Just about every single one of us, as long as we’re honest, has been agitated at one time or another in our life. Most of us tend to get agitated on a regular basis, either daily, weekly, or monthly. When someone you care about, an elderly loved one, requires any form of senior care and they are approaching the end of their life, they may become increasingly agitated, depending on their health, pain levels, and more.
How can you handle these situations?
The first thing for any senior home care provider, be it a family member or paid professional, is to remember that you’re there to serve the elderly patient. You’re not there for your own benefit (hopefully not) and you’re not there to just ease some guilty conscience you may feel if you aren’t there.
You are there for the elderly individual. You are there to help support the patient, ensure his or her safety, and to give them what they need. You may end up feeling like a punching bag, though. You may feel insulted and angry and you certainly may want to retaliate when they say or do something to hurt you. When you feel that urge, that’s when you should step back, take a deep breath, and try to understand what the patient is going through.
Facing the end of life can be much different from one person to the next. Some will experience a lot of pain and fear. Some will be calmer and more at peace. For those who are struggling to accept what is happening or are in pain, they may lash out at others, causing pain to even those that they care about the most.
When this happens, if you can’t separate yourself from the situation then you need to step back and potentially allow someone else to provide senior home care to them. The closer you are to the patient emotionally, the more the agitation and anger is going to affect you personally. That is the quickest way to escalate any insults or angry words into much more.
Consider hiring professional senior care services. It will be better for you and the elderly patient to have someone with experience and without an emotional connection to the patient or the situation to intercede. Also, an experienced senior care provider will likely have more experience on how to quell the agitation and help the patient deal with the approaching end to care in a more constructive and healthy manner.
If you or an aging loved one needs senior care in the Fair Oaks, CA area, remember Senior Home Care Services for all services needed. Call us at (916) 514-7006 for more information.
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