Apr

Video: How To Have A Conversation With Your Parents About Care

Jennie Bardrick • Read 630 times

how to have conversation with parents about care

Where to start with care?

Do you have a loved one who you feel may need some support but you don’t know where to start? Maybe you are concerned they are lonely/not eating/personal hygiene declining/struggling with shopping or housework.

Have a ‘difficult’ conversation

It can be challenging to bring up the topic of care with your parents, but if you focus it on what’s in it for them then they may be more open. Talking about care is something it is all too easy to ignore. However the problem with this is that often there is some kind of crisis which occurs, and results in the family needing to quickly take action to get care in place. Getting a care package setup could take around two weeks, and therefore in a crisis situation this can add to the stress in an already challenging situation. For these reasons we really believe that it’s important to have the tough conversations when your parent is happy and healthy, so you can be clear about what their preferences are and have the right conversations that make everyone happy.

difficult family conversations

Picture: Have the tough conversations when your parents are happy and healthy

Focusing on the benefits

The simplest way to have these conversations is to focus on the benefits to your mum and dad when thinking about care. For example, care in the home may mean that they have the ability to stay independent at home for longer, and prevent them being moved out of the home that they are so familiar and happy in.

A benefit may also be that they will enjoy a little bit of company and companionship. Often this can bring positive health and wellbeing outcomes to our clients and reduce loneliness. Finally, a great benefit we find is the peace of mind the family gets from knowing that their loved one is safe and well each and every day.

Introducing care slowly

We would recommend introducing your mum or dad to care slowly. It can be quite daunting for someone to go from having no care at all, to having someone in their home 3 times a day, morning, noon and night. Sometimes this is unavoidable if there has been a significant change in someone’s needs. However if you have the option, it is great to introduce them to care with a ‘little and often’ approach. What you will find is that as your parents build up relationships with their carer(s) they will begin to gain trust and start to enjoy the company - this is what we have found from experience.

To find out more about home care please contact our office on 01708 609 364 or email havering@radfieldhomecare.co.uk