6 Ways to Help a Depressed Loved One
6 Ways to Help a Depressed Loved One
April 7 is World Health Day. The theme for World Health Day 2017 is Depression: Let’s Talk. Although depression is not a normal part of aging, it can be common among older adults. Even though the CDC estimates that approximately 7 million seniors in America suffer some type of depression each year, most seniors are happy with their lives.
Depression tends to be more common in people who have other health conditions. According to the CDC, 80 percent of older adults have at least one chronic health condition and 50 percent have two or more, such as heart disease or cancer. That puts seniors at a greater risk of having depression.
Depression goes beyond ‘feeling blue’ or having an ‘off’ day. We all experience sad feelings at times! For someone who is clinically depressed, they cannot just snap out of it. It may occur when there is a significant change in an older adult’s life – the death of a loved one, moving away from family or friends, or a serious illness. However, the symptoms of depression may go beyond being sad.
Other symptoms of depression include:
- Being more tired than usual
- Restless sleep or having a hard time falling asleep
- Being irritable
- Confusion
- Lack of attention
Some of these symptoms, like confusion or lack of attention, may look like Alzheimer’s, even though the person does not have that disease. If the person is on medication, especially multiple types of medication, there could be side effects that contribute to depression. These are things that should be discussed with a medical professional.
What can you do to help an older loved one who you think may be depressed?
Here are 6 things you can do:
Invite your loved one out. Take them out for a meal, a visit to a park, or to your house to see the grandkids. Get them out of their home where they are alone and into another environment where they can interact with other people.- Schedule social activities. Does your loved one have friends or other family members in the area? Do they like to do things at the ‘Y?’ Schedule activities for your loved. If you cannot always take them places, see if someone else can take them to an activity. Many communities have senior transportation available. Again, having more social interaction is important for seniors.
- Make healthy meals for them. Eating healthy meals has positive benefits beyond your waistline. When you feel better physically, your mental and emotional state will benefit too. Your loved one may not want to cook for themselves, so they resort to frozen or other packaged foods. Even though the package may say they are healthy, they are filled with preservatives. If you can cook for your loved one and package that food so they simply have to thaw and reheat, you have created a win-win!
- Review their prescriptions. Are they taking the correct doses at the right time of the day? Taking more or less medication than prescribed could have serious side effects.
- Take them for a medical exam. If the symptoms of depression persist, a medical professional can do a thorough exam to determine the root cause of the symptoms. Once a diagnosis is made, make sure your loved one follows up with any treatment.
Bring them to Naperville Senior Center. At NSC, we provide the social interaction that seniors need. From gaming to exercising to singing and dancing, we let our Members express themselves throughout the day. We also provide a hot, healthy noon-time meal.
Each day our Members spend time socializing, verbalizing, improvising, evangelizing, visualizing, exercising, having fun, and a host of other activities to provide mental and physical stimulation.
Call to action: to learn more about how NSC can provide a respite for you and a great social environment for your loved one, contact us at 630.857.3017. You can also schedule a tour to see what we have to offer and understand the Naperville Senior Center experience, “Home Away From Home.”
Free TRIAL is for new Members and their caregiver.
The trial visit is Monday-Friday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Tour our adult day services facility.
Observe some fun activities. Join us for lunch. Learn more at our Senior Adult Day Care center FREE TRIAL
Receive Peace of Mind.
*** No obligation! ***
Learn more about Naperville Senior Citizen services and upcoming events.
There have been 
There is a lot of hoopla surrounding the Big Game this Sunday. It’s the 50th Super Bowl; it’s the biggest age difference between opposing quarterbacks in the Big Game; and it could very well be the last game of a future hall-of-fame quarterback.
Do you feel like you have to be cooped up in the winter? You don’t have to! There are plenty of things to do in the Chicagoland area. Embrace the winter wonderland; don’t hide from it!
There are more than 5,000 adult day centers across the country with more than 260,000 participants, according to the 
Make it fun. Give your parent a fun reason to go. Is there a fantastic arts program? Or another activity that your mother or father would really enjoy? “The first day, look for a hook,” Eskenazi recommends. “Is there a trip or an activity they would like? Make sure you plan for the first day so they’re engaged right from the start.”
Ask a professional to step in. If you and your parent just aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on attending a day center, you may wish to reach out to a third party for help. Your mother or father may go willingly if a doctor or a social worker offers the suggestion. At Alzheimer’s Community Care, which runs 10 dementia-specific adult day centers in South Florida, a family nurse consultant will often encourage a parent to attend a day center when an adult child is having no luck. Once through the door, he or she is often happy to be there. “We hear these stories all the time,” says Kathleen Herd, vice president of development for the organization. In one case, the family nurse consultant drove the mother right to the day center. “Her face lit up. Here was her peer group and she didn’t even know she was missing it,” says Mary Barnes, executive director of Alzheimer’s Community Care.
Start with a short schedule. Don’t ask a parent to stay too long at a day center on the first day. “Make it short. Make it easy. Don’t make someone stay the whole day,” Eskenazi says. Don’t overwhelm a parent by booking too many days early on. Keep the schedule as light as possible. “Start with maybe one or two days per week. I would recommend someone starting an adult day center with a shorter schedule and then working up to more days and more hours over time,” Eskenazi says. Be supportive. If a day center is a positive experience for a parent, be upbeat and positive and encourage him or her to attend. “Let them decide if they want more days,” Eskenazi says.
“It often takes several visits to an adult day center for a new person to feel comfortable in a new setting and new routine,” Barnes says. “The ideal situation [in their eyes] is for them to be with you, and you can’t do it 24/7. Ask the staff for help in making the transition from home to the day center.” A parent with a neurocognitive disorder may be insecure about new experiences. But if you are a strong proponent for the day center, a parent may feel more comfortable attending.
It’s hard to believe that it was just a year ago when we received our permit to begin construction on the Naperville Senior Center space. I remember being there on Christmas 2014 with Pam, Emily and Zach with our hardhats on looking at the drawings and realizing this was really going to happen!
Our best year yet has been jam packed since opening our doors on February 25, 2015!
We hosted our first of two ribbon cuttings on St. Patrick’s Day with the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce.
We hosted a mini Walk for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society in June, and raised over $2,400 to fight cancer. We want to be sure our Members continue to exercise – and being able to do it for an important cause was a great motivator!
We provided fun activities for our Members including planting a garden (and then enjoying the fruits and vegetables of their labor), dressing up on Talk Like a Pirate Day, and having children come by before Halloween to get treats and play games with our Members.
We have hosted several Continuing Education (CEU) Workshops after hours for nurses, therapists and social workers. We are happy to provide this amazing venue for the community when they need to come together to gather and learn.
We hosted our 1st Annual Fall Craft and Vendor Fair in November. Thank you to all 23 vendors who joined us for a wonderful event. Our Members were even involved in making most of our crafts that were sold that day.
We hosted a Business After Hours event with co-sponsor Oasis Senior Advisors, for the