It’s not easy seeing your parents age. As time marches forward, roles are reversed and often, a child becomes the caregiver for an aging parent. Sometimes all your mom or dad needs is a little helping hand around the house. Agencies like Hands at Home provide a variety of services to make life easier for mom, dad and the rest of the family.
When you see bills piling up, burned pots on the stove and mom’s grooming is off, it might be time to call for help. If your parents are resisting your pleas to bring in outside help, here are some tips that may assist you in the discussion.
1. Patience. Listen to your parents, give them time and don’t gang up on them. If you have a lot of siblings, starting a giant argument only adds stress to the situation. Focus on the positives.
2. Language. Be positive when you speak about home care agencies, such as Graceworks at Home. Use the phrase “personal care assitant” instead of “home health aide.” Graceworks at Home provides servivces as varied as doing laundry and cooking meals to sorting through and helping a client read mail.
3. Start small. Don’t go from zero to 100 overnight. Start a relationship with an agency like Graceworks at Home for small tasks. This allows mom and dad to get comfortable with outside help and helps build a bridge of trust between client and personal care assistant.
4. Assess the situation. Call your chosen agency and have them send someone to your parent’s home for an assessment. This allows you to get acquainted with the care agency and affords the employee a better chance to see how your parent is getting along.
5. Pull the favor card. Finally, if all falls flat and your parent still resists your pleas of outside help, pull the favor card. Tell mom or dad that having outside help would set your mind at ease and that hiring help would be a favor to you. Your parent doesn’t need to admit they need the help as long as someone is there to help them when necessary.
Do you have any other tips that will help convince mom or dad they need a little help at home?
