Taking Your Loved One Home for Christmas

Give careful consideration when deciding to take your loved one home for Christmas. Consider whether the resident's current health status can tolerate an out-of-nursing-home visit. The resident is accustomed to familiar surroundings and routines. The nursing home promotes a quieter, calmer setting than a home with lots of family or a public setting. Others have found these guidelines helpful:

• Respect their slower pace and know when they have their higher energy levels. Schedule an outside visit during this time, which may require changing the customary time for the holiday meal. A morning brunch may be better than a traditional later dinner.


• People talking at the same time can be disorienting and cause agitation for your loved one. This can particularly occur with hearing impaired and mildly confused elders. Help ease these concerns with a low noise environment.


• Focusing on pleasant experiences and achievements of the past promotes self-esteem. Studies reveal that elders living with pain experience more negative feelings about themselves, lower self-esteem, less self-confidence, and a sense of unhappiness and alienation. Many have experienced a loss of abilities and health, the loss of long standing relationships, independence, and self-esteem. Their role in the family may have changed with their children assuming the role of parent/caretaker. Accepting dependency on others and chronic illness can overwhelm an individual and cause them to be withdrawn.

An outside visit may reinforce the benefits of the nursing home. Flights of stairs, thresholds, and difficulty in accessing bathrooms not designed for handicapped people may prove challenging. Some residents elect to spend their holiday at the nursing home for these reasons. Cherished visits with family members at the nursing home may better serve both you and the resident.