Young@Heart ~ 83-year-old man on oxygen sings a song ~ Ways you can help and be inspired by seniors.

Depression & Seniors: 5 Ways You Can Help

By Drew Coster

 

Depression affects people of all ages; it really doesn’t care if you’re a 17-year-old high school student or a 50-something CEO.  Depression is non-discriminating  and will take you down like a starving grizzly bear, given half a chance.

There is one age group that often gets overlooked when it comes to depression and that’s the elderly.

In seniors especially, symptoms of depression are sometimes missed or confused with the effects of other illnesses or medication they may be using. Also, the typical symptoms of depression — such as fatigue, lack of appetite and loss of interest in previously loved activities — are often put down to the aging process and not depression. Studies on the number of elderly people experiencing depression varies, but it’s estimated 6.5 million of Americans over 65 are depressed. Sadly, only about 10 percent of those people actually receive any help.

Seniors are especially vulnerable to other complications from depression. They are at higher risk of physical illnesses such as cardiac disease, which can lead to death from heart attack. It also makes it harder for them to recover from illness, which again puts an elderly person more at risk. Suicide in the elderly also is a huge problem, especially for white men over 80; they are twice more likely to kill themselves than anyone else from a general population.

One of the main reasons depression isn’t always recognized in older people is because they tend to brush off, minimize, or deflect how they are feeling with comments such as “I’m OK, I’m just not sleeping too well. I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep;” or “I’m not lonely, my dear. Don’t worry about me. How are the children?;” or “I’m fine, really. I’m just not very hungry at the moment. I think I’ve had a bug, but I’m OK now.” These comments make it easy for friends, family, or doctors to miss what is really going on. I know this from personal experience, as my mother was a pro at this deception. She would have an appointment with her doctor, go in, put on her best face and leave as if nothing was wrong. When I’d ask her if she told her doctor about this issue or that symptom, she’d say, “Oh, no, I didn’t want to make a fuss.” Her thinking was that she had to look well for the doctor, and that was her learned behavior – never let anyone know you’re not doing well.

It’s hard to understand why somebody wouldn’t want to tell a doctor they’re suffering, but I remind myself that people in their 70s and 80s were born in the 1930s and 1940s — a time when people didn’t really talk about feelings. I think this is due to the devastation caused to families by the Great Depression and two world wars. It was easier to “just get on with it” than dwell on the emotional trauma of that time.

5 Ways You Can Help a Senior with Depression

From my experience, I know getting help for an elderly relative is difficult, but if you are concerned about someone and think their current behavior and mood is compromising their life, here are 5 things that might help.

1. Even though you’re concerned for them, it’s best not to let your anxiety manifest by getting angry at them or demanding that they seek help. Trying to force a person into seeing a doctor or therapist can have the opposite effect. You’re better off taking things slowly. Try engaging in calm conversation. Find out what they might be worried about or what might have changed in their life recently. Gather information which you can then use to highlight and clarify why it might be a good idea for them to get help.
2. When trying to talk to them about how they are feeling, try to avoid using words that might make them defensive. Words such as ‘depression,’ ‘struggling’ or ‘can’t cope’ can strike fear into their hearts. Barriers will most likely be raised and they’ll refuse to talk about it. You’re better off using words such as ‘sad,’ ‘blue,’ and ‘rough time.’ These words take the edge off what might be a scary subject.
3. Elderly people often will not want to make a fuss, so feelings of guilt and shame can be prevalent. Try to reassure them that you are not judging them for how they feel, and that you care about them. Help them understand that it’s their choice to get help and that you will do what you can to support them.
4. Supporting a depressed relative doesn’t mean that you take over and do everything for them. As much as you might want to help, doing too much can reinforce their thinking that they are now ‘useless and a burden.’ It is important to try to find a balance between helping them and having them help themselves. Together it can be useful to break down tasks into smaller activities. By doing smaller tasks, they are less likely to get tired and avoid doing what they need to. Doing less each day can mean doing more over the week.
5. Seeing a psychiatrist can be scary for anyone, let alone an elderly person who tries to avoid doctors. See if you can get their permission to be a part of the appointment process. This can be useful because often the scariness of the situation, and their limited cognitive functioning due to depression, can mean an elderly relative doesn’t say what has been going on for them. They could lack the ability to retain the information the psychiatrist is telling them.

