Whether your elderly family member has adapted to having help from you and other caregivers already or not, the shift to 24-hour home care can still be a big one. You might find that your aging family member is just as resistant to this as she was to having help at all, even if she finally realized how great it was to have help. Here are some things you can talk about that might help.
Talk with Your Senior about Her Needs and Wants
Sit down with your aging family member and talk frankly about what she’s experiencing, what she needs, and what she wants. Odds are that she’s trying to stay in her home for as long as possible, which means that having help is becoming a necessity. Listen to what she shares about what she wants, because that can help you to show her how this type of care can actually meet those needs and wants for her.
Address What 24-hour Home Care Can Do for Her
While you’re talking with your elderly family member, share what home care providers can do for her. Explain that they’re not the ones in charge and that she’s still living in her own home. Caregivers are there to support and to assist her, not to force her into doing anything that she doesn’t want to do. This misconception can be behind some feelings.
Stress that You’re Giving it a Try
Let your elderly family member know that you’re going to give 24-hour home care a try. You can ask her to help you to set a trial limit for the experience if she’s still reluctant to give this idea the full go ahead. The key here is that you’re both going to give this a full, real try.
Give Your Senior Choices Wherever You Can
Another big factor can be your senior feeling as if she doesn’t have any choice in what’s happening. When that happens, you may see her start to dig in her heels on the simplest of issues. Giving her as many choices as you can as often as possible is really helpful if you’re seeing this happen. Even if the choice doesn’t seem to matter to you, it likely makes a big difference for her.
Let Your Senior Experience the Benefits for Herself
At some point, you have to just go ahead and let your aging family member experience what 24-hour home care is truly like for her. You can spend a lot of time and energy talking about the benefits, but until she realizes that caregivers are there to make her life easier and safer, she may still want to pull the plug. Understanding just how beneficial this is for her can be the turning point in the entire conversation.
Change is really difficult, for just about everyone. It can especially be hard for your senior when all she wants is for her life to be as normal as possible. Having help from home care providers can give her back some of that semblance of normality that she’s been missing.
Source
https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/aging-caregiving-older-adults
If you or an aging loved one is considering 24-hour home care in Burnsville, MN, and the surrounding areas, please contact the friendly staff at CareBuilders at Home Minnesota. Call today 612-260-2273.
