Life at a nursing home for a senior is the hardest to cope with due to health changes and low resistance levels to new environments. What is even worse is living in a nursing home with a prior impairment like blindness. If you’re just visiting a nursing home or know your relatives staying in a nursing home, you need to think of gifts to keep their energy levels up.
So, what are some great gift ideas for blind patients in nursing homes?
- Talking watch
- Wearable assistive camera
- Telephone with braille buttons
- ReaderPen
- Plate guard
- Talking blood pressure monitor
- Talking clock
- Kindle Unlimited plan or audible.com membership
- Item Finder
These items form as excellent, reliable, and much-needed gifts for blind seniors to lead peaceful (panic-free) lives, thanks to their disability aides. So, where to buy them? Which brands are reliable?
Scroll below to find our handpicked products to gift your blind senior!
Atomic English Talking Watch For Seniors
Atomic English Talking Watch by Five Senses is an amazing gift for the visually impaired. Most seniors have followed routines for decades, and it could be hard to know the timings to follow the routine. Thanks to many therapies that consume time and effort that they have to undergo regularly, they need an aid like a talking watch that can alert their routines.
The talking watch is a handy wearable that needs 1 CR2 battery to begin working. Can you believe that a 9-gram talking watch can keep them connected with the external world?
At $36.99, this watch mentions the time louder in a male voice and gives the option to set alarms. No matter where the nursing home is, the atomic clock signal can automatically update and talk the timing loudly.
Many seniors in nursing homes find this type of gift to be useful. Some seniors struggle to ask for help or relying on help from others. This talking watch can give them a boost to set their timings and live independently.
If you are interested in purchasing one of these watches from amazon.com, you can click the link for the Atomic talking watch .
OrCam MyEye Pro Wearable Assistive Camera
OrCam MyEye Pro is a next-gen product you can gift your seniors with visual impairments at nursing homes.
We’ve gifted this many times to people we knew because of its extraordinary functionalities.
- Seniors wearing glasses can simply fix this smart camera to their frames.
- The camera quickly scans things around and reads them aloud. Whether it is recognizing a visitor’s face or reading a medical report, this camera can instantly mention it to you.
- There are internal voice commands so the senior can talk to it for any help.
This product is more likely to boost their levels of independence. A visually impaired senior is more likely to have low self-esteem inside a nursing home due to various health reasons. However, a valuable gift like this is going to give them much-awaited freedom.
What we like more about this gift is the items inside the package. The pack contains a smart camera, frame, wall charger, magnetic mount, USB magnetic adaptor piece, a pouch, scissors, and a cloth.
The camera is only 22.5 grams, and this means that the person can easily carry it. There is a built-in HD mini speaker, and all that the person needs to do is to swipe or touch for specific operations.
This gift costs $3,500 but is worth every penny you spend.
To learn more about the OrCam MyEye Pro Wearable Assistive Camera click on the link.
Ornin S018 Big Button Corded Telephone
Several nursing homes provide the option for patients to have dedicated telephone lines. If you’re visiting one such home, Ornin S018 big button corded telephone is a gift that you shouldn’t miss.
At $27.98, this telephone comes with a speaker, braille, and big buttons for better viewing. Most visually impaired seniors are used to Braille methods. In that case, this gift is going to be a life-changer as they don’t have to take the assistance of someone else in dialing a call.
Here’s what we like about this product:
- Voice boosting function to help seniors with visual and hearing impairments
- Dedicated buttons for emergency calls
- The corded phone functions even during a power outage.
- It is easy to set up and has keys for two major operations – hand-free speaker and MUTE.
Some seniors find it hard to keep their phones aside due to potential slips and falls. However, this phone can settle at a place, and the senior can use the loudspeaker mode to talk from anywhere in the room.
Isn’t that an awesome way to simplify their lives at handy prices?
The link to purchase this phone can be found here Ornin S018 Big Button Corded Telephone
ReaderPen
ReaderPen from C-Pen is a lightweight tool for visually impaired seniors with reading habits. Nursing homes are second homes meant for rehabilitation and revival. These homes aren’t depressing or going to complicate their lives. However, treatments shouldn’t disrupt their routines.
If your senior likes to read a book but cannot, C-Pen’s reading support tool is the one to fulfill the interest. Weighing as low as 50 grams, it has an in-built scanner. When the person moves this aid along the lines of the book, it reads the text aloud.
Be it Bible or any other book, this gift contains inbuilt dictionaries and recording features to record audio so they can review it later.
The best part about this gift is that it doesn’t need a connection to WiFi or a computer. The aid comes as a package, including a USB cable, case, earphones, and a user manual.
Here are some more features we liked:
- There is a scan-to-file option to save data.
- The digital highlighter is easy to handle.
- There is also an option to record a reminder within the device.
Next time you visit nursing homes with visually impaired seniors, you can gift books without a second thought. They can use this aid to read those books. Isn’t this a gift of liberation?
The ReaderPen from C-pen can be found here on amazon
Evelots Food Plate Guard
Do you have a tight budget but still want to gift visually impaired seniors at nursing homes? Evelots Food Plate Guard is the go-to choice.
Blind seniors are more likely to spill food or even waste them without knowing what’s on their plate.
Here are the top reasons to gift this product to seniors:
- This lets them minimize messy spills.
