Having free time does not always mean having time for being
prolific. For many older people, this excess of freedom to do whatever they
want turns against them: what do you do when you don't have any plans to get
through the day? Boredom in old age is a common circumstance, but according to
healthcare executive Elly Kleinman, it has a simple solution- get active.
Why are older people bored?
The third age is a different stage in each individual. There
are people who throughout their lives have been very active thanks to hobbies
and social contacts that they will continue to maintain as they grow older.
Others, on the other hand, may have never shown much interest in any particular
activity and, at this stage, they find it more difficult to find motivation for
something.
In any case, Mr. Kleinman, founder and CEO of Americare, explains
that it is quite common for social life and activities to lose weight every day
as we get older. It must be borne in mind that health issues, age-related fears
or the lack of someone with whom to share those moments of leisure have an
influence. All of this can lead to a situation that is not suitable for anyone,
but especially for the elderly: a sedentary life lacking in stimuli.
Taking into account that the usual thing in the elderly is
also to have more free time, the result of this combination of factors is less
attractive than it might initially seem: too much time and too little to do.
Boredom and corona-virus, a bleak combination
One of the side effects of the pandemic has been boredom.
This circumstance, aggravated during confinement and later with mobility and
assembly restrictions, has had repercussions in all age groups.
However, while young people have had more facilities to
counteract the tedium of days with nothing to do thanks to the use of
technology, for older people it has been another challenge during this
pandemic. With the disappearance of the usual forms of entertainment at these
ages, from board games and crafts at home to playing petanque in a public park,
the elderly have seen their boredom increased.
Beyond the uncertainty generated by the health situation,
the truth is that the course of the days during the last year has been marked
by the boredom of the predictable, with the frustration and negativity that
derives from it. Now that normality is gradually recovering, Elly Kleinman
believes it is important that caregivers and relatives of the elderly have a
strategy in place to cope with boredom and coronavirus in this new scenario.
