How Can You Really Listen to Your Senior in the Best Way Possible?

Listening can be one of your best tools as a family caregiver. Although you’ve likely been listening to all sorts of people your entire life, there are degrees of listening and being the best listener you possibly can is going to make caregiving far easier.

Caregiver in Centreville VA: Listen to Your Senior

Use Active Listening

Active listening is a listening technique that engages you fully in the listening process. The key components involve maintaining eye contact and being attentive to what is being said. Rather than listening to know what your response is, the goal of active listening is to be present and to open your mind. Ask questions to clarify your understanding and rephrase what you’re hearing. If your senior feels that you are truly listening, she’s more likely to feel more open herself.

Try to Imagine the Emotions Your Senior Is Experiencing

Empathy is a strong tool when you’re trying to listen to your elderly family member. Try to imagine exactly how your senior is feeling. Perhaps there’s been a situation in which you’ve felt exactly how she’s describing the feeling. If you don’t understand just yet, ask questions that help you to clarify how she’s feeling.

Be Obvious about Your Intentions

Sometimes you think your intentions toward your senior are clear, but they aren’t as clear as you believe. State outright that you love her and that you want to resolve the situation. There might be a bigger reaction than you think simply from you stating openly and clearly that you are thinking about her safety and her comfort. Hearing the actual words can be just what your elderly family member needs from you at that moment.

Consider Seeing a Therapist Together

In some situations, talking with a therapist together may be a smart decision. If your senior is open to the idea, this can help to bridge gaps that you may worry are insurmountable. Often you and your elderly family member may be closer to a solution than you thought, but you’re missing that one little component. A skilled counselor can help you to find those small pieces that are missing so that you can both get back on the same page.

Being a caregiver doesn’t mean that you always have all the answers. Sometimes you and your senior have to try something new in order to understand where you’re each coming from. In the end, it’s all about doing the right thing for your elderly family member.

Are you or a loved-one considering a Caregiver in Centreville, VA?  Please call the caring staff at Medical Professionals On Call today. Contact: 703-273-8818

• Author
• Recent Posts

Michelle DeFilippis

I graduated with a BS degree and had been selling medical equipment to hospitals, clinics and technicians. More recently, a family member was diagnosed with dementia and we, as a family, realized we were not prepared t care for her. We were thrown into that whirlpool of hospital stays, 24/7 live-in care, skilled care, caring for mom ourselves and finally, now daily home care. This was such a stressful time that I started thinking there had to be other people, other families as overwhelmed and unprepared as we were.

Medical Professionals On Call has such a caring, professional staff who are available to step in with whatever level of care necessary for loved ones and to relieve you of that stress.

Latest posts by Michelle DeFilippis (see all)

• Do Your Parents Face More Challenges When They Live in a Rural Community? - November 6, 2019
• Ways to Ease Arthritis Symptoms in the Elderly - October 24, 2019
• Tips for a Better Life with Fibromyalgia - October 9, 2019