Winter can be a particularly hard time for elderly people so Age UK Salford is urging friends and neighbours to keep an eye out for elderly people.
Family and friends are advised to consider the following:
Make sure older people’s heating is working correctly
This can be as simple as just checking radiators work in their house for them to ensure they’re kept warm during cold days and nights.
Take time to visit
Age UK believe that just talking to an elderly person over the phone can help and better visiting them can make a big difference, “A person who is lonely can benefit hugely from talking to someone who gets to know them and helps them to do the things that give them pleasure and purpose” (Age UK website).
Age UK also offer a friendly call in service which is free of charge, if an elderly person is feeling lonely they can call to have a chat with a friendly adviser from Age UK. Make sure your elderly neighbours are aware of this, visit the Age UK website for more information.
Help with their weekly shop
On some days the weather makes it impossible for the elderly to nip to the shops to get their weekly shop, helping them by doing the weekly shop for them will make a world of difference to their well-being.
Make sure they have warm blankets/ clothes
Keeping warm during winter is very important especially for the elderly, by making sure they have warm blankets or a hot water bottle or an electric blanket can really help.
Make sure the elderly in your community are in good health
No-one is expecting you to perform open heart surgery – but just checking an elderly person is up to date with jabs (Age UK advise the ‘pneumo’ jab if you’re over 65 and haven’t already).
Age UK Salford offers many different services to help the elderly in the local area such as home services, dementia support services, day care and many others which information can be found on their website here.
They also offer a drop in session which occurs any weekday between 9am and 4pm and a friendly advisor will be there to help with basic enquiries about the Age UK services and other services across Salford for older people, their families and carers.
Anyone feeling lonely or in need of extra help or any friend or relative who knows someone needing help can call Age UK Salford on 0161 788 7300.
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