Is Your Phrasing Keeping You from Getting the Help You Need from Other Family Members?

Getting the help that you need from your loved one’s other family members isn’t as easy as it might seem at first. Often family caregivers find that they’re inadvertently contributing to their family members saying no more often.

Avoid Hints Completely

It can be really difficult to ask for help. Especially when you feel that as your loved one’s primary family caregiver you should be able to handle everything without any trouble at all. Start writing down how you ask your other family members for help. You might start to notice that you’re hinting a lot about what you need and what your loved one needs. It’s time to drop the hints completely.

Be Open, Honest, and Clear

When you’re asking for help, it’s best to do so in a way that is honest, open, and crystal clear. Saying that you need help at a certain time on a specific day with a task for your loved one allows the person involved to understand that you’re asking for them to participate. There’s no question about whether you’re just sharing information or not.

Be Specific about What You Need

It’s good to be open and clear, but you have to also be specific. It’s not enough to just say that you need help in general. Let the family members in question know that your loved one needs transportation to an appointment, for example, or that you need someone to cover for you while you take some time away for an afternoon.

Be Open to Other Alternatives

Even when you master asking for help from your other family members you might still find that you’re having trouble getting the help that you need. That’s because your other family members can’t always provide the help that you require. That’s when having other options, such as access to senior care providers, can really come in handy. You’ll have another alternative in order to fall back on when you need help the most.

How you phrase your requests for assistance to your other family members can make a tremendous difference in whether they volunteer to help or not.

If you or an aging loved one are considering senior care in Plainsboro, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care of New Brunswick today. Call (732) 607-8870.