Valentine’s Gift Ideas for a Loved One with Chronic Illness

The right Valentine’s Day present for someone with chronic illness may be easier to find than you think. Here are some great Valentine’s gift ideas for a loved one with chronic illness.

Give People Permission to Share What They Need

Valentine’s Day is a great day to take a moment to celebrate the love you have for someone. We all want to get the people we love a gift that makes them feel special. If someone you love has a chronic illness, their ideal gift may look different than the traditional Valentine’s Day gift.

One of the greatest gifts we can give a loved one is to hold space for them and allow them to fully share whatever is they need. These needs may be tangible, but they also can be emotional. You may find some people are stoic and afraid to ask for help—especially if they have a chronic illness. They may not want you to see how challenging certain tasks can be, so they bravely endure. Encouraging and welcoming your loved one to be vulnerable and ask for help or share how they are feeling can be incredibly powerful.

Simply asking your loved one what it is that they need and following through on that can be one of the greatest gifts of all.

Offer to Take Errands off Their Plate

If your loved one wants to be surprised on Valentine’s Day, a thoughtful gift can be an act of service. Performing daily errands for someone with chronic illness can be exhausting and more challenging than it is for the average person. Do they have prescriptions to pick up at the pharmacy? Are they running low on groceries and need to go to the store? Does the house need tidying up and cleaning? You can do these errands yourself or hire services, like a maid service or use Task Rabbit to take some of these items off your loved one’s plate. This gift allows them to relax and unwind and even have them conserve their energy to be able to comfortably celebrate with whatever you have planned later.

Self-Care and Pampering Gifts are Appreciated

Generally, you can never go wrong with a pampering gift. Going the extra mile to not just give a gift card to a spa, but also researching spas that are taking good Covid precautions, can provide a relaxing and safe experience for your loved one. If your loved one doesn’t feel comfortable going to a spa, then you can always act as the masseuse and give a back rub or foot rub yourself.

There are also so many great guided meditation and yoga class subscriptions for your loved one to really elevate that self-care from the inside out.

Here are some other self-care and pampering gifts you can offer:

• Cook a romantic dinner for them. Keep in mind, you should cook foods that comply with their dietary restrictions. Read about dietary nutrition for chronic illness here.
• Buy a nice face mask or other relaxing skin care items.
• Offer to perform an act of service, like doing their laundry.

Valentine’s Day offers you a chance to show a loved one how special they are to you. Sometimes, the best gift of all is simply asking what they need or what they want. If your loved one likes a nice a surprise, hopefully some of these suggestions will do the trick!