What To Do When You Notice A Decline

What to do when you notice a health change/decline in your loved one.

Add an extra set of eyes to the equation

This could look like hiring a Geriatric Care Manager to serve as the liaison between your family and the healthcare professionals managing the care of your loved one. Hiring a non-medical, companion Caregiver is another great way to add a layer of social, emotional, and/or physical support to the environment while monitoring for any additional changes. This is an option that has proven to be incredibly helpful and successful for families needing support in this area.

Involve your loved one

This is a great opportunity to begin conversations and involving the individual is more powerful than you may have previously realized. Are they noticing any changes within themselves? Are tasks and daily doings becoming more difficult to manage within their environment? It’s important to involve your loved one on their journey as well. Most often, individuals have a fear of losing their independence as they age or decline in health- involving them in their health care plan is a great way to maintain and honor that.

Get curious and learn what they do/do not want in regard to their future care needs. This will set everyone up for a better experience along the way, and knowing what the wishes are for hospital stays, rehab options, long term planning, etc is beneficial to discuss prior to the event happening.

Gather the Full Picture/Dynamic

It is likely that you are only seeing a fraction of the day-to-day and full picture. When you are not spending 24/7 with your loved one, it is common to miss important pieces to the puzzle. It is also common for the individuals you care for to become dynamic at covering up the severity of their struggle or complications at home. This is not done deceptively; they likely want to maintain that independence piece mentioned above. Understanding what their days look like, and how to improve the safety plus quality of life they are experiencing, will set you up for future success and avoided crisis. Work with a Senior.One Care Advisor to learn what options you have available to you and devise the best approach for you and your loved one to avoid a crisis that is much harder to navigate than conversations that promote proactivity.