5 Things Your Grandparents Will Love You To Do This Winter

The pandemic is still out and in fact, has accelerated in some parts of the world. America has reported 3,000 deaths for a number of days in a row. That is quite alarming but remember, the Covid-19 virus is part of the flu family. It will thrive mainly in colder climates. Therefore, if you think of it like the flu, and take the same precautions such as not touching your face, wearing layers, continually washing your hands, you should be fine. But what about your elderly grandparents? They will be more at risk and it’s not just about the virus. They will feel the bitterness of the cold much more readily. They will find it harder to leave their homes and get the things they need to live comfortably. So we are showing you some simple ways of getting your grandma and grandpa through this winter.

Bleeding the air

The radiators should receive their annual bleeding to make them more efficient during winter. Past the summer months the higher temperatures will cause more air to build inside the radiators. This will create small and or large pockets of trapped air. It causes the water in the radiators to not circumvent throughout the entire structure. If you can sense that the radiator is hot at the bottom but not at the top, you have a trapped air problem. 

Bleed the air out of the radiator using the key which fits into the top of the radiator nut. Make sure that you take your time. If you bleed the radiator too quickly, i.e. open the key too much, it will cause the water to be sucked upward and move the air pocket out of the way in a bid to escape this causes the air to remain trapped. So, turn the key and leave the radiator to slowly lose the air. Be warned, this can take 15-20 minutes.

Melt the ice

The ice in front of your grandparents home could be the cause of a very nasty fall. Every winter, lots of elderly people fall prey to ice that is right outside their front door. In just one city, around 650 older people were admitted to hospital because they fell on ice. This can obviously be very alarming for elderly people to experience as they might slip outside their garden and nobody would know where they are. It can cause them to be left outside all night and if it’s very cold, they could pass away. So we recommend that you take it upon yourself to melt the ice around the home.

Take a hose and with lukewarm water, melt the ice on the pavement, pathway and patio. You can prevent ice from even building on the concrete floor by leaving grit salt scattered around. If it rains and then freezing temperatures arrive, you may not have any other choice but to melt it again. However, placing rubber holed mats outside the front and back door could prevent a lot of slip and fall accidents. The same can be done for the steps.

Ordering meds online

In light of the pandemic, more and more services are being created to deliver medicines at home. You should use this kind an online pharmacy to give your grandparents the opportunity to order whatever prescription medication they need throughout the entirety of winter. Just sign up online and they will check if you have any kind of service that the NHS is running locally, to order drugs online. If you do, the NHS will allow this particular online pharmacy to become your delivery service. They will send the drugs to them, and they will drop off the drugs to your grandparents’ home. It’s really that easy! 

However, they don’t just do prescriptions but basic over the counter stuff too. So flu tablets, headache tablets and cough medicine etc, are all on their website too. Go into their ‘shop’ tab and find whatever you need. And guess what the best part is? The delivery is free! They can also make you a pillbox to organize your medicine if it helps your elderly grandparents keep track of what they need to take on what day.

Run errands

There are some food delivery services that you can use on behalf of your grandparents but sometimes they want to do other things. They may need to post a letter, give a festive greeting in the form of a present to a neighbor or just make a few phone calls to insurance companies. You should be there to pick up any odd jobs and run errands so they can continue to lead a normal life.

Do the simple things. Go to the post office to send a parcel or post a letter. Do the grocery shopping if there isn’t a service available. Help them call whatever company they need to call for their insurance, pension or holiday arrangements. 

pixabay 

Regular contact

This one shouldn’t be too difficult. Just keep in contact with them throughout the winter. Ring them up every other day to see how they are doing. You never know when something has gone wrong such as a broken boiler or perhaps they need help to make dinner because they have hurt themselves, etc. 

Using Zoom or other video call software you can have a virtual face to face contact. This will boost their morale and make phone calls fun to do. You can show them their grandkids and other things you’ve been doing such as wrapping presents or making greeting cards. Regular contact will keep their spirits up and give them the conviction to enjoy life until they can go out and about as they did before the pandemic hit.

Help your grandparents get through this troubled winter. This year has been horrible but you can make their festive experience fantastic by doing some or all of these things. 

Written by ItsSandraLynn