The benefits for aging adults who volunteer are numerous. Even seniors who don’t have transportation can still volunteer. Some agencies provide shuttle bus service for their volunteers who don’t drive so they can participate. Here are some ways volunteering benefits aging adults.
Get Out of the House
A change of scenery every once in a while is good for emotional health. If your senior loved one is socially isolated and doesn’t venture from home much, he or she may become depressed. Volunteering exposes seniors to different environments and situations so boredom doesn’t set in from being socially isolated in the home.
Social isolation can result in mental, emotional, and physical challenges for aging adults, but seniors don’t have to handle them alone. In-home care agencies can be a great boon to seniors. With the help of the caregivers at Home Care Assistance, your aging loved one can lead a happier and healthier life. We offer a revolutionary program called the Balanced Care Method, which encourages seniors to eat nutritious foods, exercise and socialize regularly, and focus on other lifestyle factors that increase life expectancy.
Help an Important Cause
Because of work and family obligations, many people are unable to volunteer for causes that are near and dear to their hearts. Once they retire, aging adults have more time to devote to causes they’ve always wanted to volunteer for. Volunteering for special causes allows aging adults to give back to organizations that perhaps previously helped them or their family members in times of need.
Common volunteer opportunities that may appeal to your loved one include helping in hospitals, community thrift shops, animal shelters, and soup kitchens. Even if your loved one is unable to leave the house because of health issues or transportation challenges, volunteer options still exist. Making phone calls or sending emails from home on behalf of an organization is a great way to volunteer if your loved one is physically unable to visit the actual location.
Many seniors need assistance with transportation, and if you usually help your loved one get out and about but need a break now and then, consider having a professional caregiver take over for you. Family caregivers sometimes need a break from their caregiving responsibilities. When they need respite care, Clearwater families can rely on professional caregivers to help their senior loved ones remain safe at home.
Make New Friends
Aging adults may find themselves in situations where they’re lonely, socially isolated, and sad over the loss of a spouse or close friends. They may feel depressed and isolated because they have no one to go out with. Volunteering brings people together and builds new relationships.
Some of the relationships your loved one forms through volunteering may last a lifetime. Elderly people may not have many opportunities to meet new people and make friends. Volunteering provides these opportunities to those who otherwise wouldn’t have ways of making new friends or interacting with people.
Boost Confidence
After retirement, aging adults may lose some of the confidence they once had while in the working world. Volunteering boosts confidence and provides seniors with a sense of self-worth and accomplishment. When your loved one’s confidence is high, he or she may feel better, both physically and emotionally. Staying busy through volunteering also helps elderly people forget about their aches and pains and boosts their activity levels.
Low self-esteem and poor self-confidence can contribute to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety and, in severe cases, necessitate counseling and prescription medications. Simply volunteering for a couple of days a month can boost your loved one’s feelings of wellbeing so he or she can anticipate the future with more optimism and hope.
Volunteering can be a great way to boost mental and physical health in seniors. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of at-home care. Clearwater families can rely on Home Care Assistance to provide individualized care plans to meet their elderly loved ones’ unique care needs. Our holistic Balanced Care Method was designed to help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and our Cognitive Therapeutics Method offers mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. To create a comprehensive in-home care plan for your loved one, call us at (727) 330-7862 today.