Burden is a word that is used when the task ahead or the task which has been undertaken is difficult. Caring for an aged parent can be an uphill task, and it can be seen as a burden. This burden can be exacerbated especially when the life style that each member has may be overwhelming.
Here are points to consider when looking after aged parents:
1. Look at the parent’s actual physical condition.
It is important to assess the parent’s condition and see what are the basic requirements that they will need in this age. What happens most of the time is that the adult child is unprepared for the ailments of the aged parent and tries to manage with no support from medical teams or physical support of managing the home. Understanding the requirements of the aged person is extremely important. As you take steps to understand them and provide the necessary help, it will ease the mind of the adult child and it makes the aged parent feel understood and taken care off. However, a crucial aspect that is not to be side lined is the fact that aged parents have feelings too and it is important to understand what they are going through in the process of taking care of them.
2. Emotional needs are as important as physical needs.
Another crucial need to be met is their emotional health as well. Emotional health for the aged is essential to explore. Getting them to open up and speak about their emotions will help them to wade through these times in a much more practical manner. Regularly asking them how they feel and caring for those needs will help the aged to function better. They will feel they are heard and understood.
3. They may get insecure with the death of their friends.
As they go through life, other friends and aged counterparts will pass on and that will cause a sense of helplessness which is important to address. Their own awareness that death is something they will soon have to face is also a difficult aspect to go through. Even as they dabble with these thoughts, it is important to hear them out and give them an open space to talk about these emotions even if it is of death.
4. A feeling of loneliness is bound to happen.
It is natural that aged parents will feel lonely as they won’t be able to relate to
anyone in the home. Everyone is busy with their own schedules and often this is the age group where everyone might ignore. So, loneliness will set in where they feel they can’t relate to anyone in the home. It will affect the thought process of the aged person and soon it will start to affect their physical health as well.
5. Forgetfulness is a given.
Aged parents are also prone to forgetfulness. This can prove to be difficult for caregivers. Having to repeat information continually will affect them and they may become frustrated. It is essential for caregivers to understand that and allow them not to feel threatened for forgetting. Therefore, dealing with them gently is crucial and pertinent.
Caring for the aged is exhausting and often considered as a thankless job. What can help a caregiver or the adult child is the thought that that all of this is coming from a heart of love.
Love combined with confidence and knowledge can help the caregiver to move through this period more realistically.
However, it is good to have some practices for yourself to be physically and emotionally whole:
֎ Prioritize exercise
֎ Have friends that you can share and talk to.
֎ Get help from support groups.
֎ Engage in some recreational activities.
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