Social Care: Helping Seniors Use Technology to Stay Connected
At Senior Home Care by Angels, we believe in providing care for the whole person when we provide professional home care assistance for seniors. This means that we’ll help with physical needs as well as emotional and social needs. Helping seniors stay socially active is especially important, and companionship can help reduce loneliness, depression, and sadness. Our caregivers are present in the home precisely to provide companionship, building relationships with our clients so that they can enjoy a higher quality of life.
Our caregivers know that feeling connected to family, friends and their community remains important for each of our clients. Our Social Care program is designed to help our clients stay close with the important people and activities in their life, even if they have chronic health concerns or reduced mobility. Using technology, our caregivers help families stay connected and stay social with each other.
How Professional Home Care Assistance Can Help Seniors Stay Engaged
As seniors age, they may have trouble with spending quality time with friends and family or enjoying activities in their local community. They may find it difficult to leave the house to visit other family members due to mobility issues (and they may not be able to drive themselves and need to find other forms of transportation). They may also start to forget times and locations for social gatherings. However, by using modern technology like social media, email, and video chat, seniors can easily spend time with the people they love without needing to worry about age-related issues.
Recent studies show that surfing the internet can reduce depression in seniors by up to 20 per cent.* Staying engaged and connected on social media and online can be another great tool to combat depression and loneliness for seniors. With our Social Care program, caregivers help seniors navigate any technology tool they have, such as a desktop, laptop, or tablet, and use platforms like Facebook, Skype, FaceTime, etc. to stay connected with the people they care about.
What Does the Social Care Program Include?
Our Social Care program includes:
- Cell phone use. Caregivers can help seniors program contacts, download and use apps, experience FaceTime, and other communication tools.
- Texting, emailing, and video chatting. Using apps like Skype or our client’s preferred email service, caregivers help clients to navigate these programs to stay connected.
- Facebook. We know that our clients love to connect with family members and friends on Facebook, and our caregivers can help our clients create an account and interact with loved ones.
- Internet use. Caregivers can help clients perform online research, search out old friends, and more.
At Senior Home Care by Angels, we want to provide better quality of life for all our clients by providing a holistic approach to professional home care assistance for seniors. Our Social Care program can help your aging loved one stay connected and engaged with friends, family members, community events, and more.
Contact your local Senior Home Care by Angels office to learn more about our Social Care program and other forms of home care assistance.
Because of this program, I was able to experience two of the greatest joys in life – becoming a grandmother and seeing my son become a new father. Skyping and Facebooking with my son and his family are now a normal part of my life. It helps me feel like I’m still an important part of their lives even though I’m miles and miles away.
* Washington, D.C. based Phoenix Center
** Journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Each Senior Home Care by Angels agency is a franchise that is independently owned and operated. The Franchisor, Visiting Homecare International Inc., does not control or manage the day to day business operations of any Senior Home Care by Angels franchised agency.