by Growing Needs | Sep 9, 2024 | Caregivers Support, Caregiving
Nursing homes boast a variety of social activities and programs that create the avenues for seniors to explore new interests and hobbies. Additionally, it is common to see nursing homes commemorate special occasions like the Lunar New Year and Mooncake Festival where seniors would congregate and partake in social activities together.
Staying connected to others within nursing homes goes a long way in supporting an individual’s mental and spiritual well-being. Here, we explore how exactly nursing homes help seniors in exploring new interests and hobbies:
Dedicated spaces like community gardens and relaxation corners are spaces designed with the seniors’ needs in mind. The design of the built environment we live in plays an important role in one exploring new interests and hobbies. It is commonplace to see community gardens in nursing homes where seniors can do their own gardening and get their sense stimulated by sensory-stimulating plants. Such spaces encourage seniors to explore new interests and hobbies.
Within a nursing home exists a community of like-minded individuals in a similar phase of life. Through the relation of past experience and sharing of memories, it can foster a bond between seniors. These shared experiences then form the new memories that seniors make in the nursing home. This goes a long way into preventing social isolation and depression.
Engaging in conversations and partaking in activities together would then encourage seniors to explore new hobbies as they now have a kaki (friend) to do it with. One might not have played chess before but because of a friend who plays chess (typically played as a 2 player game), it would encourage another to pick up this activity.
Qualified therapists and care staff are trained to customise care for each of the senior’s needs and also best plan activities for seniors to engage in. The purpose of having activities in a senior care setting is to prevent social isolation and also ensure that seniors remain physically and mentally active. For a senior who is living at home, he or she might not be as receptive in trying new activities due to fear of injury and unfamiliarity.
In a nursing home, nurses are trained to ensure the safety and well-being of patients when engaging in new interests and hobbies. They will closely monitor the patient’s physical and mental state before recommending new activities to try and engage in. For example, some might not have tried playing games like sudoku before and the nursing home staff would be able to guide seniors and provide them with the sudoku puzzles, maximising both the satisfaction and confidence levels.
In one’s silver years, some seniors might experience feelings of discomfort having to rely on their family members when they previously did not have to do so and could live independently. This often affects the confidence and self-esteem which could lead to seniors being less vocal about their needs such as picking up new interests and hobbies as they feel it might further trouble their caregivers.
Even if one engages in a new hobby, it might trigger feelings of guilt as seniors might feel that they are adding on to the burden of their caregivers especially if the activity is one which requires some level of support and supervision. For example, if seniors wish to pick up a new sport like taichi, or even going on walks in parks, it would require some level of supervision from family caregivers to ensure that it is done safely.
This is where the care services and supervision from trained nursing home staff comes in – seniors might not feel as burdensome (as it is a paid service) and also puts family caregivers at ease knowing that their loved ones are being taken care of. In nursing homes, low intensity physical activities are a great and safe way to stay active and the nursing centre often organises these activities – from guided meditation classes to dancing lessons. From which, seniors can explore new interests and pick up new hobbies more easily.
In the silver years, keeping active both physically and mentally is even more important in ensuring overall well-being. Activities can help stimulate the mind, sharpen cognitive skills and also is a great way for seniors to bond with like-minded individuals, reducing the risk of social isolation.
Growing Needs grew out of our own encounters with caring for our aging parents and reflecting on the Growing Needs that we ourselves would face as we advance in years. We hope to build a community that will learn, share and contribute towards caring for the growing needs of our loved ones.
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