By GABRIELLA FRANCO BORGES | Volunteer
This time of year can be lonely for those without a family, so the Heliopolis Elderly Center has been busy helping out older persons during the Christmas season.
As the festive season brings happiness to many people worldwide, it could also impact some older persons' loneliness. The Brazilian Mental Health Foundation (at Hospital das Clinicas) has discovered that 19.7% of people aged 16 and over across Brazil showed symptoms of depression or anxiety. At the same time, the Office for National Statistics (IBGE) revealed in their reports that 5% of older adults in Brazil feel alone either 'often' or 'always.'
For those who are lonely, the Christmas period can tend to bring dread. This happens as they witness those around them enjoying the holiday season with their loved ones, and therefore their feelings of emotional isolation become worse.
On that note, older widowers living alone with long-term health conditions (like diabetes and high blood pressure) reported feeling lonely more frequently. In addition, older persons who have had to say goodbye to a loved one may become more aware that someone is no longer with them when they carry out traditions they used to enjoy doing as a couple. Everything from hanging up Christmas decorations to having a Christmas dinner can trigger these moments of sadness.
As the Christmas season has quickly come around, the Heliopolis Elderly Center has been working hard to provide a helping hand to elderly loved ones and neighbors throughout the holiday period. Here's some of what we have been up to…
Happiness within volunteering
Volunteering becomes more rewarding and thoughtful when carried out during the holiday season. There's nothing quite matching helping others and seeing their appreciation in how they respond to the acts of kindness and the cheerful looks on their faces. Lonely people can also find volunteering very helpful too.
At the Heliopolis Elderly Center, we make sure you take the time to ask an elderly relative or neighbor if they'd need any help carrying out tasks around their homes this Christmas. Whether giving them a hand to put up decorations or tidying up their homes, we love to be helping while assisting older persons and giving them some company.
We involve our Older Persons in Christmas traditions at the Heliopolis Elderly Center. With that, there's no reason why we can't ask our older persons if they would be interested in getting involved in our fun-filled activities through the Christmas season. For example, they may enjoy Christmas BINGO, making homemade gifts for a friend, and helping us with our community Christmas tree display. Many of them are also involved in our choir, and they love to get involved in caroling - at other local community centers. We love to help them make holiday crafts so they can decorate their homes. Many of these activities are likely to remind them of their youth and can also help them envision many generations enjoying the holiday together.
We don't just use electronics to connect with the elderly during the Holiday Season.
Mobile devices and computers can heighten loneliness when people spend a lot of time on them. Dr. Ana, an assistant professor at PUC University and a specialist in family medicine, stated that loneliness could be "an invisible epidemic" masked by an individual's online persona.
Dr. Ana also pointed out that an individual's online persona can't reflect real-life emotions of loneliness. Therefore, be sure to take the time to see people in person, no matter how hectic the holiday season is.
"Being connected electronically isn't the same as in person," Dr. Ana acknowledged to the Heloppolis Elderly Center. "There's something about a person-to-person interaction that's generally better for our well-being. Maybe it's intangible. But I think being around other older people, and that reassurance, communication, or something as small as a smile or a touch; these are small things, but I think they're essential."
We at the Heliopolis Elderly Center could not agree more...please help us make this Christmas even more special.
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