Senior citizens tend to grumble more as they age, and family members are the ones who have to deal with the constant complaints about the most trivial issues. Regardless of the efforts made to make life more comfortable for them, the constant complaining and negativity may never stop and may even take a toll on one’s mental health. However, no matter how draining it is, you may continue to try to match up to the seniors’ expectations in order to please them.
Negative emotions in seniors can be caused by a variety of factors, and it is your responsibility as a family caregiver for your elderly parents to learn how to cope with these factors and negative attitudes. Here’s what you can do.
1. Help them achieve a positive outlook toward ageing
Growing old has always been negatively associated with becoming frail and useless, as well as having to slow down in many areas of life. This transition from being a valued member of society to a seemingly old and dispensable person can introduce loads of negative emotions and make the elderly feel depressed all the time.
To help your ageing parents lead a happier retirement life, encourage them to take on a more positive outlook on ageing and help them to achieve wellness in different aspects of their lives, including cognitive, physical, emotional, spiritual and developmental health.
2. Bring them for a checkup
If your elderly parent has been a negative person for the majority of their life, this could be the result of an underlying psychological issue that needs to be addressed by a professional. However, if there was a sudden change in this personality, take your parents to a doctor to check for any changes in their health to uncover any potential medical problems such as a Urinary Tract Infection, medication side effects, or neurological conditions such as dementia.
Dementia is a broad term that represents a variety of cognitive decline diseases that include symptoms such as difficulty remembering things, thinking, or making decisions. It is a degenerative disease that worsens over time if not treated properly, and studies have shown that it is associated with depression and anxiety, both of which can be the source of negative emotions in seniors.
Dementia care requires a significant amount of patience and effort, and family caregivers may lack the necessary skills or knowledge to assist seniors in coping with dementia – it may well become an intense and emotional journey as you helplessly watch your ageing parent lose his or her memory and skills.
If providing proper dementia care is challenging for you, you can tap on dementia day care services provided by elderly nursing homes in Singapore, where a trained dementia care team can help seniors with dementia build confidence and regain independence through positive, personalised programmes.
3. Help them find connection and purpose
Seniors tend to lose their sense of purpose as they age, and this loss of purpose can have a direct impact on their psychological well-being and how they perceive growing old.
ge is only a number and it should not prevent anyone from attempting to achieve new goals. Work with your elderly parents to help them find a purpose in their old age, such as fulfilling a long-held dream, taking up a hobby, or volunteering at a charity. Staying active and allowing the brain to think can also help to prevent cognitive decline diseases such as dementia – helping them find their sense of purpose is also great for dementia care and can help with slowing symptoms.
Caring for Seniors Living with Dementia
As your loved ones enter a new phase of life, living with dementia, it is important to discuss how you and other family members can help to provide support to one another, as well as dementia care for your ageing parents, so that no one is left to deal with the problem alone. Be extremely patient in all that you do, and take steps to slow the progression of symptoms. Having a daily routine can also help dementia patients feel less confused and afraid.
Also Read: How Can I Care for a Person with Dementia?
Whether you’re dealing with an overly negative senior or a dementia patient at home, you must be extremely cautious about what you do and say in order not to trigger even more negative feelings in them. Especially with parents dealing with dementia, it is crucial to be gentle at all times, and to help them to slow cognitive decline.
As an alternative, dementia nursing homes in Singapore offer dementia day care services to support you, your family, and the senior person through coping with dementia. You can use these services to ease the burden on your shoulders.
Orange Valley is Singapore’s leading nursing home operator offering comprehensive eldercare services to help our seniors age comfortably. Visit our website to find out more about our dementia care services.