在流行病中为老年人带来欢乐和关怀的9种方法

在流行病中为老年人带来欢乐和关怀的9种方法

The author's grandmother, Felisa Mercene, 92, with the summer harvest from her son's garden in La Mirada, Calif.

作者的祖母、92岁的费利莎·赛勒正在加州拉米拉达她儿子的花园里收获夏季的庄稼。

After I shared my family's experience in trying to care for my 92-year-old grandmother in the pandemic, I wanted to know: How do we help older people feel safe and comfortable — and happy — in these times?

在我分享了我的家人在流行病期间努力照顾我92岁的祖母的经历后，我想知道：在这个时代，我们如何帮助老年人感到安全、舒适和幸福?

I asked because I worried that my grandma was feeling lonely and isolated in the pandemic. So I asked three experts to share some advice on how to help. And I invited readers to share their tips, too.

我问，因为我担心我祖母在流行病中会感到孤独和孤立。所以我请了三位专家分享一些如何提供帮助的建议。我也邀请读者分享他们的秘诀。

Dozens of readers wrote in. One piece of advice I took to heart — don't think of older people as a "problem" you have to "solve."

几十位读者来信。我把一条建议牢记在心——不要把老年人看作是你必须“解决”的“问题”。

Here are some of my favorites from the reader submissions.

以下是一些我最喜欢的读者意见。

1. Stay in touch

保持联系

Keep older relatives in the loop. Share your joys, discuss your sorrows and ask their advice. Even if it is over the phone or by FaceTime it makes us feel connected and relevant. - Barbara Goodman

让年长的亲戚保持联系。分享你的快乐，讨论你的悲伤，并征求他们的建议。即使是通过电话或FaceTime，它也能让我们感觉彼此相连、息息相关。——芭芭拉·古德曼

2. Organize virtual dinner and TV time

安排虚拟晚餐和看电视的时间

I am 74 years old and live alone yet every day I schedule virtual dinner meeting time with my remote family on Facebook Instant Messenger. After dinner we watch and share the same TV programs for one hour.

我已经74岁了，独自一人生活，但每天我都会在Facebook 即时通讯工具上安排与远方家人的虚拟晚餐会面时间。晚饭后，我们一起看一个小时的电视节目。

Ironically, the required COVID-19 physical distance from my family has resulted in a much closer and stronger emotional and spiritual bond. – Dennis

具有讽刺意味的是，COVID-19所要求的与家人的身体距离，却使我的情感和精神纽带更加紧密和牢固。——丹尼斯

3. A good reminder

一个好的提醒

Stop treating older people like they are a problem to be solved! - Pat Gaydos

不要把老年人当作一个需要解决的问题来对待!——帕特·盖多斯

4. Figure out ways to connect them to their interests

想办法把他们和他们的兴趣联系起来

My mom is 92 and her eyesight is affected by macular degeneration. Because of this condition, she cannot see well enough to read. I asked her if she would like to listen to recorded books and she said yes. I went to the public libraries and found fiction based on the Depression era (when she was a child) and checked them out for her. I also purchased a simple CD player and wrote (in large letters) directions so that she could start and pause the CD herself. My mom is enjoying the stories immensely! -Bernadette Potts

我妈妈92岁了，她的视力受到黄斑变性的影响。由于这种情况，她视力不好，不能看书。我问她是否愿意听录音，她说愿意。我去了公共图书馆，找到了关于大萧条时期(她还是个孩子的时候)的小说，并帮她查了一遍。我还买了一台简单的CD播放机，并用大号字母写下说明，这样她就可以自己开始播放和暂停播放CD了。我妈妈非常喜欢这些故事!——伯纳黛特·波茨

5. Send a weekly postcard

每周寄一张明信片

My brother sent a postcard to our Mom once a week, with a message that told her what he was doing, such as ... ate apple pie for dessert tonight ... or took the dog to the vet for his annual check up ... or saw this building today ... simple things like that. He did this for 60 years. Isn't that wonderful? - Lisa Simon

我哥哥每周给妈妈寄一张明信片，上面写着他在做什么，比如……吃了苹果派作为今晚的甜点……或者带狗去兽医那里做年度检查……或者今天看到这座建筑…像这样简单的事情。他这样做了60年。那不是很棒吗?——西蒙·丽莎

6. Use their skills

发挥他们的技能

Let us know how we can help! We are old but not dead. We have lots of skills ... we can sew masks ... make lunches for emergency workers ... make family a meal. - Christine Gagnon

让我们知道我们能提供什么帮助!我们老了，但还没死。我们有很多技能…我们可以缝口罩…为急救人员做午餐…给家人做顿饭。——克里斯汀•盖格农

7. Go for a pleasant drive or walk

开车或散步去愉快的地方

My wife is 75 with fairly advanced Parkinson's, requiring virtually 24-hour care by me. I'm 73. We are healthy and active, other than the challenges of her disease.

我的妻子已经75岁了，患有严重的帕金森症，需要我24小时的看护。我73岁了。除了她的疾病的挑战，我们是健康和积极的。

We're both pretty bored. Here are a couple of things we do: We go for car rides. We go frequently for an hour or so. We also go on longer trips to the shore — about an hour away. We've found some places with great views of the ocean from the car. We bring a picnic lunch which is eaten in the car — sometimes followed by a brief snooze in a safe parking lot. We're lucky to live in a neighborhood where there are few cars. I push her in her wheelchair for walks. We go late in the afternoon when it is cooler and there is still plenty of light. - Roger Bentley

我们都很无聊。以下是我们做的几件事:开车兜风。我们经常去一个小时左右。我们还会去更远的海边——大约一个小时的路程。我们找到了一些可以从车上看到海景的地方。我们带上野餐，在车上吃——有时在安全的停车场小睡一会儿。我们很幸运，住在一个汽车很少的社区。我推着她的轮椅散步。我们是在下午晚些时候去的，那时天气比较凉爽，光线也很充足。——罗杰·宾利

8. Be patient

要有耐心

As a new caregiver for my father, I encountered a few situations that bothered me, such as my father asking the same question dozens of times. My advice: when he mentions or asks something for the umpteenth time, don't show exasperation. - Bob Chance

当我刚开始照顾父亲的时候，我遇到了一些困扰我的情况，比如父亲问了很多次同样的问题。我的建议是:当他无数次提到或要求某件事时，不要表现出恼怒。——鲍勃·畅思

9. Create a custom lesson plan

创建一个自定义的课程计划

My sister had a brilliant idea and I will say it has made a significant improvement in our dad's happiness factor. My sister was a teacher and educator for many years and was skilled at developing challenging and fun lesson plans. So she used our family history information as core curriculum and built a lesson plan for four days a week for my dad, which he does via email. - Jeri Wait

我姐姐想出了一个绝妙的主意，我可以说，这个主意极大地提高了爸爸的幸福感。我姐姐当了多年的教师和教育工作者，擅长制定富有挑战性和趣味性的课程计划。所以她把我们的家族史信息作为核心课程，并为我父亲制定了每周四天的教学计划，他通过电子邮件来完成。——杰瑞·威特