Do You Have a Plan in Case Your Senior Refuses Help?

As your elderly family member grows older, she’s likely going to need more and more assistance. But some aging adults are surprisingly unreceptive to having help, even if they acknowledge on some level that they need it. This means that you’re going to need to work out a plan for getting her the help that she needs.

Homecare in Vienna VA: Senior Assistance Resistance

Broach the Topic Gently

If you already know that this is a sensitive topic for your aging adult, you need to approach it very carefully when you address it. Wait for openings that allow you to bring it up and make sure that you’re not nagging your aging adult. Handling the conversation with kid gloves allows you to apply more pressure later if you need to without alienating her now.

Listen to Her Objections

Your senior is certain to let you know exactly why she’s not happy with this idea, but you need to make sure you’re listening. Some of the objections might not make sense until you delve a little bit deeper and pay attention to what she’s saying between the lines. Once you get to the ultimate objection, you can start to work on overcoming that objection.

Get Some Details

You can’t do anything if you don’t have specific details. Working in generalities is only going to confuse both you and your elderly family member. Ask her some questions and dig deeper to determine if you’re really focusing on the right problems. If you’re dealing with multiple issues, make sure that you’re tracking information carefully in your notes so that you’re not missing anything.

Offer More than Just One Option

You need to make sure that you’re offering your senior family member more than one option. She might not like the idea of having elder care providers with her, but she might be more amenable to having different family members helping her out now and again. You can work your way up to hiring elder care providers, but you might not be able to start there. Understanding where your senior’s blocks are can help you to get her the help that she needs the most right now.

Your senior might have a lot of reasons to decline offers of help. Some of those reasons might not make much sense to you, but that doesn’t invalidate them. Keep offering assistance and try to anticipate your senior’s needs as much as you possibly can.

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

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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.

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