Five Ways to Get Your Mom Involved in Her Community

image_pdfimage_print

Volunteering is more than helpful to others, it’s good for your mom’s health. According to the Corporation for National & Community Service, older adults who volunteered had lower rates of disability and mobility issues and improved mental and physical well-being.

Home Care Bernardsville NJ - Five Ways to Get Your Mom Involved in Her Community

Home Care Bernardsville NJ – Five Ways to Get Your Mom Involved in Her Community

Depression is one area that studies have looked at. People who volunteer often have lower stress levels and rates of depression. For those who do become depressed, people who volunteer seem to have a shorter span of being depressed. It’s clear that volunteering is good for your mom, so how do you get her involved?

Take Her to a Senior Center

If your mom is not active at her local senior center, she should be. In addition to having opportunities to socialize and meet others, volunteer opportunities are often posted or shared with the senior center’s guests.

Look Online

Sites like AARP have listings of volunteer opportunities in each area. Your mom can search by interest and location. She’ll have plenty of time to research the volunteer agencies and organizations before she makes a call or signs up online.

Join Her in a Volunteering Opportunity

Join your mom. If she’s not alone, she may be more willing to volunteer. Find something you’re both interested in and look for volunteer opportunities in that interest. For example, if you and your mom love to read, you could volunteer to read to children in the hospital. If you love to crochet, you could make hats and blankets for cancer patients.

Call the Hospital

Hospitals always need volunteers. They need volunteers for gift shops, information desks, and flower deliveries to rooms. Some hospitals also need volunteers who will sit and rock the infants in the NICU ward.

Find Volunteer Opportunities She Can Do at Home

Some volunteer opportunities are easily done from home. Knitting and crocheting blankets, hats, socks, and squares are some of the more common ones. Stuffing envelopes for non-profit agencies is another.

As your mom’s needs change, make sure you continue to match her changing abilities with the help she receives. Some of the things older adults find harder as they age are remembering to take medications, shopping for groceries, and preparing meals. Home care services help with this.

A home care aide can cook meals, plan menus, and join your mom at the store. The home care provider  can dine with her, clean the kitchen after a meal, and keep her fridge organized. Call our agency to find out how much home care providers cost and how often you can have caregivers stop by.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional Home Care Services in Bernardsville NJ, please talk to the caring staff at Generations Home Health Care today. Providing Home Care in Somerset, Essex, Union, Morris and Hunterdon Counties. Call us today at (908) 290-0691 or (973) 241-4534.

Susan Myer, RN, BSN, CCRN, CDP