In 2014, Forbes took a closer look at senior care. One thing that was discussed was how 11 million of the 18 million older adults in the nation were getting some form of help at home. That means 7 million were not.
While some seniors are perfectly capable of being at home alone, others hesitate to admit they need help. An average of 33 percent of seniors don’t have anyone they feel they can ask for help. Where does your mom stand? Would she ask for help if she needed it?
Why Would Your Mom Refuse to Ask for Help?
Many seniors are embarrassed to admit they’re finding it harder to do things that were once so easy. It’s hard enough dealing with the aches and pains of arthritis, but she may dread having to admit that she’s struggling to walk up stairs or climb in and out of her car.
It could be that your mom fears that asking for help will be a loss of independence and privacy. If she doesn’t ask, she won’t have to let someone else take over the things she used to do on her own. It might keep her from having to allow a stranger to come into her home.
Denial can be another factor. If your mom denies anything’s wrong, nothing in her world will change. She’ll still maintain her same routine and habits without anyone stepping in and telling her she can’t do things that way.
How Can You Convince Her Otherwise?
Start by seeing if she has any friends that have home care services. If she can talk to people she trusts about caregivers and what it’s like, she may be less hesitant. You may have to expand the net to neighbors or seniors at a local senior center, but the more people she can talk to, the more she’ll start to see that caregivers are not a bad thing.
Next, ask her if she’d be willing to just do a trial run. Arrange to have a caregiver come one day a week for a few weeks. See what she thinks. She’ll find that it’s easier to remain confident when you’re aging at home when a caring person is helping out.
As she becomes comfortable with caregivers, you can increase services to the level that makes her, and you, happy. Make sure she is part of the process so that she doesn’t feel like you’ve taken over all control.
Your mom may have reservations, but if she needs help, caregivers are an ideal solution. She’ll have help on a regular schedule rather than waiting until someone shows up. Arrange care services from caregivers by making a call.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2014/10/08/nearly-half-of-all-seniors-need-help-with-daily-activities-far-more-than-we-thought/#68bf395c5692
if you or an aging loved one are considering caregivers in Lone Tree, CO, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare today at 303-953-9924.
