It’s never easy to try to do something to improve your elderly family member’s life, only to have her refuse that assistance or help. You can’t force your elderly family member to accept help, but you can try to make it clear to her why you’re offering help. You can also do a few things to reframe what accepting help means for her.
Try to Put Together a Plan
Talk to your elderly family member about what you’re seeing and what she needs. That might not be an easy conversation, but it’s one that you need to have with her. If you can come to some sort of agreement about what her needs are, that takes you both one step closer to putting the right solutions in place for her.
Look at Boundaries that Work for You Both
Boundaries are important when it comes to caring for your senior. She needs to know that you respect her wishes and you need to know that she’s going to follow the plan that you’re both working to outline. It’s a delicate balance and it’s all part of helping her to get what she needs, when she needs it.
Reframe Care and What it Means for Her
For some seniors, care and help translate to her being infirm or incapable. Redefining and reframing what care means for her is crucial. Your senior needs to know that home care assistance isn’t about taking anything from her or restricting her independence in any way. Elder care providers are there to make her life easier and to support her in getting her needs met.
Look for Ways to Make Her Home Safe for Her to Age in Place
It’s also important that you and your senior periodically assess her home’s safety. If there are modifications that need to be made, those can help her immensely. Home care assistance can also be part of planning out what will help your senior to be safer while she’s at home. Having a safe home can allow her to age in place for a lot longer, so it’s important that she sees how it can benefit her the most.
Just because it’s difficult for your elderly family member to accept help at this stage doesn’t mean that it always will be that difficult for her. Be patient and remember that she is facing some big changes in her life. That can help her to see what you’re trying to get her to understand about the help that you’re offering.