Five Tips for Helping Your Senior Enjoy Reading

“Get Caught Reading Month,” which occurs every May, is all about reading more books. This can be a fantastic opportunity for your senior to find new books that she absolutely loves reading or to find new ways to enjoy old favorites. These ideas can help your caregiver and senior family member to enjoy, “Get Caught Reading Month,” now and all year long.

Caregiver in Southampton NY: Reading

Look into Larger Print Reading Materials

Low vision and other vision issues can make it difficult for your senior to read some print. Larger print books and magazines can help quite a bit because the type size is larger than usual. Most libraries have a selection of large-print books, and you can order them from bookstores as well. Another option is to use an e-reader that allows your senior to adjust the size of the words on each page.

Improve Lighting for Your Senior

Reading in light that is too dim can cause serious eye strain, even if your elderly family member is only reading for a few minutes at a time. To make it easier on her eyes, consider improving the lighting situation for your senior. That might mean using brighter bulbs or even swapping out lighting fixtures for lamps that direct the light where she needs it to be.

Find Ways to Offer up New Reading Material

Used bookstores, libraries, subscription services, and e-readers are all fantastic ways to get more reading materials for your elderly family member. If getting to the library is difficult for her, companion care at home can assist with transportation and mobility. The easier it is for your senior to find new reading material when she wants it, the more likely she’ll be to read more often.

Consider Other Ways to Make Reading Easier

Reading doesn’t have to mean that your elderly family member physically holds a book and uses her eyes to read. Listening to audiobooks is reading, as is having someone read to your elderly family member. Companion care at home offers companionship to your elderly family member as she needs it, and they can help her to enjoy her favorite reading materials as well. Caregivers may be able to make reading easier for your senior in other ways, too.

Check out Local and Online Book Clubs

Book clubs are a fantastic way to both socialize and learn about new reading materials. If your elderly family member has never considered joining a book club before, now might be the time. There are book clubs for all sorts of genres and categories. There are even book clubs specifically for older adults. Whether they involve in-person or online meetings, these groups can be a lot of fun for your senior to join.

Reading is a way for your elderly family member to learn new things and to mentally explore a variety of different stories and characters. The more that your elderly family member reads, the better her quality of life is likely to be overall. Finding ways to make reading easier for her involves periodically assessing what challenges she’s facing with it.

If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring a Caregiver in Southampton, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.