To support the upcoming World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on July 24, we are offering a few ideas for easy ways to help your neighbors, friends, and relatives who have reached some point in their twilight years.
Imagine that you have a good friend, Paula, who is a lively and independent retiree of indeterminate age. Are there things you can help Paula with? Yes, there are: here are a few one-time project ideas to get you started.
Category 1: Anything that requires getting on a stepladder.
Why? Because Paula is over a certain age, she probably has some kind of balance problem, even if she is not aware of it. But you do not want her to discover this the hard way, by losing her balance and falling.
Examples:
Get seasonal decorations or wardrobe items down from high closet shelves.
Organize and declutter those top storage shelves in kitchen, pantry, or linen closet. Offer to stand on the stepladder and hand items to her to be sorted out/dusted off/tossed or handed back up to you for storage.
Bonus points for helping to update labeling on bins and boxes, and double bonus for offering to take discarded items to the trash, recycling area, or donation center.
Category 2: Anything that requires getting on the floor or general scrambling around.
Why? Because at some point in life, it is harder to get up if you are on your knees scrambling for something, especially if there is no support nearby such as a sturdy chair or table.
Examples:
Cleaning/organizing the area under the kitchen or bathroom sink.
Straightening out shoes on the closet floor.
Re-potting plants (not necessarily on the floor but can involve heavy lifting).
Category 3: Navigating the digital world
Why? Paula is more than competent using the computer for emails and writing tasks, but she gets frustrated with websites that are not user-friendly or when familiar websites undergo a major re-design.
You can offer help by phone for many of these situations: just go to the same website on your laptop and talk Paula through where to click.
Examples:
Navigate her way through that new website that has an obscure menu.
Make train or airline reservations.
Purchase a gift online to be sent to the recipient.
Purchase concert or sight-seeing tickets.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but may spark other ideas as you look around Paula’s apartment and chat with her about upcoming errands and projects. Get ready for an enjoyable afternoon where you both get to know each other better!