Elder Care Needham MA
There are quite a few different types of health conditions that can affect how your elderly loved one is able to communicate with you and how he’s able to understand what you’re saying to him.
Understanding how to work with changing levels of communication can make the process easier for both of you.
Start Waiting for a Response
All too often family members of an elderly loved one are used to getting a fast response. This can be complicated when your loved one needs additional processing time. Your loved one may still be concentrating on the question or instruction or he may be formulating his response. Either way, if you jump in when you don’t get a response, you’re likely going to cause him to shut down altogether. Instead, start becoming comfortable with those spaces in the conversation and let them be.
Break Down Complex Topics or Instructions
When you are talking about something complex with your loved one or you’re giving him a set of instructions, try breaking them up into smaller bits. For example, if you need to leave for a doctor’s appointment, start by letting your loved one have plenty of time to get ready. But instead of telling him that he needs to put on his shoes, coat, and head out to the car, let him know that it’s time to put on his shoes. Then you can move on to the coat and finally heading out to the car.
Use Visual Cues
If your elderly loved one has aphasia, some words and phrases may be more complicated for him. In that case, it may be easier to combine words and phrases with visual cues or even hand motions. This helps your loved one to understand what you’re talking about with a minimum amount of confusion on his part.
Ask for Help
Whenever you run into a communication roadblock with your loved one, make sure that you talk with his doctor to see what else you can try. Your loved one’s doctor has helped countless patients with these same kinds of trouble, so he can be a font of knowledge for you. He may also be able to recommend you to other resources that can give you plenty of help.
Be sure also to talk to your loved one’s elder care providers. They’ve likely learned many different strategies that have worked with other elderly loved ones in the past.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Elder Care Services in Needham MA, or anywhere in Eastern Massachusetts, please call the caring staff at CARE Resolutions – (508) 906-5572.
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