Helping Your Aging Parent Stay At Home

Newton has the fifth largest senior population in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and older people are known to be at higher risk from COVID-19. Although the city is working to make sure seniors are safe, you may be wondering if your parent or senior loved one who lives alone needs extra support during this pandemic. The best thing you can do is encourage them to stay home and practice social distancing to avoid exposure. Here are a few things to make staying home easier.
old woman on a phone call with a loved one

Before you talk with your loved one about the need for COVID-19 precautions, get up to speed on facts and information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or from the state or local health department. This will help you be better able to correct any misinformation they may have. If there is home health aide, some precautions are needed. Discuss with the home care agency what protocols they have in place to reduce risk. In addition to helping with activities of daily living, the home caregiver can help your loved one follow the CDC’s risk-reducing recommendations and also monitor for symptoms so they can alert you.
To make sure they have enough of the daily essentials like food and medicine, you may want to stock a couple of weeks’ worth of groceries including food, pet supplies, cleaning supplies, etc. and to gather a one to three month supply of medications. Use a prescription pharmacy in Newton that provides prescription delivery service and/or curbside pickup to keep up with the medications. For groceries, remember to check the availability of time slots for delivery. Laundry pickup service can help avoid trips to the nearest dry cleaner in Newton or laundromat where social distancing is hard to maintain.
Check in frequently by phone, FaceTime, or Zoom to stay connected. Companionship and social relationships are important to the mental health of an aging adult. Social distancing makes it difficult for us to communicate effectively and intimately with our senior loved ones, but digital communications can help quite a bit during these unprecedented times.
photo credit: Image by Sabine van Erp from Pixabay ​

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer Fun in Newton

Image
It’s official. We are now in summer. Whether you live in Newton or surrounding towns, or you are a visitor from afar, there are a lot of fun activities that you can do in Newton during the summer. Here are some ideas: Visit Newton’s Parks and Conservation Areas: Explore Cold Spring Park, Hemlock Gorge Reservation, and Crystal Lake. Take a walk, have a picnic, or enjoy the nature trails and  playgrounds . Remember to use sunscreens and insect repellents available from  community pharmacies  like  Keyes Drug in Auburndale . Attend Free Summer Concerts: The  Newton Centre Bowl  comes alive with music and dancing for six weeks this summer in the open space adjacent to the playground and just down the hill from the Tyler Terrace hut. With free open-air seating, there is plenty of room for families, friends. Bring along a blanket, a chair, a picnic dinner, and enjoy diverse musical styles in these summer performances in the park. Explore the  Newton Free Library : The Newton Free Library off
Read more

Things to do on Mother’s Day in Boston

Image
Spring has sprung in Boston. As flowers bloom and birds tweet, we know that Mother’s Day is just around the corner. How can we honor and show appreciation for the mothers in our lives, women who work tirelessly day in day out and make significant sacrifices to ensure that their children are healthy, happy, and successful? Here are some ideas: Go shopping Is that a surprise? Women love shopping. So instead of laundry, cooking and cleaning, take a load off mom. Get  laundry delivery service  from your local  Boston dry cleaner  and eat out so that you can take mom on a shopping spree and help her find the perfect Mother’s Day gift. Take a stroll in the Boston Public Garden Mothers with young children frequently take their children to the local  park playground  to play and teach them social skills. A stroll in the park will let your mother enjoy it for herself. The Boston Public Garden is a beautiful and relaxing place to spend some time with your mother. You can take a leisurely walk ar
Read more

Fun Activities for the Family on Valentine’s Day

Image
Valentine’s Day is a fun and festive time to celebrate love. While Valentine’s Day is commonly used to celebrate romantic relationships, it can also be a good day to spend time with family and friends and celebrate the love you share for each other. If you’re wondering how to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your loved ones, here are some family-friendly fun activities for you to consider. Decorate Your Home Decorating your home in pink and red is a great way to start. Make decorating an enjoyable activity by putting on some light music and having kids help with hanging up the decorations. You can even make Valentine’s Day crafts with your kids, friends and relatives who share your knack in making heart tassel charms, sequin pins, tissue paper wreaths, air-dry clay hearts and the like. Another sweet way to decorate is to get some colorful post-its from your  neighborhood drugstore  and write kind loving notes to each other. You can use these to decorate by sticking them on the wall, the
Read more