Safe, Socially Distant Ways Seniors Can Stay Socially Active
When we’re trying to stay safe from contagious diseases, we still need to maintain a healthy social life. Consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website to find out how careful you need to be based on your age, underlying conditions and the disease you’re worried about. Even if you’re remaining completely quarantined, there are plenty of socially distanced activities for seniors to help you stay involved and maintain your important relationships.
Examples of Socially Distanced Activities for Seniors
Scheduled Social Calls
Staying connected to our loved ones has never felt more important. Organize a regular video call to catch up and share stories. Suggest three day/time combinations to the group and see which time works for the most people.
It might be fun to create a theme around your “gatherings.” Maybe you schedule it in the evening and call it a happy hour. Maybe you could chat over your morning coffee. You could even schedule it over everyone’s lunch. Being able to look forward to seeing loved ones on a regular basis can greatly improve your mood and help maintain your ongoing connection, even when you’re physically apart.
Book Club Video Chats
Whether you already belong to a long-running book club or you’ve simply been considering starting one, book club meetings can be an easy socially distanced activity for seniors. You can keep notes on the book in between meetings to inspire sparkling conversations over your video calls. Depending on the book you choose, you may be able to find clips of a movie adaptation to spur more insights during your club meetings. If you’re not venturing out to bookstores, you and your group can join BookOfTheMonth.com, and the books will come to you.
Outdoor Exercise Classes
An outdoor setting is ideal to avoid airborne viruses. Outside, the air is constantly moving, which makes it less likely that you’ll breathe in contagious respiratory droplets. When people are breathing harder during physical activity, it’s smart to be outside and socially distanced.
If you have space, you can keep your exercise as simple as walking outside. But there are several types of physical activity you can translate to the outdoors: yoga classes, aerobic classes or circuit training.
Trivia Games
Trivia is a great way to keep your cognition sharp even when you have to stay home, so why not add a social component? Arrange a group of trivia fans to join a video call and find a time that works for everyone. You can take turns being the host and creating the questions, or you can use a trivia website, like Kahoot.com. Whether you want to keep score or just enjoy stretching your brain is entirely up to you.
Movie Night
We’re all watching a lot of television and movies these days, and we’re always looking for new content suggestions. Set up a regular night to watch a movie with friends. You can watch the film individually and then call in to a video conference to discuss it. Or you can use apps like Teleparty to watch together with a group chat.
Online Volunteering
Even when we’re all staying home, you can still help your community. You can transcribe documents for the Smithsonian. Sign up to read to children on Storiitime.com. Monitor Montana wildlife for Zooniverse. Volunteering is a productive way to feel connected to like-minded people to make positive change in the world.
Seniors may be high-risk for complications from contagious diseases, but it’s still important to their mental and emotional health that they stay social and maintain strong relationships. One of the many benefits of living in a senior living community is the wide array of social opportunities, and Trillium Woods works hard to keep residents engaged in an active lifestyle, even when they have to stay physically apart. If you’d like to find out about the many socially distanced activities for seniors Trillium Woods organizes for residents who are trying to stay healthy, contact us. We’d be happy to tell you more.
