At Peaceful Pines Senior Living, including residents’ families, offers excellent benefits to residents. By participating in our holiday events, educational opportunities, and care planning, families help boost the psychological, social, and physical well-being of residents. Peaceful Pines’ Life Enrichment staff and leadership teams plan events and activities year-round that encourage connection and bonding.
Let’s explore the importance of family involvement in the lives of older adults. Whether a resident lives in Independent Living, Assisted Living, or Memory Care, there are numerous benefits offered by these relationships.
Family Involvement at Peaceful Pines Senior Living
Holidays
Peaceful Pines hosts events throughout the year that include residents’ family members of all ages. Notable holidays that see annual activities at our senior living communities include:
- Valentine’s Day – Card making and Sweetheart Dances
- Easter – Formal dinners and Easter Egg hunts
- Mother’s and Father’s Day – Tea, BBQ, and crafts
- Fourth of July – Cookouts, face painting, and yard games
- Halloween – Trick-or-Treats, costume contests, pie, and cider
- Veteran’s Day – Guest lunches and speakers
In addition, the holiday season, spanning Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, also invites celebrations such as community potlucks, ornament crafts, baking activities like cookie decorating, gift exchanges, caroling, volunteer drives, and New Year’s Eve countdown parties. This season is packed full of opportunities to share old traditions and create new memories alike.
Holidays are a built-in way to stay involved in your aging loved ones’ lives.
Education
Peaceful Pines continues to provide educational opportunities for residents, families, and community members across our South Dakota communities. A heavy emphasis is placed on the topics of Memory Care and Alzheimer’s and related dementias, but a variety of other topics are also prevalent, such as:
- Long-term care planning
- Financial workshops
- Fall prevention
- Dental health
- General wellness
Education is vital to a family with a loved one residing in a senior living community. Family involvement in care planning ensures each resident’s needs and preferences are honored. Families provide insight that helps Peaceful Pines deliver personalized care.
When families invest in learning, it demonstrates a commitment to understanding your loved one and emotional connections can grow and strengthen.
Care Planning
If you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, understanding the brain, approaches to Memory Care, and Peaceful Pines’ staff practices can also help you make informed decisions. It allows you to help balance your loved ones’ care needs and independence as you craft a tailored care plan with us.
You are the best advocate for your loved one. Your knowledge of their preferences, values, history, and lifestyle is extremely important in helping us care for them in the best way possible.
Benefits of Including Residents’ Families
Increased Purpose and Cognitive Function
As people age, significant changes later in life can be disorienting, but family relationships can offer stability. Retirement, the loss of a spouse, or moving are monumental and can be challenging. Having help from adult children, siblings, and friends, can boost a sense of security and comfort.
Older adults also discover a sense of purpose when they can share life stories or advice, spend time with grandchildren, or contribute to a family milestone event. Make sure to include them in things like graduations, birthdays, or weddings. Additionally, for Memory Care residents, reminiscing is great for memory reinforcement and generational bonding. These bonds also help reduce the risk of cognitive decline by promoting conversation and interest.
Social Connectivity
One of the primary concerns for families and senior living communities is combating loneliness or isolation. Family engagement directly counters this; regular interactions are meaningful and fulfilling. In fact, seniors with close ties to relatives and friends report a much higher life satisfaction than those who feel isolated.
Social interactions also help older adults to stay mentally active. Seniors who anticipate family visits are motivated to remain curious about others’ lives. Planned visits and other regular family involvement can also help older adults maintain self-care routines and planning skills.
Physical Health Benefits
The involvement of the family offers several physical benefits for older adults as well. Family support can help older adults (and anyone, really!) recover from illness or physical pain. Encouragement can go a long way, and laughter is a great medicine. Family interactions boost serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, all of which are hormones that support physical wellness. These can greatly improve immune function and help lower blood pressure.
Further, family events also require movement, such as walking, playing cards and board games, eating, and other forms of gentle exercise. These gatherings can ensure loads of fun and entertainment while also subtly encouraging dexterity, strength, and endurance. Even this light physical activity can reduce the risk of falls, pain, and help maintain mobility.
Ways to Sustain Family Bonds
Family bonds are a tremendous advantage for older adults; these close relationships help to pursue multiple Dimensions of Wellness. At Peaceful Pines, our senior living communities strive to offer plenty of opportunities to spend quality time with your loved ones. In addition to attending these, you can supplement our events by:
- Scheduling consistent visits and calls
- Sharing stories and pictures
- Inviting loved ones to help plan a family event
- Attending educational workshops and investing in your loved one’s experience
- Encourage grandchild-grandparent bonding
- Write letters and leave notes
By including some of these ideas in your familial dynamics, you will help your loved one enhance their sense of purpose and security. You will also be better positioned to offer moral support as you age and face the challenging life changes that accompany it.
A Peaceful Pines resident’s best support system and successful advocacy come from including the family – you are exceptionally valuable in helping us provide the exceptional care we promise. By staying connected and engaged, families help residents thrive socially, mentally, and physically.
To learn more about our events and activities, levels of care, or senior living community features, please visit our website to explore our South Dakota locations!
