Karen's Kolumn - Gift Ideas for Nursing Home Visits

Boredom and loneliness are common complaints made by elders who reside in skilled care facilities.  Instead of always bringing plants or flowers, which provide visual pleasure to nursing home residents but cannot occupy their time, bring other gifts that they can enjoy after you have left.
Here are some ideas:
·         A magazine or Reader’s Digest that they can read and use to reminisce with other residents.
·         Foreign coins or postcards of places they have visited in years past.
·         Regular or large-print books (especially if there are visual limitations) or audio books they can listen to on their own.
·         A magnifying glass to help with small print items.
·         A small, portable radio so they can listen to a favorite station or the local news.
·         Bring anecdotes, stories, or cartoons clipped from newspapers or magazines to make them laugh or smile.
·         Stationery or note cards to keep in touch with friends.
·         A padded sheepskin cover for their wheelchair or bed to make life a little more comfortable.
·         Share photographs of your family, your vacation, you house, or garden.  Ask children to draw a picture or write a story especially for your loved one and bring this as a surprise.
·         Bring AND send cards and decorations on special holidays to brighten their room.
·         Make a special photo album filled with pictures and messages from friends and loved ones. 
·         If their diet allows, bring a favorite home-cooked treat such as oven baked biscuits, fresh fruit off your tree, fresh vegetables out of your garden, or their own recipe for pumpkin bread.
·         For a cognitively impaired loved one, bring a shoe box full of differently textured items (i.e., sandpaper, velvet, fuzzy fur, gingham, burlap) to touch and manipulate.  Often those with dementia find comfort in repetitive motions such as rubbing cloth or petting an animal.
·         Another idea for an older loved one who has difficulty communicating is touch/aroma therapy.  Bring a nicely scented lotion and ask if you could put the lotion on your loved ones’s hands, therefore providing touch as well as a pleasant aroma to associate with your visit.  Other ideas you might consider are using a linen spray on your loved one’s pillowcase or simply peeling a fresh orange in their room!
Although assisting an aging family member with his or her move to a residential care facility can often be an emotionally difficult experience, it is important that you focus your energy on making regular visits to provide care and comfort.  Some visits, especially in the beginning, may be difficult and cause you to feel sadness or guilt.  While these are normal emotions and should not be discouraged, try not to think of this transition only as an ending but instead focus on the time you still have together and ways of filling that time with expressions of your love and affection. 
Author:  Christine A. Price, Ph.D., Ohio State University Extension State Specialist, Gerontology, Department of Human Development and Family Science. 
"Oklahoma State University, U. S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local governments cooperating.  Oklahoma State University in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures."