Maybe you’ve noticed that dad’s unopened mail is piling up. Or mom, once meticulous about her appearance, is wearing wrinkled clothes and not doing her hair. When you bring up the subject, you hear, “Everything is fine. There’s no need to worry.”
Admitting they need help would mean they can’t take care of themselves anymore, and no one wants to lose their independence. The burden often falls on the family to recognize the signs that an aging parent might need help with daily living tasks. It’s a difficult decision once you realize that your loved one needs help at home, but breaking that news to your parent or other family member can be difficult–for both of you. How can you make that transition into home care easier?
Understanding Their Resistance to Home Care
It’s not easy for an older individual to “give up” their independence. Many seniors have dealt with multiple losses in later life (physical or emotional). Clinging to their independence—even at the cost of their own well-being—can help them feel empowered and overcome feelings of insecurity, vulnerability, and weakness. Accepting home care may also seem like placing the “burden” of their care on someone else’s shoulders. Seniors are still proud individuals (and rightly so). It’s hard for many to transition from being caregivers to needing care themselves.
How to Discuss Transitioning to Home Care with Seniors
There are a number of things that you can do to ease this necessary transition. The Mayo Clinic suggests:
Honestly Assessing Your Loved One’s Needs – Overestimating your loved one’s ability to care for themselves can be disastrous. As hard as it is, you have to be the deciding factor when determining just how much help they need.
Involve Your Loved One in Decisions—Ask their opinions, address their fears, and involve them in the decision making process. This allows them to retain as much control as possible.
Suggest a Trial Period–Allowing them to test the experience before committing to dedicated home care gives them a chance to see the benefits first-hand and may address many of the concerns they have. Over time a Caregiver may truly become “part of the family,” but in the beginning it may take time for your loved one to accept someone helping in their home.
Explain Home Care May Prolong their Independence —Working with home care providers to assess and adjust the level of care your loved one needs can keep them in their home longer. Depending on the level of need, a licensed Home Care agency can provide Caregivers to help in the home at a significant financial savings when compared to Assisted Living or Memory Care.
Find the Best Home Care Provider
Second Family Home Care provides top-tier home care in Plano, Texas and the surrounding areas to help seniors and their loved ones. Utilizing caring individuals, established senior services, and personalized care plans we can create unique solutions whether your loved one needs companionship service a couple of days per week or enhanced Alzheimer’s and dementia services 24/7.
If you need help easing your loved one into home care in the Plano, Texas area give us a call at (972)347-0700 or contact us by email at info@secondfamilyhc.com. We’ll gladly help you learn about the options available to you and your loved one and help to create an action plan to make their transition to home care as easy as possible.