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Caregiver Tips: Welcoming Guests on Visit Your Relatives Day 

Caregiver in Ashland OH

Emotional support and maintaining strong social relationships is extremely important to the health and wellbeing of your elderly parents. Helping them to stay in touch with their friends, neighbors, and, particularly, their loved ones is an important part of focusing their elderly care plan on total wellbeing. As a caregiver, your primary goal should be to help your aging parents live the highest quality of life possible, so make an effort to boost their spirits and maintain family relationships on May 18 as you celebrate Visit Your Relatives Day.

For many elderly adults, time spent with family lessens as they get older. Whether it is because the family is growing and spreading out or just because your senior parents are less mobile due to their physical and cognitive limitations, when the family stops getting together often, the relationships can suffer. Making an effort to get together more often preserves familial bonds and gives your aging parents important emotional encouragement.

Getting the family together can be a major feat. This is only exacerbated by having a senior with physical and cognitive challenges. Careful planning and preparation, however, can make the experience less stressful and more enjoyable for everyone.

Use these tips to help you prepare for having family members visit your elderly loved ones for Visit Your Relatives Day:

• Do not overwhelm them. Suddenly having a house full of guests, even if they are members of the family, can be overwhelming and even frightening for seniors. Be careful with the number of relatives you invite over to the home so that each can actually spend time with your elderly parents. If you have a large number of relatives in the area, consider inviting them over in waves throughout the day, setting aside specific times for each group.

• Host a potluck. Trying to plan food for the entire group just adds stress to your planning. Host a potluck so that the guests contribute dishes or drinks and everyone can relax and enjoy a casual meal together. Be sure to check with everyone about what they plan to bring so they are no overlaps and so you can supplement with your own dishes.

• Refresh their memory. If your elderly parents have memory loss, refresh their memories about their relatives before the visit. Show them pictures of the relatives who are going to visit, remind them of their names, and refresh their memory about their family connection. This is especially important if there are very young children or new spouses. Even if your parents have difficulty remembering their relatives, visiting with them can boost their mood and make them feel special. This time with them also creates memories for the family.

• Have help. Even though the intent of the visit is to let your aging parents spend time with their family members, you cannot expect to spend all of your time caring for your parents. You will want to talk with your relatives and enjoy the visit. Get in touch with the elder care agency in your area to ask about hiring a home care provider to offer additional support and assistance during the visit so you can feel confident they are safe and comfortable.

If you are considering hiring caregiver services near Ashland, Ohio, call the caring staff at Central Star Home Health at (419) 610-2161.  Providing services for families in Mansfield, Lexington, Ashland, Bellville, Crestline, Galion, Loudonville, Mt. Gilead, Shelby, Wooster and the surrounding areas.

Stephen Sternbach

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