Four Tips for Talking to Your Senior About the Future

The future is mostly unknown to all of us. But your senior knows that there’s likely coming a time, probably sooner than she wants or expects, that she’ll have less say over what happens. She might not want to talk about that now, but it’s important that you do try at least.

Senior Care in Springfield VA: Senior Discussions

Talk to Her Doctor

When you and your elderly family member are ready to start talking about future care and other upcoming health decisions, it’s important to start with her doctor. Your senior’s doctor can help you both to understand what’s coming down the road for your senior and what types of situations you can both expect. This is especially important if either of you has been a little bit in denial about anything that’s going on.

Work Together to Outline Some Goals

As you and your elderly family member gather more information, you can start to work together to put some goals together for the near future and the path that’s even farther down the road. Some of the best goals to set are going to be ones that are smaller and that your senior is most likely to achieve. Things, like eating healthier meals and moving a little bit more, are goals that she can meet easily with a little bit of help.

Don’t Postpone These Talks for Long

It’s tough to have these talks. They’re rough on you and they’re rough on your senior. Doing this type of talking and planning sooner rather than later is vital, though. If you and your senior can work through these issues now, then when she’s really facing some tough health problems you’re going to have a better idea how to proceed. There’s no right or wrong way to have these talks, really, because the important thing is to have them at all.

Keep the Conversation Going

Your elderly family member might not be running into big trouble now, but that isn’t a reason to stop where you are. For example, she may still be driving just fine now on her own. But maybe it’s time to talk about what happens when she’s having more trouble driving. If she’s on board with having elder care providers doing the driving when that time comes, it’s a much easier and faster transition than if you haven’t talked about it at all.

It’s important to express to your senior that you’re concerned about her health and her safety. When she knows those are your biggest priorities, she might feel safer talking about all of these concerns.

Are you or a loved-one considering hiring Senior Care in Springfield, 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