Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

How can I volunteer and talk to elderly?

117 Answers
Last Updated: 06/16/2020 at 3:56pm
Perfect therapy for people who need help. I would like to say, I never can imagine it could be possible to heal people like that
Ta Tania
5 star rating
Moderated by

Amanda Wiginton, LMFT

Marriage & Family Therapist

Now is the time to make a change! Professional, empathic, and compassionate therapist waiting to help you make healthy life changes.

Top Rated Answers
Longn0062
October 25th, 2015 1:21am
I live in Melbourne, Australia. There are an abundance of these volunteering opportunities here. I'm currently applying at "Inclusion Melbourne" as a volunteer visitor for elderly people living at home by themselves. My friends have also gone to nursing homes to ask if they have volunteering programs involving talking to residents, with great success. "Alzheimer's Australia" also has a volunteer program that allows you to volunteer to help elderly people with Alzheimer's.
zaix
October 25th, 2015 3:13am
you'd probably have to look that up according to where you live, it should be really easy to find, i looked but i couldn't find a site for an overall thing.
Spiderman93
October 25th, 2015 4:02am
if you call around to nursing homes or retirement communities, you may find the opportunity to do just that. its great that you want to talk to the elderly. so many of them dont have people that are willing to spend time with them.
Anonymous
October 25th, 2015 8:17am
Maybe volunteer at your local retirement home, reading books to the elderly and such makes their day.
Anonymous
October 28th, 2015 12:13pm
I believe the elderly need as much help as the youth. Being lonely can result in feeling empty and depressed.
Starfromheaven
October 28th, 2015 5:08pm
try to be simple and open if we feel comfortable that a particular elder can help us just go and try talking to them first just a normal chat can help u understand what kind of person you are talking with
Anonymous
October 29th, 2015 1:55am
This is one of my favorite things to do! Grab some friends and call a local retirement community. Chances are they would love some volunteers to help them out. So you get to interact with the elder while getting service work done. It's a win win!!
Kayla1313
October 29th, 2015 6:04am
I'd look for places where the elderly are taken care of in your neighborhood and get in touch with them about volunteering. I don't know much about this, sorry!
hellaween353
October 29th, 2015 10:03pm
Personally, I volunteered *and* talked to the elderly all at one time, I was in a school club and twice a month we would volunteer at the nursing home across town. Although, if you reach out to someone at a nearby nursing home or something of that matter, they might give you the opportunity to help out with the elderly, while getting your volunteer hours in.
Anonymous
October 30th, 2015 1:16pm
I would suggest researching hospices and senior care centres to find a place that offers volunteer options that work for you.
slowTime
October 31st, 2015 1:15am
Do you mean online or in the reality? You can listen to them when they speak or help with practical things
Speedy27
October 31st, 2015 7:24pm
By helping the homeless and reading to the elderly or just be a good listener and help as much as possible
HelpingEmpathy1
November 1st, 2015 5:20pm
There are several associations to help old people. I think if we want to help, we should join them. With elderly people, we can talk a lot about their experiences and memories, unless they are head-ill. But in general, all of them give a lot of love.
globalCupcake44
November 4th, 2015 2:04am
The way you can volunteer and talk to elderly is just to talk to them like you would talk to anyone else. Its pretty easy. Just have a conversation with them.
sdizzle
November 4th, 2015 3:19pm
There are many nursing facilities that allow people to come in and spend time with the residents. If you are younger and in school you can also get community services hours set up for it and it will show on college applications as well as job applications.
compasionateSunshine
November 4th, 2015 9:12pm
Go to your local retirement homes and ask what you can do to volunteer. Hospitals are also a great place to help out! Sometimes both places will have volunteers record elderly people's stories, read, or even just talk.
Anonymous
November 5th, 2015 4:09am
With the elderly you should have a lot of patience and compassion when talking with them. Elderly people require a lot of time and energy. Lastly only do it if your heart wants too :)
Anonymous
November 5th, 2015 6:49pm
Sharing an online game with them or a simple conversation. All they need is a little affection. Love
Anonymous
November 5th, 2015 11:47pm
I can volunteer by getting involved with my community. Every community has volunteer opportunists, it can be the simplest things. I can talk to the elderly by going to Senior living homes helping by talking to them, reading them stories, plaything games and much more.
Anonymous
November 6th, 2015 4:36am
There are many ways to get involved in volunteering with the elderly! Many nursing homes will set a minimum volunteer age to go in an specifically volunteer. If you meet it, they are almost always looking for volunteers! If not, I used to go all the time. They don't get much younger company, so they like when people go in and sing, or act, or dance, or even just talk to them for a bit.
Anonymous
November 6th, 2015 11:20pm
I think it is important to try and understand people, to be wiling to listen and to be willing to learn.
LuxuriousLavender
November 6th, 2015 11:21pm
You can always try looking for volunteer opportunities within your own community. You should first try starting with something that's suitable for yourself, and then you could start to challenge yourself.
moonlight0
November 8th, 2015 3:03pm
You can volunteer by signing up to be a listener on 7cupsoftea and choosing to want to talk to the elderly
endlesslove
November 11th, 2015 1:56am
I recommend volunteering at a retirement home in your area! A lot of retirement homes are looking for people to help them out and enjoy speaking with the residents.
RC93
November 13th, 2015 3:37am
Yes (most likely). However, without knowing your specific location I cannot tell you where to do so. Contact a local volunteer organization. A simple google search for something along the lines of "community volunteering" or "volunteer opportunities in [insert location here]" should be a good start.
Jayooh
November 15th, 2015 12:38am
If there is an elder care or nursing home near you, you could try calling them and asking about volunteer opportunities. If you don't mind the volunteer activity not specifically helping the elderly, I've spoken to and worked with many older people while volunteering at animal shelters and in charity thrift stores. One other option might be inquiring about volunteer opportunities with the elderly at your local library, especially if you have some tech knowledge or other skills you could share with them. Many libraries have programs like this that you could potentially help out with.
wonderousSunshine82
November 15th, 2015 4:24am
Check with your City Hall building. Usually there are volunteer opportunities posted on their bulletin board. Also you can use the web to research volunteer opportunities with the elderly in your area.
Anonymous
November 15th, 2015 9:15pm
Go to a retirement home! They love visitors!
dancingTurtle59
November 18th, 2015 3:41am
go to a old folks home and meet people that may not get lots of visitors and start a friendship with them alot of time family members have given up on them when they need them most
Anonymous
November 18th, 2015 7:36pm
I used to go with my youth center and do volunteer work. I worked with kids, teens, and elderly. Talking to elderly is a harder thing to do, but since I used to go with some other teens, it was more comfortable. We went to Seniors and Teens lunch-ins, where we (teens) took the seniors orders, got them food, talked with them, and played bingo and had dances with them. It's really enjoyable, and it's something I think everyone should experience at least once.