Talking To Your Senior Parent About Home Care Assistance
Seniors who choose to age in place value their independence. Many of them don’t want to even consider that they might need extra help as they get older. If your senior parent is not very open to the idea of having household help but you can see that they are rapidly approaching the point where they need help, it’s time to have a conversation about home care assistance.
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But it can be very difficult for children to talk to senior parents about home care assistance without coming across as if they are trying to parent the parent. Many family battles have been waged over miscommunications between parent and child during a serious conversation like the conversation about home care assistance. You can use these tips to make it easier to have that conversation with a senior loved one that might not be open to the idea:
Talk In The Morning After Breakfast
The time of the day when you choose to have a serious conversation can impact how that conversation goes. If you have a serious conversation at night when your senior parent is tired and possibly cranky that isn’t going to be a positive conversation. Sit down to talk about serious things after breakfast when your senior loved one is alert and awake and has just had a good meal. That’s the best time to have a conversation when you want to be sure that they are focused and open to hearing what you are saying.
Have A List Of Talking Points
It’s always a good idea to think about what you’re going to say in advance. When you want to talk to your parent about something serious like home care assistance it helps to have written down a list of the things that you want to talk about so you can reference it during the conversation. With a list in hand, you won’t forget any of the important things that you wanted to say. It also helps to have a written list of the benefits of home care to let your senior loved one look at while you speak. Some people process written words more easily than spoken words.
Be Willing To Take A Break And Let Your Senior Parent Process It
If your senior loved one seems confused or starts getting agitated, end the conversation to give them time to process everything you said and think about it. Leave them the list of the benefits of home care so they can look at it when they’re ready.
Schedule An Introductory Home Care Assistance Session
One of the best ways to present the benefits of home care is to show your senior loved one what home care assistance is like. Schedule a session of home care so that your senior loved one can see the benefits of having some household help for themselves. Once they realize how much easier it will make their lives many seniors embrace the idea of having household help.