Intellectual Companionship
Why is intellectual companionship important as we age? For many elderly, getting older can be a difficult and lonely experience. As they age, the elderly often become less active, have fewer social interactions, and find it difficult to keep themselves engaged. Even if they live with their family, a hectic lifestyle and busy work schedule means many families have little quality time to spend with elderly parents. Loneliness among the elderly is a silent disease, but it can have serious consequences. Here are some facts:
- Loneliness among the elderly is associated with a 60% higher chance of dementia
- 1/5 elders in India report being lonely
- 2/3 of elderly living more than 300 km away from their children report being lonely
How can ONPC Elder Care Help?
When our Elder Care Specialists visit the elderly, they are equipped with an individualized set of activities, outings and interests, tailored to each individual. We work to nurture and drive each of our elderly to explore passions, interests and hobbies that they may have left behind. By reigniting a passion for life, our Elder Care Specialists ensure that the elderly are enjoying life just as much as they were when they were younger.
1. Staying Active and Occupied
We at ONPC believe that hobbies form the core of an individual. Our ECS work towards rekindling those passions and giving them a new meaning. Be it painting on canvas, cooking a cherished delicacy or knitting a sweater for their grandchild, we make sure that hobbies do not remain their past but something they look forward to everyday.
Documenting life experiences help the elderly to share their knowledge with family members, friends and the world in a way they never knew they could. Creating blogs and memoirs encourages them to engage in tangible work that they can show to others while taking great pride in the work they created with the help of our ECS.
2. Staying Socially Connected
Research shows that social interaction not only stimulates the brain through conversation and activities, but it also contributes to overall wellbeing. Having engaging conversations with the elderly related to recent news, their childhood memories, lifelong experiences and other interests can be exciting and intellectually gratifying.:
Group events are organized by our ECS to encourage social interaction. Organizing salon visits or a fun-filled game day helps the elderly interact with one another and have a good time. These experiences create fond memories which are cherised forever.
Regular meetings with old friends and neighbours keep the elderly connected and informed. Helping to arrange get-togethers that are enjoyable and relaxing keep the elderly in touch with the important people in their lives.
3. Going On An Outing
Going out for coffee or shopping helps the elderly maintain a sense of independence, all while enjoying activities they previously used to engage in.
Selecting a birthday gift for a grandchild or a dear friend makes the gift all the more special. Elderly who were once very independent may have to rely on others for daily necessities, but the chance to go with one of our ECS to pick the perfect shade of nail polish or buy vegetables help them to maintain their individuality and personal choice. Shopping puts them into the shoes of a decision maker and builds their self-esteem while also making them more independent.
A fresh environment inspires lively conversations, boosts observations and creates enthusiasm. Chatting over coffee gives the elderly a new environment to engage and interact in while reminiscing their own days in coffee shops. It reignites the youthfulness and a lot of interesting stories about their college days follow suit.
Watching a movie on the big screen always has its own charm. Most elderly keep up with the latest movies on television, so watching movies in the theatre can make for a fun packed day.
4. Learning Technology
In today’s era, technology plays a major part in our everyday lives. Our ECS helps the elderly understand the changes that have come about since their days and give them a hands-on experience on the the new and latest in the online world. They take them through emailing, Facebook, Skype and blogging to keep them more connected with their family and friends. Many elderly continue to be unfamiliar with technology, but our ECS can help your elderly learn email, Skype, Facebook, and blogging to keep in touch with family & friends.
Email and Skype help keep the elderly stay connected with family and friends. Our ECS can help guide the elderly to become familiar with using email and Skype. Receiving and sending out emails helps to keep the elderly feel connected with modern technology and reap the satisfaction of learning a new skill. The smile that an email from your elderly father/mother can bring to your face is priceless.
Keeping up with the yesterday’s missed TV serial or watching an old music video is no longer a daunting activity for our seniors. Depending on the interest of the elderly, they watch the videos together and the ECS guides them on how to use it on their own.
Playing games on the computer can be a wonderful source of entertainment, while fine tuning concentration, memory and hand-eye-coordination. A game of “matching the cards” is a memory game which exercises their short term memory by making them identify identical cards, while challenging others’ time scores.
5. Intellectual Discussions
For the elderly, intellectual discussions about news, history, politics or an array of different topics are invaluable to keeping them engaged and informed. Our ECS’s discuss topics of interest with the elderly and on each visit plan something new and exciting to talk about – be it news, ideas or experiences. Discussions like these not only keep the elderly informed, but also help them generate new ideas and keep them mentally active and engaged.
6. Helping out with day to day chores
Keeping a track of electricity and telephone bills, buying groceries, or updating the pillbox can be quite stressful on a daily basis. We help ease out this process and take care of these needs in an organized manner.
7. Providing Health Service
Our ECS can monitor the elderly’s vitals, medication management, hygiene levels, risks in their environment and the general condition of the elderly’s health. They provide email reports to the family after every visit to ensure proper feedback is being provided.
How does ONPC customise its care?
We tailor our services to each elderly’s needs. Elderly that are physically and mentally independent seek intellectual stimulation, whether it be through playing a game of rummy or a friendly debate on global warming while taking a walk in the park. For those with physical limitations, we orient our ECS’s to their health concerns and engage the elderly in creative cognitive activities such as chess, sudoku and trivia. For somebody who is suffering from dementia, our ECS’s are trained to understand their unspoken needs and help them communicate to exercise their mental faculties.
What reports do the ECS provide after each visit?
After each interaction, notes are sent to the customer to update them on the session and maintain transparency. These provide the customer with a window into the daily life of their parents and cover the activities carried out and the plan for next session.
How often does the ECS visit?
Elder Care Specialist visit for 1 hour, 2-3 times a week, depending on the elderly’s schedule. On days in between visits, ECS’s make a phone call to the elderly to ensure their well being and to socialize. Phone calls and weekly visits help to construct a strong and meaningful relationship between the ECS and the elderly.
What should I do next?
Elder Care Specialist visit for 1 hour, 2-3 times a week, depending on the elderly’s schedule. On days in between visits, ECS’s make a phone call to the elderly to ensure their well being and to socialize. Phone calls and weekly visits help to construct a strong and meaningful relationship between the ECS and the elderly.
- To set up a meeting with our elder care team, Call or email us today
- Find out more about our Elder Care Specialists (ECS)
- Learn about our Dementia Care Services