As seniors age, not only are they more in need of help, but they also have a hard time accepting this too.
It is definitely frustrating trying to convince our elderly to consider companion care, but it is important to know that they might have their own reasons for trying to avoid it.
For instance, they might have a hard time accepting they need assistance, as they might feel useless and purposeless, or they might be fearful of losing their independence. No matter what reason, every elderly deserves companion care.
Here are some tips to convince your parents to allow paid companions for elderly :
Observe and listen to their concerns
The first most important thing to do is to listen to your elderly parents. Sure, they might have their own reasons for trying to avoid companion care. But whatever their concerns and fears are, you must carefully listen to them. When you bring this idea of hiring companion care for your parents, carefully listen to what objections they might have.
Address their concerns
As mentioned earlier, there are numerous reasons why your elderly parents may be denying companion care. For instance, fear that they will be dependent on their caregiver, adjustment issues, fear of the unknown, and so on.
Therefore, before trying other ways to convince your parents into getting companion care, you must address all of the concerns they might have.
For example, if losing their independence is the major cause of this rejection, you must let them know they will not lose their independence.
In reality, they will do everything they’d want, just with a little assistance and someone by their side. You must let them know that accepting elderly care does not mean that they are “giving in”.
Conversation timing
When talking about companion care with your elderly parents, it is important to choose an appropriate time to strike this conversation. It would be totally irrelevant in case you bring this topic up during a crisis, or when your parents are stressed out or anxious about something else.
Thus, we advise you to choose a day and set a time when you can have a normal conversation with your elderly parents. Make it look like an everyday conversation, without sounding controlling or assertive.
Make it about you
Of course, the main purpose of hiring companion care is to have someone trustworthy and reliable to look after and take care of your parents. However, this is not only what you should convey to them.
You must make them understand that hiring a companion has a lot to do with you too. When your elderly parents try rejecting the idea of hiring companion care, let them know how worried and concerned you are because of them. Let them know that their health, well-being, and happiness are your happiness.
Moreover, if you’ve been acting as a primary caregiver, let your parents know how demanding the responsibility of caring for and looking after them is.
You must let them know about the possible long-term consequences to the family if you continue your duties and responsibilities of being the primary caregiver of the family.
You can also let them know how all this is negatively affecting your emotional and mental well-being.
Let them know that having companion care is like having your friend by your side
Companion care isn’t only about looking for the elderly’s needs.
Companion caregivers aim to give companionship to the elderly so that they never have to feel lonely or alone anymore. Thus, you must make your parents understand how this companionship is crucial for them, especially at their age.
As seniors age, they naturally withdraw themselves from the outside world, and they no longer remain as social as they once were. As completely normal as this sounds, this isolation and loneliness can have negative impacts on the emotional, mental, and also physical well-being of any elderly.
Therefore, you must make your elderly parents understand that a companion caregiver is going to be just like their friend- from talking about different topics, playing cards, bingo, going on small strolls in the nearby park, and just giving company. This way, your elderly parents will feel more at ease and comfortable.
Let them test the waters
Another great idea to convince your parents into accepting companion care is to convince them to give it a try for a few days.
You can even convince them to allow companion care to come in for only a few days a week, rather than every day.
If they don’t like it, they can get back to being on their own without any companion caregiver around. Therefore, what you should do is start small.
Let your parents test the waters on their own, and try connecting with their caregiver. This way, your parents will surely understand the need for assistance and will try getting more personal and at ease with the caregiver. Ultimately, they will know you were right all along!
