Posted in Helping Others

Update: My grandmother passed away on May 1st. She is no longer suffering and is in a better, restful place. Read below for summer activities, as I would like for us to keep this up.

My grandmother was recently admitted to a nursing home on a temporary basis. I notice that there are elderly ladies and gentlemen who are there permanently, who have no visitors at all. My thought was that I could put the word out there to as many teenagers as I could reach. I thought that any teenager would make a great visitor to a nursing home. You could do great things for the elderly, you just have to choose to make a difference in their lives.

Let me say it another way. Let's say that you aged  loving your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren dearly. You also loved your friends and extended family. When you needed to be put into a nursing home permanently, everyone visited often. After a while, the visitors started to trickle away to none, and then the same thing happened with the phone calls. You kept trying to call them, but it was only rarely that anyone ever called you back after receiving your messages.

How would you feel? I do not mean to make you feel bad, but this kind of thing really does happen. It is sad, isn't it? In other cases, a person in a home may have no living relatives or friends to visit them.

I have decided that I would offer, here in this space,  new ways in which you can help out at a nursing home in your area. Remember to always talk with the appropriate person at the home before starting a new project. Remember, also, to add your volunteer work to applications for work and college. As homeschoolers, you could also turn these into credit hours by adding some studies of elder care and diseases to your routine.

Come back each season for a new idea.

AUTUMN IDEAS:

* See about taking the residents, one or a small group at a time, outside in the common area. Fill the birdfeeders and sprinkle some seed on the lawn. Sit down and watch the birds fluttering about. Discuss the types of birds. Listen to their feelings and their stories about the Old Days. Maybe even take some pictures and scrap them for the residents bedroom walls.

* There stories will make a great basis for a history project.

* You may also like to record them telling their stories, if they don't mind. You could then create a book for each of them with all of the stories, for their enjoyment. You may want to use a bigger font size for easier reading. Not too big, though. This book will later go to their familis, and then be handed down from there. Be sure to keep a copy for yourself, for the staff, and at least a few copies for the social area(s) where people hang out.

* Combining these stories into a book would also be a way to raise funds for the nursing home to use for activities or equipment that they need. Talk with someone about this if it is something that you would like to head up.

          ~ To learn about this autumn: Another program in your area designed specifically to help the elderly, Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Lupus and physical therapy as it pertains to the elderly.

NOTE: Osteoporosis is not just an elderly persons desease. I was diagnosed with it when I was 23. More research needs to be done in this area.

NOTE: Lupus is not just a woman's desease. Last year my father died of complications due to Lupus. More research needs to be done in this area as well.

SUMMER IDEAS:

* Plan an activity to do with the residents. What might they like? A poetry reading? An ice cream social? A tea party?

Make sure that you have everything that you need, including snacks, beverages and the book! (or whatever else you need)

          ~ To learn about this summer: Another program in your area designed specifically to help the elderly, a CNA's responsibilities and needed education, nutrition as it pertains to the elderly, and complementary and alternative medications.

SPRING IDEAS:

* We will start out simple. You can do this 1 to 3 times a week for the spring months, then I will give you a new project. Here goes:

Simply visit with the elderly. Talk with them, read to them, put together puzzles with them and join in on their regularly scheduled activities at the home. They enjoy having someone to talk with. At the same time, you should be getting to know the staff, as you want to be around for quite some time. They will be able to help you get set up with the projects that I will list here in coming seasons.

          ~ To learn about this spring: Alzheimer's Disease, Diabetes as it pertains to the elderly, an RN's responsibilities and needed education, a program in your area designed specifically to help the elderly.