When Is it Time to Get Extra Help for a Senior with Parkinson’s Disease?
Parkinson’s disease often starts out slowly with trembling and involuntary movements. It progresses over time until your senior may have great difficulty with voluntary movement, speech, and more. Many people with Parkinson’s disease are able to live full and active lives for quite a while after diagnosis. But because it’s a progressive disease, that can change and your elderly family member may need extra help. When that happens varies from one case to another.
Talk to Your Senior First
Senior Care Palm Beach County, FL: Parkinson’s Disease
Before you make any big changes, talk to your senior first. If you hire senior care providers without talking to her, that might not go over well. Not everyone wants help, especially at first. This can tap into some of your senior’s feelings about independence and about having a progressive illness that you don’t want to overlook or accidentally disrespect. It’s important to tread carefully.
Approach the Topic Realistically
That said, there does need to be some serious realism in your discussion. What are you able to do to help her? What do you need help with? This also factors in to the decision to bring in extra help. Your senior may still be in the early or middle stages of Parkinson’s but having a little bit of help now might be exactly what you both need.
Gauge How Challenging Life Is Right Now
Is your senior having difficulty now with daily tasks? This issue can sneak up on you both. Parkinson’s can slow your senior down but leave her able to do things in her own time. If it’s suddenly taking much longer for her to do certain things, that’s a sign that those tasks are becoming more challenging than ever. The thing to remember is that those challenges are going to continue to grow.
Start Slow and Small
When you decide together that it is time to hire senior care providers, start out small and slowly. This doesn’t have to mean that someone comes in and takes over everything. There might only be a few specific things your senior needs help with, like getting dressed for the day. Talk to your elderly family member about what’s working and what isn’t, so that you can adjust as needed.
The point of hiring senior care providers is to make your senior’s life as well as your own as easy as possible. When you’re making these decisions it’s important to factor all of these variables in so that you’re doing just that.