Photo Gifts for Nursing Home Residents

Posted by Dr. El - November 3, 2009 - Engaging with families, For Fun, Tips for gifts, visits - 3 Comments

In my post, What I Want My Nursing Home Room to Look Like, I mention I’d like to have family pictures in my room. Actually, I’d like everyone to have family photos in their nursing home rooms, in addition to photos of themselves when they were young. Before I started in long-term care (I was working at the state psychiatric hospital at the time) and Grandma Lily was in a nursing home, I bought a multi-photo frame, inserted pictures of the family, and hung it on her wall. It transformed the previously anonymous space and I felt happy to see her surrounded by loved ones whenever I came to visit. Pictures and memorabilia tell the story of someone’s life and remind everyone who the person is. They’re the single most homey addition to a room and they last longer than flowers. I’ll be talking more about the holidays as they approach, but if you’re wondering what to get a nursing home resident, photos are an excellent gift.

My parents were thrilled with their 50th wedding anniversary gift of a photoscope created by the talented Sue Samek of Photoscope Gifts. Sue creates one-of-a-kind artwork from your photos.

Here’s a photoscope of Sue’s family, and a detail of the work. She also creates photoscopes for hobbyists (cat lovers, gardeners, etc), travel buffs (a great idea for vacation photos), and any series of photos you can imagine.