Memory issues affect your senior on multiple levels, but they can really make communicating difficult, both for her and for you. Your elderly family member may be used to being able to express her thoughts and feelings easily, so it’s a big deal when she’s not able to do that as well.
Be Patient and Take Your Time
You might be frustrated. Your senior is definitely frustrated. But if you’re both impatient and trying to rush things, then the memory issues your senior is experiencing are just likely to get worse. Take a deep breath and try to remember that your elderly family member isn’t doing anything deliberately. Make sure that you give your senior plenty of time to finish a thought or to formulate a response. These simple steps give your senior a chance to bring her own stress levels down, trust the interaction she is having with you, and hopefully communicate as well as possible.
Be Careful about Filling in Blanks for Her
One of the things you might have been doing without realizing it is filling in the blanks for your elderly family member. Everybody does that now and again, but it’s a technique that can come with some pitfalls. You may not always correctly guess what she’s trying to say or where she’s trying to go with a specific conversation. There are times that she might even shut down out of frustration and then you might have missed something really important from her. This involves patience again and letting your senior guide the pace.
Try out a Variety of Nonverbal Tools and Cues
A lot of people who have memory issues have difficulty with finding the right word when they need it and saying that word in the right context. That doesn’t mean your senior doesn’t know what she’s talking about at all. It just means that communicating is a little more difficult. Try using nonverbal tools, like flash cards or spoken text apps that allow your senior to type what she’s trying to convey. This does a few things. It alleviates the stress of her memory concerns and it also allows her to communicate in a way that gets her point across.
Senior care providers can offer both you and your elderly family member a lot of help with these issues. They’ve got experience helping older adults, especially aging adults who are having more trouble communicating.
IF YOU OR AN AGING LOVED ONE IS CONSIDERING SENIOR CARE IN CLAYTON, NC, PLEASE CONTACT THE CARING STAFF AT SENIORS HELPING SENIORS TODAY. CALL (919) 761-5346.