It’s December, which means the Holidays are on everyone’s mind! If you are like most Americans, you are probably scrambling to find the perfect gift for all of your loved ones and while some family members may seem easier to buy for, some of them, such as our elders, can be extra difficult as there may not be anything they really need or even want for that matter.  After all, does Grandma really want the new Galaxy phone?  Will great Uncle Jay even know how to work a tablet?  So, what do you give instead?  

How about the gift of freedom, independence, and safety?  Wouldn’t it be great to give a gift that keeps giving every single day?  Life Alert’s medical alert system is the best present to give to your venerable loved ones! By simply wearing the lightweight, waterproof emergency pendant they can live independently with confidence while knowing one touch of a button summons help fast, 24/7, for any home emergency such as a fall, heart-attack, fire, even home intrusion.  Life Alert also offers as wide a variety of protection packages as there are cookies for Santa, which includes a Mobile HELP Phone with GPS, so your loved one can stay protected while out and about – perhaps shopping for the perfect gift to give you.  There truly is no better gift in the world than independence and freedom.  So this year, let Santa know that the elders in your life deserve Life Alert.

 

Need additional gift ideas for your elders? Get a full list thanks to Holidappy.com[1].  Read on and get ready to shop!

1.   Organizing Medications:
An inexpensive way to help an older person remain healthy and independent is to support them in taking their medication every day. Managing medications can be a challenge for many old people, especially when certain prescriptions must be taken at specific times during the day. This task can be even more daunting for people with multiple diseases who often end up taking multiple medications at the same time. The more drugs they use, the more likely they are not to remember to take them. One gift that can help simplify medication management, giving peace of mind and maximizing independence, is a pill organizer. They come in a variety of styles, from daily to monthly storage options, and variety of sizes. Ask your elderly parents or find out how many pills they need to take and look for an organizer that has compartments big enough for them. Also, find a pill organizer that is easy to open, because many older people struggle with so-called "child proof" tops.  A monthly pill organizer is a great option, because you need to set it up for them only once a month.  It can also be combined with a reminder system, to make sure your older parents are taking their pills on time. The reminder system is a talking alarm clock that is easy to read even with impaired eyesight and easy to hear even with hearing problems. It also gives people, whose memories may not be what they used to be, useful reminders of what date and day of the week is.


2.  Helping with Groceries:
An interesting gift option for elderly people who have everything is a voice-activated grocery and errand list organizer.  Sometimes people forget things, like what they wanted to buy from the store, and end up with a diet that resembles the worst of hospital food – microwave meals and frozen foods.  So an organizer that can be very helpful. A grocery list organizer is a device that records your items, sorts them into separate categories and then prints a paper list that you take with you to the store. A person simply has to press a button and say what they need to purchase. 


3.  Staying in Touch:
Staying in touch is easier than ever nowadays, but because many people are so wrapped up in work and family demands, they don’t always take the time to stay in touch with the elderly who don’t use computers and social media. Talking or writing to elderly parents or grandparents on a regular basis is important for their emotional health. Feeling alone and isolated can increase their risk of depression and anxiety. This is especially true for seniors who may be dealing with various health issues or have physical challenges. An awesome gift idea for elderly parents who live away from their children, don’t use computers and have no desire to deal with computers is an Email printing service.  It is a reasonably priced subscription service that comes with a printer, which works without a computer. You need to set up an account, plug the printer into a phone outlet and it prints Emails and photos from pre-approved senders, without the receiver being online. Your parents or grandparents will not be able to respond to these mails, but at least they will be “on the mail loop” from which they frequently feel left out. 


4.  Better Sleep:
Quality sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being. In fact, sleep is as essential as food, and creating healthy sleeping patterns is just as important as eating right. Unfortunately, some of the most common problems the older generation experience are insomnia and sleep issues. An awesome gift that can help them deal with sleep disorders is a Sleep Sound Machine. Those machines play calming nature sounds that help people fall asleep faster, relax, or just block out distracting noises. Since audio quality is very important part of masking distracting sounds, it is better to get a sleep machine with really good speakers. 


5.  Boosting Mood and Well-Being:
Older people, and those who are homebound or bed-ridden, sometimes don't get outside enough and don’t get exposed to enough natural light, which can disrupt their sleep-wake cycle. If you are looking for a good, useful gift for an elderly parent or grandparent like that, consider getting them a therapy lamp. These lamps mimic the brightness of the sun, stimulating the body's production of vitamin D, and thus, boosting mood and well-being. In a way, they work like antidepressants, but without the side effects of the medications. They can also help those who suffer from winter blues, which makes them great gifts for Christmas, too. When you look for a light therapy lamp, you need to make sure it emits 10,000 lux of light. “Lux” is a measurement of the intensity of light and 10,000 lux is the optimum light level that best mimics natural outdoor light. This means that it can be used for shorter time periods than a lamp that is not as bright. For comparison, the light on a typical, overcast day can be between 1,000 and 2,000 lux and on a very bright, sunny day – between 32,000 and 100,000 lux. If you find a product that offers intensities higher than 10,000 lux, you should know that intensities higher than 10,000 lux have not been studied for safety or efficacy.


6.  Hobby Baskets:
Many older people have hobbies they love. Do a little snooping to find out what the senior on your gift list enjoys making. You might find a gift idea or two. If grandma likes crafts, put together a nice gift basket with a hot glue gun, scissors, glue sticks, and other things that she can use in different projects. You can do the same for your grandpa and his favorite hobbies. If he is not really able to enjoy these hobbies anymore (like fishing or golfing), get him a subscription to a related magazine so he can read about them. Encouraging grandparents to take up new hobbies, or revisit old ones, can improve their quality of life.

With all of the great ideas above, you can stop worrying about what to get the senior citizens in your family.  However, if you want to get a totally unique and helpful gift, personal protection is the perfect answer.  With over 25 years in the emergency medical alert industry, you can be certain that Life Alert will provide the best in personal protection to your loved ones.  In particular, their lightweight, waterproof emergency pendant would make an excellent gift as they can summon help, fast, 24/7, all year round.  So, while Life Alert may make a great gift for your most loved family members, remember, knowing they are safe is the best gift you can give yourself too. For a free brochure on all of their awesome lifesaving services, call 1-800-513-2934.

Works Cited:

 “Original Gift Ideas for Seniors Who Don’t Want Anything.” Holidappy.com. <https://holidappy.com/gift-ideas/Original-Gift-Ideas-Grandparents-Elderly-Parents

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