Being a caregiver is all about caring for your elderly family member, but you can’t really do that on your own for too long. Eventually, you’re going to need some help and if you’re responding the wrong way to offers of help, you’re going to stop getting them.

 

Saying No All the Time Isn’t Good

The worst response you might give to offers of help is to say no, especially if someone continues to offer assistance. That’s not a great answer because eventually, people will stop offering any help at all. You don’t have to do it all on your own and, more importantly, you really can’t do everything on your own. At some point, you’re going to need help. Accepting help when it’s offered is the key to getting more help.

 

Feeling Embarrassed Might Make You Say No

One of the biggest reasons you might be saying no could be that it’s embarrassing to need help. After all, you’re supposed to be your senior’s primary caregiver. You shouldn’t really need help, right? That’s a misconception that gets a lot of caregivers into some deep trouble. Don’t let yourself be locked out of assistance that you need because it’s embarrassing to admit that you do indeed need help.

 

Getting Clear about the Help You Need Makes a Difference

If you’re not sure what you need, that makes it a lot more difficult for you to take advantage of the offers of help you’re getting. Take some time and figure out where you need the most help and what someone could do for you that would really take a load off your shoulders. Even if it’s something small, that might still be an amazing amount of help for you.

 

This Takes Practice

This isn’t something that you’re going to master overnight. It’s going to take practice and saying yes to offers of help in a much more conscious way than you might have been doing in the past. Something that might help is to keep a journal of offers of help you receive, how you respond, and how the situation turns out. Looking back and realizing that these situations usually turn out a lot better than you expected can make a huge difference in how you approach them in the future.

Eventually, you’ll be a lot better about accepting help, especially when you need it. That will pay big dividends for both you and your senior.

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a Caregiver in Opelika, AL, please contact the caring staff at Prime Home Health today. Caring for Our Friends and Neighbors in Tallapoosa, Chambers, Lee, Macon and Russell Counties! Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! 334.745.7966