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Christmas time, while being a festive season, can also cause feelings of loneliness and despair, especially for the elderly in the UK. It was estimated this December 2015, that upwards of 340,000 elderly persons across the UK will not have friends or family to spend Christmas with. This amount of people spending Christmas alone is close to the same population as Cardiff. Although loneliness can often be felt during many times of year, it is often felt deeply during the Christmas season where people are encouraged to spend time with their loved ones and family. Christmas time for the elderly can be a very sad time especially in the UK. Nursing care homes often provide programming and a sense of community for the elderly so that they do not feel as alone at Christmas time. A variety of activities and Christmas dinners are organized by the nursing care home to make guests feel welcome and amongst friends during the holiday season. Amongst the activities that are carried out, is the program called reminiscence therapy. This type of therapy is a way for the elderly to tell their story, to inspire others, to feel like they are contributing, to feel useful, and to remember their loved ones even if they are no longer around them anymore. For elderly guests who have complications such as memory and recall issues, or dementia, this therapy is even more special for them as often they can bring back memories they have lost for even a short amount of time. The benefits of reminiscence therapy over Christmas is even more pronounced when done in a group setting. In a group setting, health carers can facilitate the social interaction of the elderly guests with each other. Oftentimes laughter and sadness and other emotions come out during this type of therapy that helps guests to bond with one another. It also helps them to make friends, to make existing friendships deeper, and to help the health carers understand who the guests are. Over Christmas, many folks want to feel like they can give and receive. By telling stories and making one another laugh, the elderly can again feel involved in society, engaged, and get their thoughts off their feelings of loneliness. This makes reminiscence therapy all the more valuable at this time of year. This type of therapy also helps to strengthen memory, emotional responsiveness, self expression, attention, recall, linguistic skills, and social skills. This type of therapy is also proven to increase self worth in older individuals. As individual's grow older, encouraging your loved one to participate in these types of group activities or therapies, will help them to remember how important they have been in the world and how much they have contributed in their life. It will also help them to buffer the loneliness of Christmas, and help nursing care homes chippenhamto even feel great about themselves. It's important this Christmas to keep the social health of our elderly in the UK in mind. Invite a loved one out today!
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