I need something for my 65-year-old mother to do. Any ideas?

Does she like animals? Maybe volunteering at a shelter? Sometimes they need people to just socialize with the animals.

Speak with the local senior center(s). These are different than the adult day care centers you mention .
1. Senior centers have daily programming and interaction with others and, at times lunch etc. You can stop by and get a calendar of activities and speak with staff.
2. " Adult Day Care" may actually be the better choice as you describe several deficits that your mother may need help with. She could also perhaps view going as both for herself and a way of volunteering with the others present...
3. Engage her Physician to order assessments of her PT and OT status and potential for therapy toward improvement. If there is none, ask what they recommend.
4. Could she volunteer at a local church to assist with weekly office needs?? Or others?? Speak with your, hers or a community pastor.
5. Engage volunteers or other paid aids to help her 1:1 to do things that will give her meaning, hope,purpose and direction.
6. It sounds like her cumulative deficits do equal quite a bit of challenges. 1:1 visits with her may be a good way to start. Speak with Physician.
7. Practice good self care . One also needs to ask oneself :. Does your mother express the need and desire to " do more"? Or is this your need to see her " do more"?

If there is a senior center in your area, get her over there. The one in my town is hopping with seniors doing all sorts of activities. I'm taking tai chi classes. People are in all sorts of physical conditions there. Two people in the tai chi class can't stand or use their legs, but they move their arms and heads with the directions of the teacher. Even if your mom can't move one arm, the instructions, meaning, health indications, and history are interesting. There are tons of classes other than tai chi and all are taught according to the abilities of the students.

1 - Would her overall functioning make it possible for her to attend any kind of course in something she is interested in?

Most universities have some kind of program whereby seniors can audit courses. Some also have non-degree-granting programs for adult education. Also most cultural centers, like museums, have adult courses.

I've known several people who have made nice social connections over time in ongoing language courses.

2 - is there any kind of political or community cause she is interested in? there is often a need for people to make phone calls for various reasons, would she be able to do that? I think they are robo-dialled so I think she could do it with a headset and without having to be able to punch in numbers. If she can get interested in something, she could have meetings to go to and a contribution to make, and this would definitely be mixed ages.

aj, I would see if your area has any friendly calls programs.

Your mom would call people daily to check in on them and break their isolation.

Getting with your local charities will help you find other things she could do. Being needed is very helpful for overall well-being. Good for you trying to find things to engage her.

aj6044, does Mom have any interest in doing a family tree? Ancestry.com kept me busy for over 4 years, working 8 hours a day, looking up one generation after another. Back then it wasn't unusual for farming couples to have 12-20 children, and their children had 6-12 children. Those who moved to the big city, they had 1-5 children. It was quite interesting, especially finding a couple of outlaws/bootleggers in the mix :)

Drag out all the family photos she has and that you have. Do the photo have names of who's in the photo? If not, time to do it now. I know I could have kicked myself for not doing this back when my parents were still around. So many mystery photos that even other family members who are doing trees cannot identify.

There are two old newspaper websites where one can find articles of some of their relatives. Old wedding announcements, birth announcements, family reunions, etc.

Reading your replies, it seems like none of the suggestions made so far by everyone suits your mother. Have you asked her specifically what she wanted and was capable of doing?

Find volunteers who visit with the sick. There might be someone who is a perfect match.

There are places that need Volunteers.
The local Senior Center might be a great place for her to get involved in activities AND my local Senior Center has Volunteers that call other seniors to check in on them, make sure everything is ok. this might be something your mom could do.
Lots of schools now need classroom helpers (and the pay is pretty good!). (Not sure is she would want to spend time in a school if she has medical conditions that would lessen her immune system)
The Hospice I Volunteer with/for has lots of office things that need to be done. One of them is calling patients families to see if they need any supplies. (this can be done from home)
And...local animal shelters need Foster homes for both dogs and cats. this is the best of both worlds, you have a pet but do not have the expense of pet ownership. The hard part is when you have to give up your Foster when they find their forever home.

aj6044- you said your mom doesn’t like being around old people at daycare and senior centers.

Does she like being around kids? Has she tried volunteering at the local libraries to read books or tell stories to kids? Children books are large print with pictures and easy to read. Or volunteer to help at the library used book stores? She can help handling the book sales and talk to patrons when they come in.