Your dad has always been private. Since his last medical checkup, you’ve noticed he’s having a harder time around the house. He won’t tell you what’s wrong. Here are four ways to get your dad to open up.
1. Be Honest and Admit You’re Concerned.
Start with an honest approach. Tell your dad you’re concerned by some of the changes you’re seeing. Ask him if he needs help and say you’re happy to chip in after all he’s done for you. If he gets defensive, drop the subject and try again on another day.
2. Discuss the Benefits of Having Him Allow You Access to His Medical Records.
Approach your dad and ask him if you can put him as a person who is approved to view your medical records. Explain to him why it’s so important to you. Explain that if there was an emergency and he wasn’t on the list, he’d not be able to get any information from the doctors.
Once you’ve stated why it’s important to you, ask him if he’d like to do the same. If he agrees to add you to the HIPAA paperwork, you can then call and ask his doctor questions.
3. Ask Him if He Has Advanced Directives or a Medical Power of Attorney Set Up.
Talk to your dad about his wishes if something happened. It can help you approach the subject by bringing up your own wishes first. Find out if he has an advanced directive or medical power of attorney in place. If not, discuss the importance.
Make sure he knows you’re worried about having any power to speak for him if he was in a car crash and couldn’t speak for himself. If you make it about an unexpected situation not related to his current health, he may be more receptive.
4. Reinforce That You Love Him and Want Him to Be Around for Decades.
Make sure that your dad knows how much you love him. Make all of your discussions about your hopes that even with the permission to access his health records, you never want to have to use them. Emphasize that you want him to be around for years or decades and that if he needs help to ensure that happens, there’s no shame in that.
Once you have the full picture of your dad’s strengths and weaknesses, it’s time to discuss how senior care services help him live independently and with dignity. Call a senior care agency now to learn more about services and pricing.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring senior care in Rahway, 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.
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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