http://www.mowaa.org/

 Seeking summer Meals on Wheels volunteers,

                     

Folks at Senior Citizens Inc. are in urgent need of Meals on Wheels volunteers to deliver meals to homebound seniors during the summer months. Those months usually place a heavy burden on volunteers since many are pulled away by family activities and travel plans, leaving their duties to delivery drivers or staff. And when those routes cannot be filled by volunteer delivery drivers, officials must pay drivers to fill in. Meals on Wheels deliver more than 1,800 hot meals a day to seniors in Coastal Georgia- in many instances the only hot meal the senior will get that day. One hour of time given by a Meals on Wheels volunteer means that twice as many meals can be provided

 

 

The Meals On Wheels Association of America

The Meals On Wheels Association of America is the oldest and largest national organization composed of and representing local, community-based Senior Nutrition Programs in all 50 U.S. states, as well as the U.S. Territories. These local programs are our Members.

All told, there are some 5,000 local Senior Nutrition Programs in the United States. These programs provide well over one million meals to seniors who need them each day. Some programs serve meals at congregate locations like senior centers, some programs deliver meals directly to the homes of seniors whose mobility is limited, and many programs provide both services.

 

While remarkable, the one million meals per day figure underestimates the size and shape of our network and its reach and influence in communities across America. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of seniors who receive meals, there are many thousands of professionals employed at the various local Senior Nutrition Programs across the U.S. More notable than that is the virtual army of volunteers who also "work" for these programs. It is said that this group, numbering between 800,000 and 1.7 million individuals, is the largest volunteer army in the nation.

 

Join us to help end senior hunger.

 

Meals On Wheels Membership

We are Executive Directors
We are Volunteer Coordinators
We are Dietitians
We are Volunteers
We Are Meals On Wheels

Our vision is to end senior hunger by 2020.

1 in 7 seniors is at risk of hunger in America today. We cannot end senior hunger alone. When we raise our voices together, and act as one, we can fortify local programs and communities against this rising threat.
Meals On Wheels Association of America is the national association for Senior Nutrition Programs. All of our benefits and initiatives exist to help equip our Members in our shared vision of ending senior hunger. Membership signifies a commitment to providing quality, accessible meals, and comfort and assurance to the senior clients and their families.
Meals On Wheels Membership provides a significant advantage within the senior nutrition field by:

• Educating and empowering individuals
• Offering exclusive grant opportunities
• Strengthening programs to ensure long term sustainability
• Leveraging our collective purchasing power
• Advocating locally and on Capitol Hill

View a list of exclusive MOWAA Member Benefits, such as MyMOWAA, the Members-only online professional network for senior nutrition professionals.

Who Can Join?

Meals On Wheels Membership is specifically designed for employees of government agencies or 501(c)(3) nonprofit Senior Nutrition Programs (SNP's) that provide home-delivered meals or meals at congregate sites.

If you're a senior, why not become the volunteer?

Volunteering is good for you:

 

Older volunteers are a great asset to their communities. Seniors possess the experience, expertise and time that can greatly benefit any organisation or cause. Whether seniors help deliver a hot meal to a homebound older person, read to a primary school child or help out at their church, it is a win-win situation for all parties involved. Moreover, seniors realise meaningful improvements in their own mental and physical health. In addition to giving older people meaning and purpose to their lives, volunteering also offers specific benefits: Volunteering increases ones physical health and agility -volunteering helps older people stay physically active. Seniors who engage in physical activity have lower incidences of heart disease and diabetes. Volunteering helps you learn new skills and increases ones cognitive and mental well-being -volunteering helps keep the brain engaged, which helps protect the memory as people age. In fact, experts say that engaging in mentally challenging tasks is one of the best ways to stave off Alzheimers and dementia! Volunteering helps you meet new people and increases ones social interaction - studies show that seniors who stay busy with a lot of social interaction were the happiest and healthiest. Volunteering helps you to do something positive for the community