Your senior may not be at the stage just yet where she needs you to actively care for her every day, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not a caregiver.
Easing into caregiving is an important stage of the caregiving process and it can help you to solve problems down the road if you do some careful planning and talking now.
Ask Your Family Member What She Wants
There’s never too early a time to talk to your senior family member about what she wants out of the later years of her life. Her answer might just surprise you. Even if you think that you already know what she might want, it’s important to ask the question. From there you can start making plans together.
Listen and Offer Options Instead of Orders
When you do ask your elderly family member what she wants, take the opportunity to really listen. You may feel strongly that you know what’s right, but your ideas may not feel right to your senior. It’s a lot better for you to offer her options rather than taking over and drowning out what she’s saying.
Gather Information for Later
The best part about having these conversations early is that you can gather information now that will help both of you later. You and your senior may not realize fully what options could be available to her when she needs them. She may think, for instance, that her only option when her health begins to fail could be going to a nursing home. In reality, she has a lot more choices depending on what she wants and needs.
Get Extra Help Now Rather than Waiting
The best thing that you can do for both yourself and your aging adult is to seek out help now rather than waiting until your senior’s needs grow. Hiring elder care providers now give you a leg up on the challenges that are waiting for both of you. Having that extra bit of help now is going to give you the freedom that you need to be able to rise up to the challenge of caregiving as it becomes more involved.
You don’t have to have all of the answers now. In fact, most of what you need to know as your senior’s caregiver you’ll learn as you go. Be gentle with yourself and remember that you’re trying to do the best that you can for your senior and her situation.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Elder Care in San Mateo, CA, call the caring staff at Aviva In-Home Care. Call today: (415) 795-2203
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