Elderly adults have plenty of life experience and interesting stories to tell, but sometimes they aren’t sure how to express themselves. One way that allows seniors to capture their memories of the past is by writing poetry.
April is National Poetry Month, and it’s an excellent time for aging adults to experiment with this beautiful and artistic writing form. Whether they take a class at the local senior center or write on their own just for fun, elderly adults can have a wonderful experience writing poetry.
Why Seniors Should Write Poetry
Poetry is a form of cultural expression that uses styles and rhythms to reveal intense feelings and emotions. While in its most basic form, poetry is about rhyming lines. However, narrative poetry is a special style that allows the writer to tell a story.
Writing down their special memories and ideas helps seniors to improve their memory, boost their mood, decrease stress and expand their community. Poetry can help them find meaning in their daily life and uncover both the beauty and the ugliness. Whether they take a class somewhere in the community or just start writing poetry on their own, family caregivers and home care aides take steps to make sure this new hobby happens.
Also, poetry can capture a range of ideas and stories within an elderly adult that they may not know how to share. Many elderly adults write about their parents, siblings, past jobs, personal triumphs and defeats and more. Even if a senior has never written poetry before, they can learn to do so during National Poetry Month.
Tips for Seniors on Writing Poetry
When an elderly person expresses interest in writing poetry, family caregivers or senior care aides can honor their desire and investigate all the possibilities. Many libraries, community classes and senior centers offer different approaches to writing poetry. With a more formal structure, aging adults can learn from an instructor and have time to refine their writing. Family caregivers or senior care assistants can help with transportation, so the elderly adult can attend.
Of course, elderly adults don’t need a certain kind of training to get started with their own poetry. Reading poetry and writing their own can help aging adults view their world with a fresh outlook and share a piece of themselves with their posterity. Reading poetry books helps them see what finished poems are like. If they can’t manage to read themselves, a family member of senior care assistant can read to them.
A person is never too old to start writing poetry. As both an exercise and an art form, poetry can be therapeutic in helping seniors to express themselves. It can be a creative outlet for elderly adults with a lot of time on their hands. Finally, poetry can be a precious gift to an aging person’s posterity as they capture memories and thoughts into words.
While it is National Poetry Month, family caregivers and senior care assistants can be there to support elderly adults in reading and writing poetry that beautifies and changes their lives.
Source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ebb-and-flow/201610/the-power-writing-poetry-in-old-age
When you are in need of care for a senior loved one, consider senior care provided by Golden Heart Senior Care. We have offices nationwide. For more information, call us today at (800) 601-2792.
