Are you worried that an elderly family member, relative, or friend is losing their motivation? If so, you’re in the right place.
Keep reading this article to understand why an elderly person can become demotivated and learn about the practical tips and techniques that will invigorate and re-energize their day-to-day lives.
Tips to Motivate an Elderly Person
Your elderly loved one may feel demotivated, uninspired, and/or apathetic, especially when it comes to things that usually excite or energize them, for multiple reasons.
Some of them are short-term or situational. Others are more concerning and might require you to take your elderly friend, family member, or relative to the doctor.
Here are a few factors that could cause your loved one to become unmotivated:
- They are going through a psychological or mental phase, such as a later-life crisis.
- The elderly friend or family member underwent a major life transition. For example, they recently retired or their youngest child graduated from high school and moved out of the house.
- They aren’t taking care of their health or are suffering from a medical condition.
- Your loved one is struggling after a tragic or traumatic event, such as the loss of a close person or a significant health development.
Keep in mind that each person reacts to aging, life changes, and unexpected/shocking occurrences differently. Nevertheless, the following are some easy-to-implement, but potentially life-changing, tips on how to motivate an elderly person:
Encourage Few and Manageable Goals
Coming up with a long and possibly unrealistic list of goals can quickly overwhelm a person. As a result, they lose sight of what they aimed for, stop working towards it, and feel demotivated. This could happen to anyone in various situations, including at work, school, or home.
You want to make sure that your elderly friend or family member has a list of objectives that they can achieve and aspire towards. Not only will this keep them challenged, but it also gives them something to celebrate accomplishing.
Unmanageable goals, in contrast, are difficult to track and can cause an elderly person to feel stressed or, in a few cases, insecure about their capabilities.
Encourage Affirming Self-Identity
Your loved one may go through a journey of better-defining or rediscovering their self identity.
This is common after people retire or their kids leave the house to go to college or start a family. They lose their identity as a professional or parent.
To enable your elderly family member, relative, or friend to reclaim their sense of identity, here are some things that you should consider doing:
- Reminiscence or re-celebrate memorable moments in their professional or parenting career.
- Constantly remind them of their past glories.
- Celebrate the anniversaries of career highlights, such as an award that their child won at school or a major promotion that the now-retired person got.
- Take a trip down memory lane by looking at old pictures or video recordings from school or office/company parties, especially those that recognize the demotivated person (or their child) for their work.
To further affirm their identity, you want to encourage your loved one to reconnect with associates that can remind them of who they are and what they stand for.
Encourage Technologies
Social media and communications platforms are great tools for your elderly friend or family member to find people that they lost touch with, regardless of where they live.
To assist them, you may want to buy your loved one a smartphone that’s suitable for their needs. For instance, if they have poor vision, get them a device with a large screen and display.
These platforms allow your elderly friend or family member to keep up with the latest developments in their grandchildren’s lives, as well. In turn, they can offer them advice or guidance.
Encourage the Feeling of Usefulness
Many elderly people feel useless, incapable, and, on occasion, that they’re a burden to those around them. It is critical for you to overcome this by demonstrating how important they are to you.
Here, you want to motivate your elderly loved one by getting their input on a major issue or problem that you’re facing. For some, asking them to do a physical favor (one, of course, that’s suitable for their health) can greatly lift their energy levels and mood.
Health and Fitness
A quick daily workout can provide your elderly friend or family member with a massive boost in motivation. For a start, exercise causes the brain to release endorphins, a group of hormones that make you feel elevated and happy.
To add to that, a healthy diet supplies them with strength and energy throughout the day. It might also enable your elderly loved one to recover from any health conditions that they’re facing. At the very least, an organized eating schedule will give your loved one’s life a structure that they can build other beneficial habits around.
Volunteer Work
A lot of elderly people find purpose in engaging in volunteer work. Even though this applies to any person who volunteers for a charity or good cause, it particularly benefits elderly individuals that have lost their sense of identity.
Moreover, volunteer work provides your loved one with an avenue to meet new friends, socialize, and connect with others that have similar hobbies, lifestyles, and/or medical issues.
When to Involve a Doctor
When your elderly friend or family member becomes persistently unmotivated and uninspired, you want to take them to see their doctor.
Here are a few potential reasons that could leave them unmotivated for a long period of time:
- They have depression or a psychological condition.
- An underlying and diagnosed medical problem might be impacting your elderly friend or family member’s mood and energy levels.
- The lack of motivation is a possible side effect of a medication that they’re taking.
If your loved one is going through a phase, making a major life transition, coping with a tragedy, or facing any of the issues above, their doctor will point them to the root of the problem and, from there, address it.
Above all, regardless of whether or not your elderly friend or family member needs to see a doctor, you should still rely on the tips that we outlined in this article. This is because they make a crucial difference in motivating and energizing your loved one on a day-to-day basis.