How would you feel if you were aware of your own cognitive decline? It is truly a frightening experience when you’re noticing that not only is your memory is slipping, but you’re confused, and you lack the ability to handle day to day activities. For many seniors, in-home care is an appropriate service to consider to ensure their continued safety and aid them with daily tasks. Below you’ll find 5 suggestions to make approaching dementia care easier to discuss with your aging loved one.
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Put yourself in their shoes. It is important to understand what your aging loved one or parent is feeling. It is hard to accept aging in the first place, but especially when your previous mental capabilities are weakening. Approach the conversation with compassion and facts to help them ease the transition.
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Make sure you ask questions. Depending on your situation, whether you’re directly caring for someone with dementia or indirectly, it is important to ask open ended, non-threatening questions.
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Be patient. When you start talking to your loved one in the earlier stages of dementia, remember that they may not be able to focus for long periods of time. Remain attentive and bring the conversation back to the focus of their care when necessary.
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Make sure they understand their choices. If your loved one understands their choices thoroughly then it will help them feel more a part of the process. This relates back to putting yourself in their shoes. You wouldn’t want someone forcing strangers into your own home and neither does your loved one.
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Understand the process. Two main things to keep in mind is to maintain your loved one’s dignity as well as their independence. At Senior Helpers, we can slowly introduce your loved one to the caregiver. Whether that begins with small tasks around the home, or taking your loved one to a doctor’s appointment. It’s important to us to take these small steps to make sure the caregiver is a good match for your loved one.
This is a difficult time for any family, but if you approach dementia care conversations with compassion and patience it will help navigating this new phase of life a little bit easier. Always keep an eye out for early signs of dementia. If you are experiencing these frustrations, you aren’t alone. If your senior is having trouble accepting the idea of in-home senior care a professional recommendation from the doctor can go a long way. At Senior Helpers our senior care specialists have years of experience working with families to provide their loved ones with the care they need. If you need some help convincing your loved one, we are here to help you get the conversation started - contact us today.
Senior Helpers – Sacramento/Placer provides compassionate caregivers to help our local seniors with day-to-day tasks such as housekeeping, meal prep/planning, and transportation as well as providing assistance with bathing, dressing, medication reminders and more. Our mission is to improve the life of seniors and help relieve the burden on their families. If your loved one lives in Sacramento or the surrounding areas (Roseville/Rocklin, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove) and you would like more information, please call us at 916-671-5777 or click the Contact Us link at the top of this page.