Home Care Aides: Ways to Help Mom Feel More Comfortable with a Home Care Aide
Home Care Aides Your mother may not be the most comfortable in certain situations.
All of us have certain environments or circumstances that cause us anxiety, doubt, or discomfort. There’s not much you can do to help your mother avoid them, but when it comes to relying on home care aides, there is a lot you could do to make a difference (or at least help her feel more comfortable with the change).
Elderly Care in Marietta GA: Home Care
Home Care Aides: Remember, change can be difficult for anyone to accept.
The best thing you can do is separate yourself from the emotional moment and instead listen more closely to whatever your mother is saying at the time.
Below are a few specific things you might be able to do in order to help your mother feel more comfortable with a home care aide.
1. Make sure your mother is ‘on board’ with this.
You might have been the one to bring up home care as an option, but what was your mother saying about it? Sometimes people don’t come out and directly oppose certain options. They might ask questions or try to avoid the conversation.
If your mother isn’t okay with this, remember that it is still her choice. Don’t try to force this upon her. If you force this, she could resent it and miss out on some of the incredible benefits home care truly offers (that you likely already know about).
2. Have her sit in on interviews.
If you hire through an agency, you might depend on their expertise to determine the best home care aide for your mother, including personality and schedule, and experience. However, if there is an interview process, be sure to include your mother in this.
That will help her feel as though she still maintains some level of control in her life. That could be a vital aspect of being comfortable in this transitionary period.
3. Be there on that first day, if you can.
Depending on your schedule or where you live, it might not be practical or possible. But, wherever it is, try to be there with your mother on the first day the home care aides begin working with your mother.
That will offer her some level of comfort. She could lean on you, get to know the caregiver and what to expect, and not feel like she’s swimming in unfamiliar waters without a life vest.
You can be that life vest simply by being there.