- This guard is made of phthalate-free plastic and is extremely safe to clean.
- It fits a majority of plates.
- The product is durable and comes in a pack of two.
- The installation takes only a couple of seconds.
Most nursing homes find it hard to clean too many utensils that have sticky substances in them. What is even worse is food spills everywhere. However, this product is a blessing in disguise as it is much-needed and gives them an idea of what’s on the plate.
Costing $9.99, this food plate guard is a good idea if you’re gifting several visually impaired seniors in nursing homes.
If you would like to purchase the plate guard from amazon, click here Evelots Food Plate Guard
MIBEST Talking blood pressure monitor
There are sudden times of doubt when seniors want to know their vitals. These are common as they feel dependent on others for all major tasks. The situation at a nursing home is different from that of a home.
If you’d like to give them a degree of freedom, gift this blood pressure monitor with a talking function from MIBEST. It costs as low as $55. However, it offers innumerable benefits to enable blind seniors to get hold of their physical needs with timely tests.
Here are a few features you shouldn’t miss to know:
- The monitor has an inbuilt voice functionality, so it can also respond to your asks. Can you also believe that it is bilingual?
- You can expand the size based on the need.
- What is even more exciting is that it can store up to 240 data points. This is all that a physician needs to scan fluctuations and plan interventions accordingly.
- The monitor assures accurate measurement.
- It is easy to use and needs only a tap on the ON/OFF button.
The monitor comes with a pack of batteries and an adapter. As a result, your loved ones can instantly begin using them.
We’d recommend that every patient at a nursing home has a dedicated blood pressure monitor like this from MIBEST. This helps in recording individual fluctuations.
If you’re gifting to several members, write their names on labels and place these monitors on their respective wards. Nurses can check their vitals on the go. Isn’t that a portable, quick method to keep patients aware of their statuses?
You can click here to purchase the MIBEST Talking blood pressure monitor from amazon
HearEsy Talking Alarm Clock for Visually Impaired
“Dear, what’s the time?”
“Is it time for my therapy today?”
“How long should I sit for this session?”
“When should I take my tablet?”
These are regular instances when a visually impaired senior might need a helper’s guidance. All of these are interrelated to knowing the time.
If the patient has several complications like memory loss coupled with blindness, this talking clock from MAASII is a must-gift product.
At a throwaway price of $22, the clock is powered with numerous useful features.
- It alarms every activity. For example, the nurse can set the alarm for the patient for 4 P.M., and the clock can alarm at that time along with a message.
- For mild visual impairments, this clock highlights the date, period of the day, day, and timing in bold and big-sized fonts.
- It also comes with a remote control so the senior can plug it into a power source and turn it on/off based on the requirement.
- The clock also uses eye-protection colors and automatically dims based on the timing. As a result, it is safe to use inside the nursing home.
This gift also works great for nursing homes handling many blind patients simultaneously. The huge text on the clock reminds nursing assistants of their tasks concerning the patient.
The clock, HearEsy Talking Alarm Clock for Visually Impaired is sold on amazon.
Kindle Oasis
Do you prefer a gift that can be used each day? Do you have a good budget? Amazon’s Kindle Oasis is an outstanding product at $250.
Now, how does this work for my visually impaired senior?
Kindle has a read-aloud feature enabling everyone to read or listen to books on the go. Some seniors find solace in listening to books and delving into those stories.
All you need to do is to register with an account, load e-books, and allow them to listen to books as per their moods and preferences.
We call this a multipurpose gadget as it gives access to audiobooks, newspapers, and fiction. Perhaps, you can also connect Kindle to speakers so more seniors can listen to the same book simultaneously.
Most seniors might show extreme interest in praying to the Lord and listening to Bible. Kindle is going to be a game-changer and a compulsory asset for every nursing home. The advantage is that you can connect it to a speaker and dedicate time before sleep, so all seniors listen to it and believe in healing rapidly as per Lord’s words.
Perhaps, you’re boosting their motivation levels with this gift.
The Kindle Oasis can be purchased on amazon.com by clicking this link.
FindKey Item Finder
The last and most favorite gift for visually impaired seniors is the item finder from FindKey.
Most seniors experience memory loss, and this can happen due to aging or other therapies. In such instances, they’re entitled to lose the memory of their valuables. It costs $14.99 and is absolutely worth it.
Here’s how this gift works.
- It contains one radio frequency transmitter and four receivers to help them identify items.
- Simply pressing a button helps in finding the lost item. It has an inbuilt speaker to respond to instructions and update the statuses of the search. The volume is 75-85 dB.
- The transmitting range is 80 feet, and this is sufficient to search a room thoroughly for the lost item.
Here’s what we did to help seniors use this device effectively.
- We gave them an idea of the keys present and the order of colors.
- We attached the receiver to commonly misplaced items and gave them an idea of which button to press. Alternatively, the product works even if the user presses every button.
The FindKey Item Finder can be purchased on amazon.com
Final Thoughts
As soon as you decide to purchase a gift for a blind patient in a nursing home, you should also keep the nurse informed about the gift. It is advisable to provide a manual so that it is appropriately used.
Every handpicked item listed in this article has received great support from blind patients and empowered them with freedom during tough times. So you can choose one or more from this list without a second thought!
