Balancing multiple health issues is not as easy as you think it might be. Most of the time small changes in one area can send something else out of balance and then you’re starting all over again. So how can you stay sane?
Talk to Your Senior about Her Priorities
Talk to your elderly family member openly and honestly about how she wants to prioritize her health. The health issues that you might feel are most important may be less of an issue as far as she’s concerned. Having this conversation allows you to know for certain what your senior wants to focus on most. Everything else can flow out from there once you know what your senior feels is most important.
Stay up to Date with Research
Research is something that you’re going to need to do more often. Multiple health issues can mean that there’s always something new to learn and to try in terms of new treatments and lifestyle approaches. Even if you and your senior don’t want to try every new therapy, treatment, or option that pops up, it helps to know as much as you can about as many of them as possible.
Make the Best Decisions Possible with All the Information You Have
As you’re collecting information, talking to your senior’s doctor, and including your elderly family member in these discussions, you’re likely going to feel as if you’re missing things. Remember that you’re doing the best that you can, and therefore making the best decisions that you can make, with all of the information you have available. If you’re beating yourself up, that’s going to slow you down and make you second guess everything that you do.
Don’t Try to Do it All on Your Own
If you’re trying to do everything on your own, you’re going to burn yourself out way too quickly. Enlist the help of home care providers to increase what you can do. They’ve got experience in helping caregivers and aging adults juggle all of the tiny details involved in keeping someone as healthy as possible. They may even have some ideas that can help you to feel more organized and on top of everything. You’re also going to need to take some time just for you and senior care providers can ensure that you do that without feeling guilty or as if you’re leaving your senior on her own.
Balancing multiple health issues is never an easy thing to do, but it’s something that you and your senior can do with patience and with help from other sources.
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