A Healthy Holiday Gift Guide for Seniors

Please see the following from my guest blogger of the week, Hazel Bridges:

Selecting a gift for your aging parent can be a stressful part of the holiday season. What do you get someone who seemingly has it all? How about the necessary tools to improve their quality of life? We’ve compiled a Healthy Holiday Gift Guide with plenty of ideas to help you encourage your loved one to adapt a healthy lifestyle. Your parent may be experiencing a loss in physical health, decreased mental acuity, or even depression; many of these go hand in hand with the aging process. Take some time this holiday season to help them understand the link between their self-care and their physical and mental health. Provide specific examples of what they can do to better manage their own health, and provide them with the tools to do it. It might be the best gift you’ve ever given. A Fitbit Device uploads data to the Fitbit website, such as number of footsteps per day, calories consumed, and quality of sleep. Have them utilize the “share with friends” option and you’ll be able to see how they are doing with their healthy new lifestyle. A Smoothie Maker/Water Bottle is one of the latest trends in healthy eating on the go. This portable device allows you to make the perfect fruit smoothie right in your water bottle. A New Pair of Shoes may really help with common foot problems that are associated with aging. Doctors recommend orthotic shoes that are specifically engineered to provide more heel and foot support. Some popular physician-recommended brands include Vionic and KURU. Both offer current shoe styles; gone are the days of your granny’s out-of-fashion orthotics. A Medcenter 31-Day Pill Organizer is a talking alarm clock that serves as a reminder system for taking medication. The easy to read organizer improves medicine compliance, and thus health, with gentle reminders. A Garden Kneeler will encourage your parent to stay active out of doors. Gardening can improve their strength and endurance; it also provides healthy outdoor time to clear the mind. The garden kneeler works to take the stress off their back by providing a kneeler for ground work, and a bench for resting. A Fruit of the Month Club Subscription is a great way to promote healthy eating. Fruits provide a number of health benefits, such as reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, and better bone health. Eating fruit also helps diminish the risk of Vitamin C and A deficiencies that can occur with aging. Consider trying The Fruit Company or Harry and David; both will set up a monthly delivery of fresh fruit to your loved one. A Senior-Friendly Tablet to use in conjunction with any necessary health monitoring devices. Most screen time doesn’t generally have an equivalency with improved health, but the modern technologies afforded by these devices certainly do. Health monitors, such as blood pressure cuffs, heart monitors, and diabetic devices can be linked to the tablet. The captured data can, in turn, be stored and shared; providing you with real time health updates. Consider brands that are senior-friendly with larger screens and better sound technology. A Health Magazine Subscription aimed at your loved one’s generation will give them numerous ideas and resources at their fingertips. It also promotes self-care, as they actively learn about health improvement strategies. Consider Senior Living Magazine, which delivers “health and wellness tips for seniors who want to look and feel their best.” Or Prevention, which “takes a holistic approach to wellness that makes it an excellent choice for health-conscious adults.” A Yoga Studio Gift Certificate will get your loved one out and trying something new. Yoga is proven to have myriad health benefits, including weight loss, strengthening bones, and lowering blood pressure. Aside from the physical benefits, socialization will improve your loved one’s health. Talk to them about these benefits after they open the gift to encourage them to participate. Consider wrapping up the gift certificate in a yoga mat so they’re ready to go. Giving your loved one the gift of improved life is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Happy shopping!

Links if interested:

mental health - http://www.drugrehab.org/ substance-abuse-addiction- elderly/

Fitbit website - https://www.fitbit.com/home

Smoothie Maker/Water Bottle - https://www.amazon.com/ BRAVIT-

Personal-Sports- Smoothie-Blender/dp/B01E2Y5UCW

common foot problems - http://www.sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/ S0378512216301438

reminder system - https://www.walmart.com/ip/ MedCenter-31-Day-

Medication- Organizer/15155126? wmlspartner=wlpa& selectedSellerId=0&adid= 22222222227000599732&wl0=&wl1= g&wl2=c&wl3=40753250912&wl4= pla-60734919325&wl5=9014251& wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10= 8175035&wl11=online&wl12= 15155126&wl13=&veh=sem

Garden kneeler - https://www.gardeners.com/ buy/garden-kneelers/40-008+++ GR.html?utm_campaign=PLA&utm_ medium=googleshopping&utm_ source=google&SC=XNET9671& gclid=Cj0KCQjwyvXPBRD- ARIsAIeQeoGM9yfMKxVjjOI7qmafSU 0t7Lp4- B5ZVVSF1aC69WVwBG1vAJ4QIqoaAv3 rEALw_wcB&kwid=productads- adid%5e214065455012-device% 5ec-plaid%5e349303369172-sku% 5e40@ADL4008%20%20%20GR- adType%5ePLA

Senior-Friendly Tablet - https://tabletunderbudget. com/best-tablets-for-seniors- elderly/

______________________________

Some other fun ideas from Karen:

- An amazon Echo which can provide them with music, games, and more!

- A stitch fix subscription or similar company so that they will receive a few new clothing items monthly or quarterly. Can include general clothing items, purses, outerwear, shoes, and more! Male or female! It is often fun to get a surprise from time to time and not just over the holidays!

- Restaurant or spa gift cards

- A fun outing or day trip planned and enjoyed with them (nothing better than the gift of one's time).

Some great ideas are: Escape the Room, Escape Room Live or other similar vendor, pottery painting, Muse paint bar painting night or another similar vendor, fun cooking class through cookology or Sur La Table, theater tickets, special tour such as Christmas at Mt. Vernon or other area tours, or even indoor skydiving for those without mobility issues as it is easier than you think and fun!

- Fun software or books that offer brain games and puzzles.

Eldementals never accepts any compensation from vendors or organizations at any time!