11 GIFT IDEAS FOR NURSING HOME RESIDENTS AND SENIORS
You are trying to find a perfect gift ideas for nursing home residents and seniors! Do you know what nursing home residents and seniors like more than any gifts? It is the gift of time and your presence than makes them feel happy, valued, and unique. But sometimes, distance and work schedule might prevent you from spending time with loved ones. Then a thoughtful and useful gift can be the best thing. A gift for elderly loved ones will be such that it can bring smiles to their faces, help them to reminisce about good memories, and give them hope to live.
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1. Blankets
Blankets can brighten the room and keep residents cosy and warm. So, the blanket is always the best option for nursing home residents and seniors. You can choose the softest wool yarn blankets from “The British Blanket company” signature collections. Nothing feels better than wrapping a soft blanket and sitting outside on a couch on a mild day!
2. Comfortable Slippers
Cold feet need a warm slipper! But when you choose or buy slippers for elder ones, ensure they have rubber soles to prevent falling. You can gift adaptive feet slippers to your loved one from Silverts. It is super soft and comes with slip-resistant soles and an easy-touch closure, making the slipper easy to put on and adjustable for older people. It is best for those who are in long-term care facilities, home care settings, or at-home rehabilitation centres.
3. Bird feeder
Loneliness is the most common concern among older people who are nursing home residents. Giving a bird feeder as a gift can help your loved one can be a unique gift idea. It not only makes them happy to watch a variety of birds in their yard but also gives them a positive vibe of living. Keeping the bird feeder filled with birds and their favorite seeds can offer them a feeling of being helpful and valuable. Choose a bird feeder that is easy to assemble and easy to refill.
4. Framed Wall Photos
For nursing home residents, the space in a room used to be limited. Countertops used to be filled with medicines, medical equipment, and other necessary things. Then, use the wall space with framed photos. Collect the photos, put them together in matching frames, and hang them on the wall of your great-grandfather or grandmother’s room. This can remind them of their good old memories and make them feel connected with family members.
5. Sleep sound machine
Amnesia or sleeping issue is one of the most common complaints among older people. The majority of the time, due to their age and physical condition, older people used to recommend avoiding sleeping pills. In such a scenario, you can think about gifting a sleep sound machine to ease their issue as one of the perfect gift ideas for nursing home residents. These devices generate a calm white noise, the sound of raindrops, or a light breeze to help people relax and fall asleep faster. You can gift White Noise Machine from Bed Bath and Beyond, designed with a high-fidelity soundtrack, timer, and memory feature
6. Sleep Buds II
Considering the sleeping trouble of your loved ones, you can gift them Bose Sleep Buds 2. It is a pair of small, -tiny earbuds explicitly designed to make one falls asleep with sound and music. It is perfectly safe and secure for older people. So, grab a Bose Sleep Buds II and gift it to your older loved one in a nursing care facility.
7. Recordable book
A personalized gift made by grandchildren is always the best gift for grandparents. This gift idea will likely be cherished forever by the older nursing home residents who cannot be in touch with their grand or great-grandchildren. You can ask young children to record rhyming verses and charming illustrations of stories in their own voices in a storybook. And gift that recordable storybook to your loved one, a nursing home resident.
8. Adult coloring books and coloring pencils
You can think about adult coloring, paintbrushes, and coloring pencils as gifts for your craft-loving residents. Craft offers silage of being active and triggers the memory of lifelong quests. Choose the coloring books based on the challenges being faced by the resident. If your parent, grandparents, or older friends are struggling with dexterity, then choose a simple coloring book to keep them creative and engaged. You can select coloring for seniors from the anti-stress design volume from amazon as a unique gift for the older nursing home residents and seniors.
9. Games and Puzzles
Despite age, every person loves to play crossword puzzles. Studies disclose that active participation in crossword or puzzle games can keep the memory active for a more extended period for older adults. There are multiple options in the puzzle. You can choose a large printed and easy crossword puzzle, Sudoku game, or brain teaser puzzle game for the seniors. So, for residents who prefer pen-and-paper sudoku or crossword, gift them spiral-bound books that will be easy to fold back or even rip the page out for older people.
10. Iron-on Labels for Clothing
Nursing home care facilities have large laundry areas where residents’ clothes can get mixed up. To prevent the clothing from getting mixed or missing, you can think about giving iron-on labels to your special person. This gift is not only unique but ideal and valuable for nursing home residents, as those cannot be removed from clothes easily. You can gift a set of 36 Iron-on Clothing Labels personalized with names to nursing home residents and seniors.
11. Homemade Food
There are a lot of gift options available that you can give to your loved ones, specifically those who are nursing home residents and seniors. But nothing can take the place of homemade food. If you have time, you can coke foods or bake cake and cookies for the nursing home resident. Then set the table in the dining areas of the nursing home and decorate the table with home-make and freshly baked foods. It is not only a great gift idea for your loved one but for the fellow residents, who can come by to chat up in the hope of getting the taste of homemade food!
The best gift ideas for nursing home residents and seniors is you and your time. Take some time from your busy schedule, get flowers or homemade food and spend some time in the lunchroom. This is the best investment you can make; your presence can make them feel loved and valued. Though, sometimes time and distance can restrict you from visiting nursing home residents and seniors. Then you can choose one of the gifts from the above list that suits your loved one better!
