Self-help Tips for the Elderly

Activity and Elder

The importance of activity

Activity is an integral part in our life. Activities become more important when elders have more leisure time after retirement. Everyday we participate in different kinds of activities including self-care tasks, household tasks, leisure activities. Provided that activities have specific goals, where participation is voluntary and can give us a sense of satisfaction, happiness or achievement, these activities are meaningful activities.

The benefits of participating in activities

Some elders may think that they might be too old for join ing activities. In fact, participating in some meaningful activities can give them lots of benefit which include:

1. Become healthier

Some elders might prefer to take a rest rather than to join activities due to their health conditions. In fact , by participati ng in some physical activities such as Tai Chi, dancing and swimming can improve ones' mobility, coordination and cardiopulmonary function.

2. Congitive training

Activities such as playing chess, computer games, mah-jong or table games can exercise the brain and delay cognitive decline.

3. To ventilate emotions

S ome elders may have no interest and motivation to join activities because of their low mood . In fact , activities such as going to restaurants , singing and watching movies can help elders to ventilate their emotions , relieve their anxiety . This makes them feel better .

4. Prevent social isolation

Some elders avoid participating in activities because they fear that they cannot communicate and get along well with others . In fact, p articipati on in group activities such as morning exercise or travelling does provide a good opportunity to improve communicat ion skills and expand their social network .

5. To learn

Some elders are reluctant to participate in activities because they fear of dealing with new issues . On the contrary , only through active trial and contact with new issues, an elder can be able to handle new issues more . With practice , they could gain more control over new issues and hence their anxiety could be reduce d .

6. Promoting and maintaining ability in self-care

T hrough self - care activities in daily living , such as grooming and cooking , e lders can not only care for themselves , but also can help them in maintain ing and enhanc ing their self-care ability.

7. Increasing self-confidence

Participating in voluntary work s not only can help other people, but also can increase their self-confidence and offer them sense of satisfaction. Elders can choose to participate in different kinds of activities , such as calligraphy, drawing , handicrafts and so on, according to their own interests , t hrough which , they can make good use of their creativity and their talent in art. Hence, their self-value might be increased .

8. Reducing anxiety and wandering behaviour

For those elders with dementia, participating in meaningful activities can help in reduc ing their anxiety , maintain ing their cognitive function and self-care abilities. Participating in activities can also help them utilize their excessive energy which might help reduc ing the ir wandering behaviour.

How to choose activities for oneself?

When choosing activities, choice should not base solely on your own interest or hobbies, but should also take into consideration of their physical limitations and the demand of each particular activity. For example, playing mah-jong requires good hand s functions whereas dancing requires good function of both upper limbs and lower limbs . Climbing stairs may not be suitable for an elderly person who has been suffered from knee pain , however, s he /he can still enjoy the fun of strolling in the park.

F or the cognitive aspect, different kinds of activities may require different cognitive function s such as memory, comprehension and writing skill, listening and expressive ability. For example, a literate elder can choose to read fiction while playing chess requires good memory function. It might not be appropriate for an elderly person with poor memory to cook all by herself/himself, but with the help and supervision of family member(s), s he /he can still be able to make her/his contribution in preparing the meal .

Moreover, some elders may have visual and hearing problems. For example, an elderly person with hearing problem is not able to listen to the radio or watching the news in the television , but he can read the news in the newspaper and keep ing in touch with the world. Thus, even an elders ' physical and health condition are deteriorating, they can still be able to choose suitable activities for themselves after careful selection of activities which base on their own physical and health condition .

Arrange activities for oneself

After understanding the advantages of participating in activities and how to select suitable activities, it is important for elders to make a change and try to arrange some activities in their daily schedule. They can try their best in arrang ing various kinds of activities into their daily schedule with reference to their interest and capability rather than just doing daily household routine tasks. For example, Ms. Chan likes playing mah-jong and doing exercise. Here is her one day activity schedule:

If elders are having difficulties in arranging activities for themselves, they may go to nearby D istrict E lderly C ommunity C entre or N eighbourhood E lderly C entre and join the activities there which they can also gain the benefits of them. In fact, elders can enjoy the ir life more if they can understand their own capabilities, select, arrange and participate in suitable activities.

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