Helping Seniors Avoid The Holiday Blues: Support Good Senior Mental Health By Fostering Holiday Cheer

Blog  |  December 9, 2021

Seniors Mental Health Can Suffer During The Holidays

Holiday celebrations are important events in our lives at any age. Christmas, like other holidays, is chock-full of tradition and memory. But, holiday nostalgia can be a double-edged sword when it comes to senior mental health. On the one hand, the traditions and celebrations can be comforting and uplifting. On the other, they can leave seniors with a case of the holiday blues.

Feelings of depression and isolation are common senior mental health concerns. Unfortunately, the holiday season doesn’t always offer relief. Reminiscing about the past often reminds seniors of the loved ones they have lost. Likewise, family gatherings can highlight the loneliness many seniors feel throughout the year.

Being included in holiday plans and celebrations is good for a senior’s mental health. But, make sure to check in with your senior loved ones. Help them avoid the holiday blues by celebrating the holidays on their own terms.  

Holiday Cheer Can Help Seniors Avoid The Holiday Blues

Finding moments of joy during the holidays has real health benefits for seniors. Not only does it ward off feelings of depression and loneliness (hello, dopamine and serotonin and bye-bye blues!), holiday cheer can also:

• boost the immune response
• benefit the circulatory system
• ease digestion and
• create a greater feeling of contentment

So, if bringing a smile to your senior loved one’s face isn’t motivation enough, the health benefits should be! 

Ideas To Help Bring Joy To Seniors During The Holidays

There are lots of different ways you can support good senior mental health this holiday season. Here are some ideas for things you and your family members can do to help your ageing loved ones enjoy a happy holiday season. 

1. Help the seniors in your family put up decorations around their homes. (Make sure to let them know you will help take them down again when the season is over!)
2. Make time to listen to their stories and reflections on life and holidays past. Seniors are a wealth of wisdom!
3. Ask them about traditions they loved as children. If you can, offer to recreate them together and breathe new life into a cherished memory.
4. Join your ageing loved one in the kitchen. Holiday food is very nostalgic. Whether it’s a savoury dish or a sweet treat, preparing food together is a meaningful way to spend time.
5. Include seniors in gift-giving. Offer to take your loved one shopping. Provide transportation to a favourite local shop, help to wrap gifts or to write cards. 
6. Help a senior family member host a small gathering in their home. Bring the sounds, smells and energy of the holidays into their space. Fill their home with holiday cheer!

The most important thing you can do for your ageing loved ones is to make them feel valued, wanted and loved. It doesn’t take much!

In-Home Caregivers Help Bring Holiday Cheer To Seniors

Making extra time for your senior parents or ageing loved ones isn’t always as easy as it sounds. For example, many families live in different cities. The distance means that popping in for a quick coffee isn’t practical.  A visit takes time and planning to coordinate under these circumstances. Even if you live nearby, life is busy– especially around the holidays. Work deadlines loom, children’s school vacations creep up and holiday preparations keep you busy. It seems like you have to ramp up before slowing down.

If making extra time for the seniors in your family is difficult, an in-home caregiver can help.

How Comfort Keepers Caregivers Help Seniors Around The Holidays

When a Comfort Keeper joins a senior’s care team they are getting more than a caregiver. They are getting a companion.  Personal connection is at the heart of every senior care plan we create. Building a relationship is as important as meeting a senior client’s physical and cognitive needs.

Elevating the spirit and bringing daily doses of joy to our clients is central to the way we provide care. This is especially true during the holidays! In addition to our regular Home Care Services, a Comfort Keeper caregiver can help make the holidays more joyful for seniors in many different ways.  For example, we:

• gift our senior client’s cards or seasonal flowers like poinsettias
• offer themed crafts for in-home entertainment
• help to put up decorations
• make up beds for holiday guests
• prepare holiday meals and treats for visitors and holiday celebrations
• and more!

Going above and beyond to bring our senior clients a bit of holiday joy is always worth it.

A Happy Holiday Season Is Good For A Seniors Health And Wellbeing, Comfort Keepers Peterborough Can Help! 

Recognizing that the holidays can be bittersweet for your elderly family members is important.  Make the extra effort to help your senior loved ones avoid the holiday blues. Help them to feel valued and appreciated by including them in family gatherings. Help them create a little holiday magic at home and, if time or distance is making it hard to be present, arrange for the support of an in-home caregiver.

Seniors deserve to have moments of joy during the holidays. It is good for the mind, body and spirit! Contact Comfort Keepers Peterborough today to learn more about our Home Care Services and Companionship Services today.

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