February is International Expect Success Month, which is technically a business holiday. It was started as a holiday to remind people to look within to find hidden elements that could lead to success, which is actually a great mindset for everyone, including your senior. Helping your elderly family member to expect success can remind her that there’s still a lot that she can do to achieve her goals.
Get an Understanding of Your Senior’s Goals
Until you and your senior understand her goals fully, it’s going to be very difficult to put a dent in them. Is she determined to stay in her home for as long as possible? You need to know that to help her. Sit down and have a thorough conversation about what she wants from this stage of her life. This can be a tough talk to have, but it’s a crucial one.
Help Her to Determine What She Needs to Get Where She’s Going
Once you know what she wants, you can start to see what your senior needs in order to achieve those goals. She may already have help from you and from other family members, but is it enough? Often it isn’t and your elderly family member needs a lot more help than either of you really suspect. Senior care at home could make all the difference in your elderly family member being able to remain in her home rather than moving.
Put Those Solutions in Place
Don’t wait when you have some idea what’s going to help your senior to get where she wants to be. The sooner you bring in elder care providers, for instance, the better. Your elderly family member may need more time to adjust to senior care at home than she thinks. Having that space to adjust can help her to relax into her new normal.
Do What You Can to Anticipate and to Resolve Obstacles
As your elderly family member’s needs, life, and health change, that’s going to throw obstacles in the way of her goals. Her goals may even change because of those experiences. It’s important that you and she stay on top of what is working for her and what isn’t so that you can make changes to her care plan as needed.
When you and your elderly family member are putting the right tools in place, it’s a lot easier for her to not only expect success but to achieve it.