Do you find that is tougher to interact with your elderly loved one than it used to be? This is normal. As people age, they generally have a tougher time communicating. This is especially true if they have dementia or other health conditions. However, there are some tips for family caregivers and elder care providers to make interactions with elderly people more positive.
Keeping Calm
One of the most important things you can do to make interactions with your elderly loved one more positive is to keep calm. If your elderly loved one is sensitive to your behavior and body language, getting worked up could cause a negative response. However, if you are able to keep calm in the things that you say, how you say things, and the body language that you use, your elderly loved one is more likely to mimic what you are doing. They are more likely to be cooperative with you, as well.
Approaching from the Front
Another way that you can make interactions with your elderly loved one more positive is by approaching them from the front when you need to talk to them. If your elderly loved one can’t see you well, when you are trying to communicate with them, this can cause them to feel threatened or scared. If you approach them from behind, they might become quite aggressive.
One Thing or Person at a Time
If you want to communicate with your elderly loved one, it is important to only talk to them about one thing at a time. If you overload them with information, this could cause them to become confused and irritated. In addition, it is important that only one person is talking to your elderly loved one at a time. For instance, if you and their elder care providers are in the home, only one of you should be speaking at a time. This will help your elderly loved one to be able to focus and communicate much better.
Stay in the Moment
Many elderly adults are living in the moment. They might experience memory loss that prevents them from remembering things that happened half an hour ago or they might have long-term memory loss, as well. If you want to make interactions more positive with them, it is important that you stay in the moment. Focus on what is happening right now and what you want them to do at the moment.
Ultimately, you want to have the best communication possible with your elderly loved one and this is possible. If you follow these tips, you can reduce the number of frustrating conversations and interactions that you have with your loved one and increase the positive ones.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Elder Care in Elizabeth, NJ, call the caring staff at Helping Hands Home Care today at 908-418-4299.
Providing Home Care Services in all of Northern and Central NJ, including Clark, Westfield, Cranford, Scotch Plains, Rahway, Linden, Summit, Edison, Elizabeth, Mountainside, and the surrounding areas.
Sources
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/
After graduating from Seton Hall University with a BS in finance Helping Hands Homecare’s Owner / President, Robert D’Arienzo, went to work on Wall St. for six years. However, after Robert’s grandmother became ill with stomach cancer Robert and his family needed to find assistance in the home for her. After many trials and tribulations Robert could see that there was a great need for quality home care services here in NJ and loved the idea of being able to assist other families who were going through what his family went through with his beloved grandmother.
Thus, Robert had found his passion. After almost a year of preparation Robert opened Helping Hands Homecare in 2003. Robert wanted Helping Hands Homecare to focus on providing the highest quality of caregivers, exceptional customer service, and providing a service that familys could depend on in their time of need. Since then Helping Hands has assisted hundreds of individuals with the simplest of needs to more complex cases while preserving those standards set out many years ago.
Robert is a Google Verified Author
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