Seniors are often overlooked by friends and family, especially when they live in a retirement community. Many facilities are doing wonderful activities with their residents to ensure they live fulfilling lives, but as a community, we can do more. Below are a few simple ideas on how you can make a large impact on the senior community. 

Schedule Regular Visits

Loneliness is a major problem when it comes to senior communities. By scheduling regular visits, you can give one or several seniors something to look forward to each week or month. Try to not only be there but be engaged as well. We often forget that senior citizens have lived full lives and have so much to contribute and share, so make the extra effort to focus and be fully present.

Encourage Regular Physical and Mental Activity

Physical and mental activities keep your older loved ones sharper and active longer. One of the most common complaints as people get older is a loss of independence. By encouraging regular exercise and participation in activities that keep them thinking, seniors will thrive on a higher quality of life through more mobility and cognitive function. 

Promote Connectivity

Sometimes planned visits fall through, or life gets in the way of seeing your loved ones in person. That doesn’t mean you can’t stay connected. Help any senior you visit learn how to use apps like Zoom or FaceTime so they can see and talk to friends and family whenever they want. Just because we can’t always physically be there doesn’t mean we can’t find new ways to stay connected. 

Find Fun Activities To Do Together

For some weird reason, many people view the elderly as boring. Senior citizens are still people who genuinely want to enjoy life, especially in their golden years. Get to know the likes and dislikes of all the seniors you visit and plan fun things to do together. Organize an outing to a museum, set up a monthly dance class, or facilitate a book club. The possibilities are basically endless. Work with the senior community to find out what would make them happiest and then make it happen!