As summer swings into gear, families across the United States are hitting the road and skies in hopes of having a relaxing summer vacation. Although vacations are supposed to be a time of relaxation and enjoyment, many families who live with or regularly care for a senior citizen spend their vacations worrying about their elderly loved one at home.
"Leaving a senior at home during vacation shouldn't be a guilt-inducing situation", says Jean Locy of the Louisville Right at Home office. "There are a number of steps you can take to make sure your loved one is relaxed and comfortable, and feels like he or she is on a vacation as well, while you are away."
Leave seniors with the proper supervision. Ask a trusted neighbor or friend to regularly check in or, if necessary, hire an in-home care agency to stay with your loved one until you return. Many in-home care agencies, such as Right at Home, are able to provide in-home care on a short-term basis.
There are several things that, whomever you've entrusted to take care of your loved one can do to ensure that your senior has a blast, even if he/she is not with you. These things include:
1. Browse through a travel, jewelry, clothing and cooking magazines and have the senior cut out pictures of what his/her perfect vacation would look like (or was in the past) i.e vacation resorts, restaurants, new clothing/jewelry, rental car (convertible jaguar, perhaps), etc and make a collage, all the while chatting about how wonderful this vacation would be. Then have your senior explain the collage to you.
2. Buy some sand, seashells, colored plastic fish, small drink-type umbrellas and other colorful ocean type trinkets and have the caregiver help them make a small sandcastle with all the ocean trimmings.
3. Have the caregiver take your senior on a picnic if it's a nice day. If a park is not available or not feasible, have the picnic in the senior's back yard, on the patio, in the living room, etc. They can pack a basket lunch with all of your senior's favorite goodies, to include perhaps homemade chocolate chip cookies that the senior helped to bake. If you can go outdoors, (even in the senior's back yard) your senior can pick wildflowers, watch & take pictures of the birds, butterflies, clouds, nature, etc. and then create a scrapbook of that particular "vacation".
4. If your senior was a golfer, take him/her on a putt/putt outing. If that's not possible, have the caregiver create a mini putt/putt at the senior's home. The caregiver could create a two or three hole mini-course and have prizes for each time the senior gets the ball in the cup. Of course, the senior would need to be decked out in golf clothing and a golf hat.
Be sure to have whoever it is helping your senior have plenty of film in a working camera so that the memories of the vacation(s) can be preserved.
Jean Locy is the president/owner of Right at Home. Right at Home is a national franchise. She has offices in Louisville, Ky. and Clarksville, Ind. Jean has a master's degree in Management and an MBA. Right at Home is a non-medical home care agency specializing in care for seniors and adults with disabilities.
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