Seniors Helping Seniors shares tips to beat winter blues

Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are filled with excitement and activity. For aging parents, children and grandchildren often visit more during the holiday season, and homes fill with laughter and togetherness.

When the holidays end, families return home and cold, dark winter weather sets in. Depression and isolation can overwhelm many older adults who are retired, living alone or dealing with lingering illness.

Seniors Helping Seniors Canton-Akron, an in-home care provider for seniors, has found that while the holiday season is often a time of joy, the period that follows can bring unique challenges for many older adults.

Jim Benson and his wife, Robyn, own and operate the Seniors Helping Seniors Canton-Akron franchise, serving Stark, Summit and Portage counties.

“For many older adults, that drop in holiday-driven social interaction can lead to a deeper feeling of loneliness,” Jim Benson said. “After the busyness and familiarity of the holidays, especially in regions with harder winters, maintaining motivation and routine becomes vital.”

To help with that transition, Benson recommends starting the new year with small, achievable goals and focusing on connection and purpose. Guidance offered to seniors and their families includes setting small but meaningful goals such as a short daily walk or reconnecting with a friend; maintaining and strengthening social connections, including using a “one-a-day” rule of chatting with or calling one person a day for at least 10 minutes; staying physically active in age-appropriate ways; seeking volunteer opportunities that foster a sense of purpose; creating a cozy, positive home environment with good lighting and regular routines; and listening to music, podcasts or audiobooks that spark memories or interest.

“The weather gets grayer after the holidays, and socialization goes way down for seniors during that time,” Benson said. “During those periods, we see a spike in calls to help keep seniors active and engaged with others and to help provide them with purpose. Our caregivers also help brighten seniors’ environments, opening curtains to let in sunlight and assisting with tasks such as cleaning or working on a puzzle.”

Benson said the average age of the company’s caregivers is 56, noting that older adults often respond better to caregivers closer to their own age. Caregivers provide services including companionship, personal hygiene assistance, meal preparation, cleaning and transportation to shopping and medical appointments.

“The work also helps our caregivers by giving them a purpose,” Benson said. “We hear all the time how much they love their clients and the work they do.”

Caregivers with Seniors Helping Seniors Canton-Akron are age 40 and older. Benson said one caregiver is 80 years old and helps others her age with companionship and medication reminders.

Seniors Helping Seniors is a franchise organization with more than 200 locations nationwide. The Bensons started their franchise in Hartville after Jim retired from the corporate world more than a year ago. Robyn previously worked as a caregiver and as a speech pathologist. Their daughter, Anja, works for the company as a recruiter.

The Bensons currently employ about 80 caregivers. About 95% of caregiving takes place in seniors’ homes, with the remaining 5% occurring in senior care facilities.

Benson said the company uses a proprietary matching process that pairs seniors with mature, active caregivers based on care needs, personality traits, background, hobbies and interests.

Seniors Helping Seniors is built on two guiding ideas: seniors can help each other age more happily and gracefully, and both those who provide help and those who receive it benefit equally.

“Today, I work much harder and longer than when I was in my corporate job, but I am now working in a business that is much more meaningful,” Benson said. “Being based here in Hartville, we are playing a key role by hiring and assisting seniors throughout our neighboring counties.”

For more information about becoming a caregiver or arranging care for a loved one, call 330-806-8044 or visit CantonAkronSHS.com.