Christmas Gifts for Older People who are on their own.

Christmas Gifts for Older People who are on their own.

Self-isolating is currently the new normal and may extend over the Christmas/New Year period and possibly for longer. Christmas a time of giving gifts, but for an older person living alone, not able to join their family for Christmas or at other times, a gift that they can open, look at and put aside is not a very enjoyable experience.It is possible to ‘include’ older people in family lives even without visiting them when it comes to gift-giving.

It is possible to give gifts that will embrace their family and friends.Buy two jigsaws, one for you and one for an older person. Start the puzzle the same week and every couple of days have a jigsaw call to see how far each of you has progressed.Buy two Crossword or Word Search books and choose a page to start on and converse daily on how far you have managed to advance.Send a box of television chocolates to be kept until a program or series that you can both watch comes on, then call and have a chat about what you have just seen. Send a small food/sweet hamper with different items from their usual purchases, possibly date them for consumption and then phone and ask for their opinion on each one.

A digital photo frame is a gift which looks like a photo frame but contains an LCD screen which can display multiple family photos and videos in a slideshow format. Purchase and set one up as a ‘family’ gift.Conversations in lockdown are an important connection with the outside world. The above are just a few ideas, let me know if you have any others we can pass on. Email me at info@ablecommunitycare.com