Let’s look at the record. It is sometimes difficult to choose a gift for an elderly person. This can be a real problem. An elderly person needs both attention and care, especially with regard to his closest people. Often, the material value of the given things is not so crucial – it is of the utmost importance to put your heart and soul into these gifts. After all, an elderly person sometimes even cannot understand what he would like to receive. They want a little and do not need anything. What can surprise a person who has everything: full of photo albums, cups, slippers, bath accessories?
What theory evolves? Here are some tips to get you started. Let’s designate some directions.
The matter of security/independence
One of the important things older people value is independence. Self-sufficiency in thoughts, decisions and actions is the main feature of adult as an accomplished person, no matter how old he is. Restrictions he has to endure for various reasons due to illness or age not only change the whole established way of life, but also adversely affect the perception of himself and the world around him. The house helps to feel more independent. That is why it is worth considering the option of supplementary devices gift.
Bath amenities
Think of the bathtub grips – they will be useful to feel safe when taking shower.
People, being limited in motor abilities for some reason, have to make serious physical efforts even to perform simple hygienic manipulations. Bath for the elderly should not be an overwhelming test. That is why special medical devices have been created for them, designed to simplify all the water procedures. Offer to install special handles. One of the best options is those, holding on the bath side. If the handles, attached to the bathroom walls on the suction cup can fall off, then those, attached to the bath side will hold firmly. Thanks to the compact installation method, older people can even take this device along with them when traveling.
Kitchen implements
Often, the kitchen room is a favorite place for heart-to-heart talk and measured tea drinking for grandparents. They strive to feed everyone with something delicious. However, sometimes the kitchen can be a dangerous place for the elderly. The most important thing to strive for is maximum convenience. Aged people are slow and less agile, so everything in the kitchen should be at hand. Older people have a higher risk of injury, partly because their both reaction and physical abilities decrease with age. People over 65 have a risk to die from a kitchen fire 2 times more than others.
Every year, thousands of major conflagrations occur due to kitchen equipment, leading to both injury and death. At the same time, if there was no smoke alarm in the house, then it often led to dire consequences. Fires are usually caused by ragged-ass, inconvenient and old cooktops/stoves. Forgotten by an elderly person food on the burner can lead to trouble. People suffering from Parkinson’s disease are threatened by the danger of spilled food on lit fire.
How about presenting a good induction cooker? After all, you will be calm for your relative with it. Believe me, he will appreciate your gift! There is no contact with open fire, and the plate surface will not heat up. Spilled food is never burned. Such a plate will also be easier to clean, and the food to cook faster and tastier. This will greatly save the strength of your beloved person.
Medicine provision
With the help of a pill organizer, you can make taking medicines both calm and harmonious, relieving from anxiety and adding a sense of independence..
Life is made up of little things, some of which can make it pretty complicated. For example, you forgot to take the pill you need, feeling pain later and a torn course of treatment. We rush to the other end of the city to help the visually impaired grandmother to figure out which drugs to take at night, getting confused – where and what.
It is enough to purchase a weekly container for packaging drugs and vitamins – it is very convenient!
Ask your parents how many types of pills they take and look for a container with the required number of compartments. Be sure it opens easily. With the help of such a case, you can easily monitor the health of your loved ones, when you cannot spend all the time near him. You can be sure your parents will not confuse anything!
Help with purchasing products
A shopping list can be compiled if an elderly person can talk to the gadget. The smart device will sort the necessary purchases into separate categories, printing the list on paper.
A voice-activated grocery and errand list organizer can be both creative and unusual gift option for older people who have everything he can wish for. When a person forgets to buy the necessary products – he is forced to use convenience foods and food heated in a microwave. That is why such a gift is very pleasant to receive.
Keeping in touch
Older people need a special attention. Having retired or being ill, they do not feel needed and involved in any business. You have your own family, your own life, and there is less time for parents. As a consequence – there is a notorious bitterness, grumbling for any reason. The anger of older people is nothing more than a sign of self-doubt, vulnerability. Imagine for a moment – you are an elderly person: youth is gone, health is not good, and children do not always mean you by the word “my family”. And this is repeated day after day. Sadly …
How can we provide our parents with attention? Add the time you will devote to your parents to your to-do list/schedule. These can be weekly leisurely walks or tea parties with the usual question: “How are you?” Older people often lose their motivation to live. To avoid this and to return them the daily interest to life and the sense of being, communication is necessary.
A print e-mail service, for example, Presto Printing Mailbox can help you. This is a reasonable price subscription service, coming with a printer that works without a computer. After the necessary settings, it will print both emails and photos from pre-approved senders, and there is no need for the recipient to be online. Your relatives will not be able to respond to these letters, but at least they will be pleased to receive pictures from your life. You can also send them interesting crosswords and recipes – be sure, this gadget just will not let them get bored!
We have received a lot from our parents: we were born, grew up, chose our own way of life thanks to them… Probably it is time to give attention, warmth, care, support. And do not be stingy to give!
Health and wellness
Older people, especially those who live alone, or are in boarding houses, enjoy homemade food. Try to pamper your family with your best dishes. Freeze them in portions so that the elderly person could easily get and heat the food. Well, if your grandparents live close to you – it is too beautiful for words! Give them a gift certificate by inviting them to one dinner per month at your home for a year. Offer to pick them up and then drive them back.
Best dreams
If an elderly person has problems with sleeping – try to use special sound devices as a gift. With its help, he will be able to hear the soothing sounds, helping to fall asleep faster.
Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder along with disturbances in the process of falling asleep. According to statistics, 28-45% of the adult population faces sleep disorders. Moreover, insomnia occurs 3-4 times more often among people of age 60+. To solve this problem, the Sleep Sound Machine gadget was developed. It helps normalize sleep with high-quality, natural soundtracks, making you both to relax and to provide a deep, restorative sleep.
Improving mood and well-being
Natural outdoor lighting can be simulated with a light therapy lamp. They will help to cheer up your loved one in case he rarely goes out.
If an elderly person does not receive enough light – a majority of biological processes are impaired in the body. In winter, the lack of sunlight is even more noticeable. Moreover, it is necessary to buy a light therapy device if you need to warm up or treat any organs. The elderly, and those who are prescribed bedding, often do not go outside, do not receiving enough natural light, which can disrupt their both sleep and wakefulness cycles.
A useful gift for an elderly parent will be a lamp for light therapy, for example, the SunTouch lamp from Nature Bright. It will stimulate the body to produce vitamin D, imitating the sun brightness, improving both mood and well-being. Such lamps can be used as antidepressants without assisting actions. Moreover, it is an excellent gift for Christmas due to the fact these lamps are able to get rid of the winter depression.
Soulful gifts
What about special memory diaries? They diversify pastime, consisting of hints in the form of questions that help to streamline all the memories and important life moments. When filling out such a diary, a person feels like a researcher – it is both fun and funny. Moreover, the next generation will be able to enjoy the results.
Our elderly relatives adore both cute and sentimental gifts! They especially appreciate memories – it is a pleasant tradition to open a family album when the whole family gathers. However, sometimes it is worthwhile to dwell on the photographs and consider a few other options, expressing both attention and delight to their life. Guess what I mean? Yes, the memory diary can be an excellent option.
This is an unusual book, where you can find a huge number of various questions, with the help of which your relative can plunge into the most pleasant moments of his life once again, easily compiling his life story by answering these questions right in the book. This is really a great way to remember and save their life stories in order to pass them to next generations.
And here is another option that will certainly please – a recordable book from their grandchildren. Let your grandson record a simple story and send it to your elderly relative – it is very disturbing!
Useful gifts
Massage pillow
Poor circulation, muscle pain or joints’ stiffness? In this case, massage pillows are a good gift for your elderly relative.
Such unpleasant age-related diseases such as arthritis, diabetes or heart disease are often waiting for people in old age. As a result, circulation is disturbed, and physical capabilities deteriorate. Using massage can improve poor blood circulation, relieve muscle pain, stiffness in the joints, and even mental stress.
Robotic vacuum cleaner
It can often be difficult for our relatives to perform simple household chores. Due to the pain that may occur during aging, it becomes difficult even to vacuum the house. Help your loved one – buy a special robot vacuum cleaner that will do all the work for him. He will be very grateful!
Elastic shoelaces for kids and adults without ties
It is difficult to stoop for older people – and you know it. That is why we suggest you use such laces. After all, problems with both back and joints make themselves felt – this is painful. Now your loved one will never have to endure the pain when leaning! Tying shoes will be much easier!
Gifts for garden
Amazing gifts can be predisposed to active elderly people who enjoy gardening. Look for interesting and useful garden supplies – and we will help you with variants!
- To prevent pain in the knees during weeding, use special garden kneelers;
- It will be more convenient to use ergonomic garden tools for older people, for example, clippers;
- You can spend more time in the garden, using both comfortable gloves and garden clogs;
- Lightweight hoses are easier to wind and remove.
- Plant markers and seed packs are always appreciated!
If your elderly relatives are farmers in the past, being involved in land business and enjoying monitoring the weather, they will probably be pleased to receive a gift, such as a remote rain gauge. Please them! After all, it will be possible to water the garden without getting wet with the help of this interesting device.
Entertaining gifts
Assistance in hearing the TV
To enhance the TV sound, you can use a special headset in order to listen to the TV wirelessly. Such a technology is designed specifically for older people so that they can hear TV more clearly.
When becoming fearful, watching TV becomes more interesting. However, sometimes constantly running television can annoy others. A special device for listening to the TV will be an excellent gift. It will allow people with hearing loss to listen to their favorite shows without obstacles.
A number of devices for listening to TV can be selected, which can help an older person to hear the sound from the TV better, but nowadays the best options are wireless radio frequency systems. There are also headphones, working on infrared technology instead of radio frequency, but they can be annoying. The infrared signal is a “line of sight”, so a person must always be in front of the transmitter, there should be no interference. If a person turns his head to the side, sound can be lost. But a wall or an obstacle is not a hindrance for a radio frequency signal.
Brain training games
Memory impairment is a natural biological process. As a rule, there is nothing threatening in it. But if desired, older people can train their memory in order to maintain self-confidence and mental alertness for a long time. Experts, studying the weakening memory problems in older people, have declared both daily exercises with similar games and guessing crossword puzzles perfectly train memory in people suffering from diseases associated with its loss.
Crosswords, a game of association, solving crossword puzzles, rebuses train both long-term and short-term memory. Logic puzzles are taught not to give up and develop alternative solutions. Give your relatives a special puzzle book!
Helpful Gifts
How about a gift card to your favorite establishment or store? After all, it’s always pleasant.
In the modern world, many people treat gift certificates with disdain, as if we do not know what to present. However, the older generation accepts such gifts very graciously. They are very helpful when purchasing products. For example, you can find out in which stores your elderly relatives constantly shop and give them certificates for a certain amount to these places.
Variants of simple and useful gifts:
- Meal and pastime with the grandson;
- Charger;
- When someone does garden work instead of them;
- Care for their car.
