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The holiday shopping season is here! If you have a friend or loved one living in an assisted living community, you may be looking for fitting gift ideas. Because senior living communities are designed to provide residents with almost everything they need right on site, you may be a bit unsure of the best gift ideas. We’ve compiled a great list of ideas for you to spread some cheer for your loved one!
A comfortable outfit, a warm sweater, a cozy bathrobe or casual sweatpants could be just the thing for the casual lifestyle of an assisted living community. Many communities may also be hosting fun holiday events – consider a colorful, seasonal sweater that will spark joy with your loved one and other residents during celebrations.
You may know of a treat your loved one is particularly fond of, either that you can cook yourself, or buy. You can send a favorite treat or a variety of items in a festive basket. You could even send enough for your loved one to share with their friends and create a reason for a nice holiday get-together.
A box or basket of quality lotions, soaps, clippers and bath salts could be a wonderful way to help someone in assisted living to relax and feel pampered. Consider options that will be easier for your loved one to apply with pump dispensers. There are options available that have easy-to-open containers for anyone who may have arthritis.
Many quality assisted living communities have a salon or spa on the premises. You could contact them and find out what they have to offer. They may even know what your loved one’s favorite services are. If there isn’t a salon or spa on-site, it’s likely the community has transportation services available. The staff may even know of a salon nearby that residents frequent.
For residents that are comfortable handling more basic daily tasks, small appliances can be a great gift. A handheld vacuum cleaner, a single-pod coffee maker, a foot bath, or tools for gripping and opening containers are all useful to have, and an easy way to make their day-to-day life easier and more pleasant.
Arranging the delivery of some living plants or beautiful flowers is a great way to bring color and life to an assisted living apartment. There are many delivery services, and if your loved one doesn’t have much of a green thumb, you can choose plants that don’t require much direct sun or complicated care. You could even send a subscription to a flower-of-the-month club to step up the gift so that it keeps on giving all year.
Reading and staying informed is a great way for anyone to feel connected to the world. Whatever special interest your loved one enjoys, you can give them ongoing access to entertainment and information. And it will also serve as a monthly reminder that you’re thinking of them all throughout the year.
It’s likely that your loved one has a window in their senior living space that they spend some time sitting by. Sending a bird feeder that can be attached outside the window and in sight of a favorite seat will bring some enjoyable friends from nature to say hello.
Arts and crafts are tremendously popular, and great gifts for assisted living residents. It’s a great way to spend time, either alone or gathered with neighbors. There are also the well-established benefits of using motor skills, lowering blood pressure, concentration to aid cognitive skills and stress relief. There are so many craft supplies to choose from: coloring books, painting sets, knitting supplies, paints and brushes or colored pencils, or any other items you know your loved one will enjoy.
Another great idea for gifts for assisted living residents is a pack of puzzles, sudoku, crosswords, or board games they can play with friends and neighbors. Games are also great for cognitive exercise, a reason to get together and socialize, and put a smile on everyone’s face.
If your loved one enjoys technology, there are lots of choices for gifts for assisted living residents. Headphones for listening to favorite music or holiday songs are often a great item to receive. You could send a pack of seasonal CDs or DVDs to add to their collection. For readers, e-reader devices offer limitless books for your loved one to enjoy. Smart TV devices can also provide streaming content for them to enjoy in their leisure.
There are many services online these days that offer custom-made photo books that can be assembled digitally and shipped directly to your loved one’s door. It’s a great conversation piece and a tabletop item that they can revisit over and over to their heart’s content. Consider including photos of other loved ones like grandchildren to really spark joy.
Photos from family and friends, and especially grandkids, are always a welcome reminder of loved ones and a great conversation piece. Digital photo frames can be loaded with many photos, can cycle through a set of photos, and some even offer a service where new photos can be streamed directly to the frame from an app.
If your loved one has grandchildren or other young family members, creating a handcrafted gift box can really delight. Hand-drawn pictures, photographs, scrapbooks, crafts made either at home or at school, handwritten letters, even A+-graded schoolwork would all bring a smile, and likely find their way to the fridge or wall for bragging rights to visitors.
This may be the best gift of all. A visit from friends and family, especially during the holiday season, can bring great joy to someone who lives in an assisted living community. Especially with the likelihood of some adult children and grandchildren living far away, some seniors can find the holidays lonely. The gift of a visit, a video chat or a phone call would go a long way toward bringing them some holiday cheer.
The holiday season is a very special time at all Provision Living communities. If you’d like to learn more about joining one of our communities, or would like to make a current resident’s holiday extra special, give us a call at 1-844-402-3114 or contact us online.
