherings, so long as they have their needs met. It is important to provide extra care such as providing a proper chair to sit in as the elderly can become fatigued very easily.

HOLIDAYS – Even the elderly need holidays, but once again it is important to care for their needs which can be time consuming.  Learn your elderly parent’s needs and work around their care.