With the quarantine still in place for most folks. Loneliness and cabin fever are setting in. There are groups of protestors standing against social distancing and other recommended health precautions. With the virus taking a massive toll on the economy and our personal lives, we wanted to share some suggestions on things to do to boost morale.
- Send snail mail
Handwritten cards and letters are more special than ever, perhaps because electronic communication is increasingly supplanting them. Recipients can display the cards and re-read correspondence to remind themselves that you care.
- Share a virtual meal
Plan a long-distance date. Order what your loved one likes — and pay for it — via a meal delivery service such as DoorDash or Grubhub and make sure the meal gets there at the appropriate time. Then call to talk during the meal, making sure that your resident knows how to use a speakerphone feature on her cellphone or landline phone.
- Order a jigsaw puzzle — of your family
Mail-order companies specialize in custom puzzles from photographs or perhaps your child’s artwork.
If your care recipient is a puzzle lover, you can have a puzzle delivered that contains 2,000 or more pieces. But also available are those with as few as 15 pieces, which might work well for people with dementia or less dexterity.
While you’re at it, order a coffee mug with the favorite family photo, too.
- Play a board game
Think about the games your family loved growing up, such as Clue, Monopoly, Life, Scrabble or Sorry, or if you have young kids, children’s classics such as Candyland or Chutes and Ladders. Familiarity with the rules is important.
Backgammon, bingo and chess also will work if you’ve played those in the past and both sides know the lingo of the game. Make sure identical game boards are set up at your house and your loved one’s home. You and your family then can play the game over the telephone, talking about how the dice landed and what moves your game piece is making.
A cellphone set on speaker will work well for this because games sometimes take hours. A video call also will add dimension but isn’t necessary if everyone commits to narrating their actions.
These are a few suggestions that can hopefully help you ride out the remainder of the social distancing recommendations. We are almost through this! If you want more ideas, the above list was pulled from a larger list of suggestions provided by AARP. Check out the link, here. We hope that you follow all local state and federal guidelines and recommendations to protect yourselves and those around you. Stay safe!