Hi Chealsea here with solution for seniors podcast.

Before I get started, I want to thank Home Helpers of Bourbonnais for sponsoring Solutions for senior podcast. If you or your loved ones are in the Kankakee or will county area call home helpers at 815-401-5527 for all your home care needs. You can also visit their website at homehelpershomecare.com/kankakee

On this weeks episode I’m going to be talking about denial in out aging loved ones. Elderly decline is a natural, but unfortunate part of life. Decline in physical and cognitive function is an inevitable part of growing older, making day-to-day life increasingly difficult for our aging loved ones. It can come to the point that decline makes it unsafe for our aging loved ones to continue living without support, either from a senior home care agency or a family caregiver. Decline often goes hand-in-hand with denial. Declining in our aging loved ones is stressful for them and on their families and many of us use denial as a coping mechanism. But we need to be careful, although denial about decline in our aging loved ones care needs is common, it’s also dangerous.
To avoid this, we need to start by understanding denial and senior care. None of us are immune from denial about our aging loved ones decline and the care that they are needing. Denial can affect their spouses, siblings, children, grandchildren, and friends. denial from a single person is what undermines senior care. Other times, an entire family is in denial, creating a particularly difficult situation. While denial is difficult to overcome, with a greater awareness of how denial works can make it easier to recognize denial in ourselves or others.

Here is some information that may help you better understand denial, how it relates to elderly decline, and how it can compromises senior care efforts for our aging loved one.

· Denial occurs when a situation is too distressing for a person to accept. By minimizing or ignoring the problem, the person can avoid its emotional consequences.

· Short-term denial can be healthy, as it gives a person time to emotionally process traumatic information. For instance, it may give an elderly adult the chance to subconsciously process the fact that they won’t be able to live on their own without assistance.

· Denial becomes unhealthy if it continues long-term, or if it prevents urgently needed action. In cases of elderly decline, it can mean that a person does not get senior care services they desperately need.

· Signs of denial include ignoring signs of a problem, treating signs of a problem as insignificant, or rationalizing reasons not to worry about signs of a problem.

· It is extremely difficult for a person to recognize that they are suffering from denial or to convince them they are in denial, but the condition is often obvious to outsiders.

Have you noticed signs of denial about elderly decline and the need for senior care in your loved one, a family member, or even yourself? If so, there are strategies you can use to overcome it.

When dealing with another person in denial, it’s important to avoid anger or judgment whenever possible.

Although denial can be tough to overcome it is possible. Getting care to our aging loved one as soon as we see decile is important for their safety and health.

Join me next week for another episode of a common challenge we all face while helping our aging loved ones. Stay safe and well.