Supporting Elderly Relatives During Lockdown
*This is a collaborative post
Lockdown 3.0 has been hard on all of us, but for our elderly friends and relatives who may be living alone, the continuation of a long, cold and dark Winter at home without any company has been pretty hard to stomach. Whilst we are hoping that some of the COVID-19 restrictions will gradually start to ease when Spring arrives, there is no guarantee how long the UK can expect to be living with COVID restrictions. Whilst the vaccine may offer some support to our elderly loved ones, it doesn’t yet remove the requirements to be cautious.
If you’re looking to help support elderly friends and family here are some tips that may help.
Stay Connected
One of the most important elements that can help your elderly relatives during lockdown or COVID restrictions is to call or video call them regularly. Sometimes just seeing another human being and talking to them can have a huge impact on their mood and wellbeing and prevent them from feeling lonely or isolated.
Arrange food deliveries
Your elderly friends and relatives may be used to having their independence and be tempted to ‘pop’ out to the shops to pick up their essentials. As tempting as it may be for them to do this, you can help keep them safe by arranging food deliveries on their behalf; either straight from the supermarkets to their home, or dropping them round safely to their doorstep.
Heating Allowances & Support
During the winter months, many elderly residents will be able to claim support for their fuel and heating costs under the Winter fuel allowance. Help them with any administration related to this to ensure that they stay safe and warm during the big freeze.
Online Pharmacy
Many local pharmacies now offer delivery for repeat prescriptions which makes getting the medicine they require much easier. For other non repeat pharmaceuticals, you may want to consider an online pharmacy which helps avoid travelling to higher risk locations such as pharmacies and supermarkets. They can also get some medical advice and support from the comfort of their own home.
Help them break down the real from the fake
There is a lot of scare mongering out there at the moment, particularly amongst the mainstream media. At times even some of our most trusted publications have been known to create click bait headlines and confusing news updates. Help your loved ones keep track of the latest news that they actually need to know about, and help them identify the real from the fake, the reality from the scaremongering and be aware of any potential scams that may be doing the rounds to help prevent them from unknowingly falling victim.
How are you looking after your elderly relatives?
