When you’re caring for elderly relatives, it can create a lot of fluctuating emotions. It can be really difficult watching an elderly relative struggle to do everyday things they were once so capable of doing. While providing help and assistance for the more practical aspects of their lives is invaluable, it’s important not to forget about their emotional needs too.
It’s often difficult for elderly relatives to accept the fact they need a little more help. It can feel like their independence is being taken away and that produces a range of difficult emotions. If your loved one is struggling, here you’ll discover how to emotionally support elderly relatives and help them regain some of their independence.
Understand how they are feeling
In order to support your elderly relative emotionally, you need to first understand how they are feeling. The simple way to do this is to ask them. Elderly people often feel like they aren’t listened to, or that now they’ve gotten older people treat them more like a child than an adult. So, simply asking them how they’re feeling and if there’s anything they’re struggling with emotionally can be more helpful than you might realise.
If they’re not very open about their emotions, you can always pay attention to the struggles they have. For example, if they struggle with incontinence, they may feel embarrassed and start to isolate themselves. Similarly, if they have trouble with mobility, they could feel frustrated and again keep themselves shut off from the outside world. Once you know how they are feeling, you can work out how to best support them.
Help boost their mobility
Mobility is one of the biggest challenge’s elderly relatives face. Whether it is trouble walking around, or whether they struggle to keep their balance; mobility issues can be really frustrating and difficult for elderly relatives to come to terms with. However, there are some things you can do to help.
Installing aids in the home such as ramps and grab rails can really help. You can also help to promote their independence by investing in a scooter from a company such as Mobility Solutions. Being able to get out of the house can make a massive difference to their wellbeing.
Help secure their property
Another thing that can affect an elderly relative’s peace of mind, is security. So, why not put their mind at ease by helping them to improve security around the home? You can invest in clever security systems, add locks and chains to the doors and provide an emergency calling button in case there is an emergency while you’re not there.
Overall, looking after an elderly relative’s emotional needs is extremely important. Often, it’s the emotional challenges which can reduce the quality of life for older people.