Signs that Your Parents Need Caregiving Assistance from Experts

Grownups never really want to depend on other people. May it be because of their ego or wanting to keep their freedom, most people would not wish to burden others for their sake, especially the aging parents towards their children. So don’t expect your parents to directly tell you their need for assistance. As their child who should know them best, the table’s on you to determine their current needs and status.

To help you distinguish the concerning behavior and experiences that your parents may already be taking, here are common signs that point your parents to needing some care and assistance.

Imgsrc: mirror.co.uk

1. Your parents struggling in performing their usual daily activities.

This is probably the most obvious indicator that your parents already need support from you or from others to take care of them. When they start to have a hard time in performing simple actions, there’s no other way but to help them accomplish those “easy” tasks. Those tasks can simply be from walking, eating, and bathing, to toileting and dressing themselves up.

2. Your parents having difficulty in thinking and remembering.

Some indicators that your parents may have weakening cognitive abilities are when they constantly or begin to experience confusion, lose their reasoning skills, have difficulty in recalling names of people they know, and forget things quickly. They may also be unable to complete sentences and unknowingly use repetitive dialogues.

These signs may even worsen when they have already forgotten to perform activities they routinely accomplish before such as regularly drinking their medicine for diabetes. They may also overdose themselves once they forget the right dose to take which is definitely an alarming situation.

3. Your parents having a personality change.

When people start to be incapable of performing tasks and gradually lose their thinking skills, their behavior is also affected from the emotional and physical stresses that are triggered.

To be incompetent than they were before can make them feel disappointed. They may even blame you for their weaknesses and for other unreasonable things you can’t even imagine.

Given these scenarios, elderly parents may tend to be nagging, hot-headed, moody, and just be negative and indifferent about anything and everything. So help them focus more to positive things and strive to continually make them happy and inspired every day.

4. Messy home

Having a messy home may just be because your parents are not clean freaks. But when their home is disorganized in an unusual way, it can be a sign that there is a growing trouble to require more attention.

Signs to check at your parents’ home include carpet stains. Carpet stains are usually caused by dropping or spilling food or drinks. This can suggest that they may already have a condition to unable to hold things properly and steadily, or that they are losing a clear vision or mind to accidentally stain the carpet.

Pots and pans with burn marks may also signify that they have forgotten to close the stove which is dangerous if they live alone or if no one is watching over them; Thus, keeping them company at all times is a must. If the agreed decision is to keep your elderly parents in homecare centers, ensure to visit them frequently so their stresses and worries won’t increase more.

If you think your parents are experiencing some of these signs, it’s not yet too late to talk them over about their state calmly. Remember that they won’t easily admit their caring needs. So plan on how they can realize and accept that being independent is not very effective and applicable anymore.

Allow your parents to think through and decide on what they want to do about their condition, if a caregiver or helper should be hired, or if they are fine in living in a nursing home. But no matter what the actions are to be done, make sure that continuous support and interaction with them will be kept intact, because nothing can give them more happiness and comfort than your presence.  

Author Biography:

Kimberly Marie Gayeta (Kimmy)is a Communications Degree holder, passionate writer, currently working as a local Public Relations Officer and an online Marketing Representative.

Thoroughly fascinated about travelling, leisure, and living the good life!

Follow her on twitter: @kimmygayeta