4 Ways Seniors Are Helping Other Seniors
With the holiday season upon us, many people are considering their gratitude for all that they have and pondering the best ways to give back. Many seniors have various issues and difficulties they struggle with, and providing help to them is one way people can do something good this year.
On the other side of things, for seniors themselves, giving back isn’t just something nice to do for others. Research has shown that it has a positive effect on your physical and mental health. So while some seniors could use help, other seniors can benefit from providing that help. It makes perfect sense for seniors to step up to the plate and find ways to help other seniors.
And many of them already have (probably without knowing anything about the research that says it benefits them too). For inspiration this holiday season, here are four ways seniors are currently making life better for their fellow seniors.
- By providing in-home care
Most seniors will some day reach the point where they need help with the many tasks involved in day-to-day life. For those who would prefer to stay in their own homes (which is most of them), they’ll need to invest in in-home care.
Some seniors that have retired from the jobs they had for most of their lives have realized that they’re well equipped to provide in-home care to other seniors. Seniors Helping Seniors gives retirees that still have the wherewithal to help out an opportunity to make some extra money as they move toward the years when they’ll need that extra care themselves. And more importantly, it matches the seniors that need help with someone who understands what they’re going through and is in a good position to empathize with their needs, since they know they’ll be needing similar care themselves soon.
- By volunteering for causes that help seniors
Many seniors are retired and have both time on their hands and a lot of useful skills and knowledge. That makes them the perfect fit for volunteer work.
While seniors can tackle any number of volunteer positions, you can easily find a lot of volunteer opportunities that specifically help out the larger population of seniors. From preparing or bringing meals to other seniors with Meals on Wheels to becoming a finance counselor with the AARP, seniors are working to help o
- By donating money
Experts anticipate that retirees will be one of the biggest sources for charitable giving in the coming years. While some seniors don’t have much to give, others that have stored away a healthy amount of retirement savings are putting some of what they have toward the causes they care about.
While those causes vary considerably, at least some of them relate to helping out other seniors. From national organizations, like the AARP and NCOA, to local nonprofits that help seniors get rides or make sure they get regular meals, seniors are generous with their money as well as their time in helping out other seniors.
- By improving senior living options
Seniors aren’t satisfied accepting the status quo when it comes to senior living options. Many of them are working to develop improved choices for the seniors to come. The Beacon Hill model started the trend of aging-in-place villages that are making aging in place more feasible for many. Meanwhile, eco-conscious seniors are working to make assisted living greener so more seniors have the option of living sustainably while getting the care they need.
Bonus: Through senior-to-senior adoption
The help seniors provide to other seniors doesn’t stop with humans. Senior-to-senior pet adoption provides the pets most often left behind at shelters with a loving home, while also providing senior humans with a lovable companion.
Are you inspired? This holiday season is as good a time as any to seek out opportunities to help out other seniors in your community. Providing your services to them now could well earn you good karma for when you need more help in a few years. And just as important, doing good will simply make you feel good.
Kristen Hicks
Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.