May 13, 2016
Helping aging loved ones can be difficult at the best of times. Watching our parents and older relatives decline, mentally and physically, can be painful to watch. When families are close, adult children may willingly care for aging parents, and siblings can often find ways to work together through this difficult period, but when families have unresolved issues, working together may seem impossible.
These early family dynamics shape who we are, and the roots from our past can grow stubbornly deep. When a hurtful family history collides with a present need for eldercare help, how can we overcome the obstacles in our way?
AARP offers the following tips to help family members overcome difficult dynamics and provide the best care for a loved one:
- Focus on the positive. If your strained relationships are like most, they’re comprised of both difficult and pleasant memories. Draw from the positives and try to place your focus more fully on those.
- Learn from the past. Letting go of past hurts may be too high of a goal to achieve, but it is possible to gain insight and a renewed perspective when viewing through the lens of lessons learned.
- Rely on your values. Rather than refusing to participate in eldercare help for a loved one because of a hurt that person inflicted upon you, fall back on your core values, such as the importance of helping others and treating them the way you’d like to be treated.
Asking for eldercare help in St. Louis or St. Charles county from a home health care agency like Continuum can help you overcome some of the barriers and difficulties you and your family members may face. Our skilled, trained caregivers can objectively look at your loved one and your situation, and provide the care and support your relative needs. Our personalized care plans are developed after a thorough nursing assessment, and the care plan may range from providing hands-on personal assistance to more advanced nursing care. Respite care, to give you time away, is also available.
We’re just a click away! Contact us and ask for your free assessment in the St. Louis or St. Charles area. Let us help you.