Why Are Seniors So Stubborn

gizmos16201

7 months ago

Caregivers

Being a caregiver is a challenge many of us are never prepared for, so what does a person experience when taking on this new responsibility? Below are a few things to prepare you for this task, and anyone who chooses to care for the elderly instead of sticking them in a nursing home is a very special person.

Time-consuming
Putting others before themselves
Burnout is extremely common
Physically and emotional health risks
Exhaustion
Fatigue
Isolation
Anxiety
Stress
Often lack the knowledge
Financial stress from medical expenses
Caregivers more often lack a good support system themselves
Caregiver Daily Task App

Knowing what is involved in caring for your loved one is an important step, but even more important is learning how to take care of yourself. You are not going to be able to give them the care they require if you are not your best, so staying healthy is what we are going to be talking about next.

Caregiver Stress Management Tips

Being new to taking care of my elderly mother stress does hit me from time to time, and adds to my mental health and my own health problems. Physically taking mom to her medical appointments can be exhausting, but when you have your own appointments as well this creates even more anxiety and stress to deal with.

Free Mood Tracker Apps
If possible ask for assistance from other family members and friends to give you a much-needed break.
Resist the feelings of guilt, so instead focus on doing your best and avoid beating yourself up.
Doing tasks in small steps with breaks in between
Creating a daily routine
Prioritize what your loved one needs the most at that specific time
Avoid taking on extra family responsibilities, especially during the holidays
Reach out to caregiver support groups
If financially possible research caregiver services that are available
Medical transportation services in your area
Consider meal delivery instead of cooking all the meals on your own
Maybe housekeeping services would benefit you if you are able to afford them.
Search out ways to earn extra cash for medical expenses online, there are many ways to do this which you can do on your own time.
Make a little time for yourself every week by doing something that you enjoy, even being able to get out for 30 minutes per week can be just the break that you need.
A good sleep routine is often the most important stay healthy step to focus on, many caregivers experience sleep problems which will catch up with them eventually.
Staying physically active, possibly joining an exercise class at your local YMCA is a good option to consider.
Be sure you are eating healthy, many people caring for loved ones don’t take the time to eat healthy enough.
Staying hydrated is another important step to remaining healthy.
Regular checkups and consultations with your physician are a must to be the best that you can be.

Being a caregiver you owe it to yourself and your loved one to consult your physician regularly, you must be sure to remain healthy yourself to take good care of your elderly family member.

Caregiver Support Groups

Since we mentioned support groups, I feel it is my responsibility to provide you with some in this guide. We all know how valuable these groups can be, so instead of including the benefits let us go right to the ones that I have found for you.

Seniors is a brand new category of self-help guides on my website, I added this because so many families are taking care of elderly family members. People who are taking care of others are often forgotten, but Gizmo wants you to know how important what you are doing really is.

Stubborn Senior Guide

The reason many seniors become so stubborn is anxiety and possibly fear, whenever your health is taking over your life it is natural for us to become scared. Many of us have taken care of ourselves our entire lives, and losing control of this is another thing that causes people to be difficult to care for.

Patience is a must when caring for stubborn seniors with health problems.
When they begin giving you a difficult time give them a much-needed break.
Being persistent and flexible at the same time will make things go much smoother for you and the person you are caring for.
Easing them into new routines gradually will keep them from becoming as anxious.
Remember many can’t absorb too much information at one time, and this is really a trigger for them to fight you rather than work with you. Confusion creates fear in them, so don’t overload them with too much at one time.
Allow them to feel they have some control over what they must do, no one likes to feel they are being bullied.
Put their feelings first, and never start treating them like a baby that has no control over their daily routine.
There is a right and wrong time for everything, so seriously consider when the time is right for every task.
It is very important that you stay in control of your own emotions, so learning to remain calm as possible is the key to accomplishing more with stubborn seniors.
Finding fun ways to include the care you must give to them will work wonders, try making things more like a game to them than something they must do even if they don’t like it.
Respect them at all times no matter how difficult it might be, what works well with my own mother is me allowing her to be a part of her own healthcare.
Creative problem-solving is another real key to getting more cooperation from them, even though they are not well you can’t make them do things like you can with a toddler.
Consult with Medical Professionals when needed on how to care for them, many of their doctors can point you to good resources.
Making an effort to understand their side as much as possible is going to help more than you might imagine, so putting yourself in their place is something I do recommend.
Often when they are fighting you taking a time-out break for both of you is your best strategy, after they are in a better mood try focusing back on the goal again.

Sadly, there is no one plan that works for everyone. Every person has individual personalities and health issues, Alzheimer’s and dementia are the two most difficult problems. It is much easier to care for someone with physical health problems than mental health problems.

Mental Health Caregiving Guide

Since caring for someone with mental health issues is the most difficult, I felt including this paragraph would be extremely helpful. Remember many times these people will behave like children, but you can’t force them to do what you need them to as easily as a child.

Do the most difficult tasks during the best part of their day, you will find most people have better times that they are easier to work with than other times
Some are morning people and others might be afternoon people, often they lack good sleep which contributes to their stubborn behavior.
With my own mother, I ask her if she wants to do this or that first. Avoid giving them more than two choices, often more will only overwhelm them.
Explain the process with extremely simple words, many seniors with cognitive problems become confused and scared very easily.
I need to turn off the television when caring for my mom, she becomes distracted very easily which only causes things to become more difficult.

Learning how to work with your senior is the key to less anxiety for both of you, if you enjoyed this guide feel free to share it with your family and your friends. Gizmo does provide auto-notifications of all my published articles, if this interests you feel free to sign up, and nothing but my publications notifications will be delivered to you I promise.

Senior Resources

In this paragraph, we are going to learn about some resources for seniors. Assistance programs are important to ease caregivers’ financial burden, so don’t be too proud to check into the list below.

With the five assistance programs, you can get a good start. You will find these also can lead to other programs as well, we are coming close to completing why are seniors so stubborn. My last paragraph provides you easy access to my guide categories, this is just a thank you for visiting my website.

Gizmos Health Guides

Since the age of 35 years old, I have been living with autoimmune diseases. This did have a dramatic impact on my life, once I got to feeling better something inside of me wanted to help others. That is the reason this website was created, and one day hopefully it will be one of your favorite health-related resources.

As this website grows more categories will be added, you see my goal is to provide you with problem-solving guides, and creating more categories will be a great time saver for you. If you happen to be into Pinterest, you are invited to visit the Gizmos self-help board.