Senior Care Communication

If you have made the step to provide senior home care for a loved one, but it doesn't seem to be working out well, consider whether or not the issue may be as simple as communication. Your care provider may be reporting something that doesn't match up with the reports you receive from your loved one. There are a variety of situations that can lead to communication problems.

The reduced ability to hear as aging occurs may be one contributing factor. Perhaps your loved one can still hear, but the words received aren't as clear as they once were. If both the stories of your provider and your loved one contain discrepancies, consider that these differences may be coming from a reduced capacity in hearing. You can have your loved one tested and if this proves to be the case, there are hearing aids that can assist with this problem.

Is your loved one taking any medications that may affect their memory, or cause some confusion? It can be frightening to hear that your loved one says their care provider didn't feed them lunch. However, if your care provider can demonstrate that your loved one wasn't denied a meal, consider that the medication may have caused some confusion for your loved one.

Conditions that affect the brain can also cause communication problems between your loved one and their caregiver. Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases are a few examples of conditions that may require specialized care. If you care provider isn't well trained in these areas, it can lead to communication issues.

If you still have concerns, you can initiate contact on a daily basis with the care provider you have hired for your loved one. You can take some time to visit the home unannounced to see how the day is progressing. Take some time to observe how your family member and the caregiver are interacting with each other.

Written communication can also help to improve any existing communication issues. If there are speech limitations, consider developing hand signals that will help the patient communicate with the care provider. If abuse issues aren't suspected, a communication specialist can be employed that will provide your loved one and the caregiver with a variety of communication techniques.

As in our own daily lives, we experience communication problems with our spouses or co-workers, a certain amount of communication issues should be expected. However, it is always wise to be diligent when it comes to the concerns of your loved one. The communication issues might be as simple as a lack of compatibility between the care provider and your loved one.

Obviously, you want to make sure your loved one is received the best services available when it comes to senior home care. If the communication issues aren't eliminated after taking into account these considerations, it could be time to make a change in the care provider.