Live at home with grandfather / grandmother / father / mother who have entered old age? Considering the excitement of the pandemic that is happening right now, it’s only natural that they grumble every day because of the stress of reading messages related to COVID-19 in their Whatsapp groups, watching the news and not being able to leave the house.
Let’s take a moment to forget the groups and do other activities! But before, do not forget to read the article: Tips to prevent transmission of COVID-19 if you live with the elderly first!
Here are some ideas for activities with the elderly at home during social distancing:
- Chat
This activity is a very basic thing, but it is often forgotten by all of us. The full schedule of school, college and work sometimes makes us feel too busy, so that indirectly makes us do not have time to chat.
- Cooking
Try making a menu that has never been tried, or ask a family member to teach a recipe for its flagship. For those who do not live at home, you can know while video-call consulting a recipe to Mother / Grandma.
- Sorting items at home
Sort goods into four groups: 1) still in use, 2) want to give to friends / family, 3) want to donate, 4) want to throw away. Who knows by sorting things, we can find items that remind us of pleasant memories that occurred in the past.
- Learn foreign languages
Get your parents / grandparents to learn a foreign language using apps like Duolingo. Tell us that learning languages actually reduces the risk of senility. Encourage discussion by exchanging interesting facts about the country being studied.
- Learn local languages
Or if we cannot / are not fluent in the local language used by extended families, this opportunity can be used to ask parents / grandparents to teach us the local language. One paddle, two or three islands are exceeded. Regional languages are preserved, so we can shop in local languages, and parents / grandparents can stimulate the brain with teaching activities.
- Learn special skills
Grandma, good at knitting? Or grandfather is a painter? If there are skills they have and we can’t, ask them to teach. In addition to opening new insights, if they teach what they like, it can also make them more excited.
- Watch interesting films
In this digital age, the choice of films that can be watched at home is endless and easily accessed online. Invite your parents / grandparents / nobar films that are interesting for them in this social distancing period, like a film with a background in the past so that they too can reminisce.
Watching a movie is actually not an activity that is recommended in terms of cognitive stimulation for the elderly because it is very passive. Therefore, invite parents / grandparents to discuss after the film is over. Ask which scenes or characters are the most memorable for them, or suppose this film will be made in Indonesia, who do you think will be the most appropriate character in the film?
If you don’t live with them, there’s no problem! Even without face-to-face meetings, the above activities can be done together through video calls.
You can also invite parents / grandparents to take photos of their #socialdistancing activities at home, and send them to their friends’ Whatsapp groups. Everyone will thank you with positive content after a day of hearing hoaxes and negative news! ?
Do you have other ideas for activities for the elderly during #socialdistancing? Come on, share your ideas with Alzheimer’s Indonesia!
Kontributor:
dr. Tara P. Sani, MSc
dr. Saskia Mariska, MPH
Virginia Geraldine Hanny Prasetya, S. Psi
