It's easy to feel lonely and isolated if you must stay home right now due to the coronavirus and any shelter-in-place orders made in your area. However, just because you’re home alone (or with a small group of family members) doesn’t mean you can’t stay in touch with other family members, including the seniors in your life. Here are a few days to spread the love – virtually, of course – while staying at home.
1. Schedule a time to video chat. In fact, some of the folks at Secure Aging have a family connect time/family happy hour where everyone can use video or conference services like Zoom or Ring Central to connect. “We have family from Florida, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Kansas on the call,” says Secure Aging’s Melissa Leedom.
2. Use FaceTime. If you haven’t used FaceTime on your Apple iPhone yet, here’s a perfect time to do it. Even if FaceTime may be challenging for a senior relative, that person can rely on help from a loved one who’s staying with them. Or, if they are at an assisted living facility, there likely is a staff member who can help make the connection so you can see your loved one.
3. Send a virtual card. If you don’t feel comfortable right now sending a regular card in the mail (for Easter, birthdays, or just because), here are a few ideas. You can send an e-card by email or text. Or, you can write a message on a regular card, take a picture of the card and what you wrote, and then email or text the picture to your loved one.
4. Pick up the phone. With all of us thinking more often about the safety of those we care for, take the time to call someone you haven’t talked to in a while, be it a former coworker, an old college friend, a long-lost cousin, etc. You’ll feel better for it, and so will they.
5. Ask how you can help. For loved ones who can’t even go out for essentials—perhaps due to underlying health conditions such as asthma or diabetes—ask what you can do to help. Can you run an errand for them? Pick up a prescription? Buy cleaning supplies? Make an effort to help, and always practice social distancing and any other guidance provided by local and federal authorities both when you run an essential errand and when you deliver any needed goods or food.
Stay safe and healthy.
Call Secure Aging to Find Out How We Can Help Seniors With Care Management
At Secure Aging in Bradenton, we transform the weight of the world into a sigh of relief for our senior clients and their concerned family members. The mission of Secure Aging is to protect and preserve our client’s independence and dignity through careful and thoughtful financial and care management. As our clients age, it is their desire to remain independent and age with dignity. Our services protect our clients from talented con artists looking to exploit and deplete the financial resources of our vulnerable seniors. Secure Aging helps families in Manatee County and Sarasota County and in and around the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Myakka City, Palmetto, Parrish, and Sarasota. Call us at 941-761-9338, or visit us online at www.secureaging.com.
