Arthritis: It can be so difficult to watch your senior’s arthritis become worse and more painful for her to manage.
There are things that you can do for her that can help to make her life easier instead of more difficult. Avoiding misunderstandings is an important part of the process because that can easily derail everything that you’re trying to do for her.
Learn as Much as You Can about Arthritis
There’s a lot to learn and to know about arthritis. It’s a complex illness, and your senior may have a variety of different symptoms depending on the type of arthritis she has. The more information that you have, the better you’ll be able to understand the challenges your senior is facing.
Listen to Your Senior’s Experience
Whenever she’s willing to share, listen to what your senior’s experience is with arthritis. It’s different for everyone, and your senior is likely to have good days and bad days. Even when you’ve learned a lot about arthritis, don’t assume that you know exactly what your senior’s experience is.
Ask What You Can Do to Help
Before you jump in to do things for your senior, ask her what you can do to help. Let her have control of the situation by having control when she can have it. This reassures her that you’re not trying to take over or reduce her independence at all.
Try to Avoid Being Too Protective
It’s second nature to want to protect your senior from situations that could be painful, either physically or emotionally. But when you’re too protective, your senior might lose some of her abilities more quickly than she would have otherwise. Let her do what she can do for now.
Find Solutions that Work for Your Senior
That said, there are definitely times when your senior is going to need help. Hiring a caregiver to give her expert assistance can be a very good idea. This is especially true if you’re trying to be careful about hovering and doing too much for your senior. A caregiver can be an excellent compromise for you both.
Your senior may have arthritis, but that doesn’t mean that her quality of life has to suffer. Work with your elderly family member to find the solutions and the assistance that she needs most. When you do that the right way, your senior will be much more accepting of that help.
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring Senior Care in San Diego, CA, or the surrounding area, please contact the caring staff at Love 2 Live Care. Call Today 1-619-291-4663