What to do when older people refuse care?

 

The reluctance of some older people to be cared for is a fairly common situation. Coping with the changes that occur with age is a slow process that involves major transformations in the older adult's life and requires patience and understanding. That initial refusal to receive help, either from the family or from a professional caregiver, does not have to be a final decision if you know how to redirect the situation. Bellow, David Berkowitz from the Chicago-based Nursing Home Aperion Care, will tell you how to approach the care of the elderly.

 

Analyze the reasons: why don’t they accept help?

Although aging does not have to be synonymous with the loss of autonomy, the passage of time always takes its toll. As the years go by, our elders find themselves with some limitations that, however small, were not part of their day to day before. Assuming these changes are not always easy, is all the more reason why having professional support offers great advantages.

However, it is common for older people to refuse to be cared for. It is a situation that is repeated more frequently, especially in those early stages of aging, when family members begin to consider the advisability of using a home caregiver or a nursing home to guarantee the assistance they need.

Bringing a stranger into the home raises many doubts, especially among elderly people who have spent their entire lives enjoying their independence and privacy. However, it is not just a question of trust. Resorting to home care is, for many older adults, assuming their inability to continue leading the life they led.

In these new circumstances, there is also a certain fear of rejection. "What if by becoming a burden I am going to lose the respect and affection of my family?" Although this possibility is not contemplated from the perspective of the relatives, the thoughts of the elderly person sometimes take the form of these concerns that do not come to be expressed openly and that end up causing great stress, explains nursing home owner David Berkowitz.

Before making any decision regarding the care of the elderly, it is important to analyze all these factors, comment on them and convince them that it is not a question of limiting their capacities but of promoting and empowering them in a safe environment. Letting yourself be cared for is the guarantee of a happy old age with quality of life.

 

Tips for Dealing with Older People Who Refuse Help

If the first step to make our family member change their attitude is to understand her motives and fears, the next step is to take an active position in the search for a change in attitude. What can we do when an older person refuses care?

Solve the situation naturally. You should not turn your family member's refusal into an added problem. According to David Berkowitz from Aperion, it is always better to approach these circumstances from a positive mindset and from the perspective of a change that is as natural as it is necessary. This is not the time to be overprotective or to impose solutions. It begins by raising the great advantages of having the help of a professional in carrying out small day-to-day tasks, in the time that it would save and in the activities in which it could invest it.

Go little by little. It is difficult for anyone to open the doors of their home to a stranger. Our house is our refuge, an intimate and personal space in which we feel comfortable. The introduction of the figure of the caregiver in the life of the elderly has to be a progressive process. In this regard, at Berkowitz Nursing Home we recommend that, if your family member is reluctant to receive assistance, you convince him to try our home care services by the hour. This contact with the caregiver and this mutual knowledge will make him feel comfortable in a very short time, without his presence being uncomfortable at home, but quite the opposite. Good company never hurts.