Religious Senior Citizen Living Care
Sep 15, 2016 by Comfort Keepers Myrtle Beach
It is of no doubt that seniors need special health care and attention from their younger counterparts, for them to function properly, but at the same time, there is also a need to meet their spiritual and religious needs. Taking care of their religious needs, helps senior citizens to cope up with depression, really easily. Since many senior citizens are left at old age homes, away from their family and friends, they often feel alone and depressed, having no one besides them to talk to them or listen to their problems. Even if senior citizens are kept with their families at home, they still feel alone at times due to the fact that everyone is so busy in their daily life routine that they hardly get time to sit and interact with them. Religion is one of the ways through which senior citizens keep themselves busy and find a new meaning and hope in their lives.
It is important that if there is a healthcare person hired for taking care of the elder person, he/she has good knowledge about their religion and belief so that they can understand what the faith means to that person or how important it is in the person’s life. In case if they are left on their own, then they should definitely be provided material such as books and CDs, which are based on their respective religion. For example, if the citizen believes in Christianity, then they should be provided with Bible, inspirational books about Jesus, CDs based on the teachings of Christianity, pastoral visits, scheduling a visit to the nearby Church every week so that they stay in touch with their religious arranging monthly visits to faith services where an influential speaker talks about Christianity and implementing its teachings in daily life. Radio shows such as “A moment of Grace” by Bishop Darlingston G.Johnson, “Grace you to weekend” by John MacArthur and other such shows should be on the list of shows to be tuned in by the senior citizens every day.
Apart from all this, putting up quotes about ways to please God and the importance of full commitment to your religion, in their rooms and as mobile/laptop screensavers, can be helpful in fulfilling their religious and spiritual needs.
In case, a senior citizen is very sick and can’t physically visit the church or monthly sessions of spiritual and religious talks, then their caretakers should ensure that they can schedule a visit to the church through Skype every day, so that the elderly don’t feel away from their religion. Arranging a speaker to visit a house just for one single person might not be doable, so what you can do is, instead organize a little festival in your home, where close elderly friends of the senior citizen are invited and given a collective lecture based on the teachings of Christianity.
The Last Word
Religious obligations and fulfillment may be very important for a great number of senior citizens and usually a source of psychological uplift. It is very important for any caregiver to understand the vitality of this dimension. The senior citizen home care must cater for the religious needs of senior citizens with a decent amount of understanding.
