What Can You Do if Your Senior Never Seems Happy with You?
May 3, 2018
Some aging adults can become quite unhappy with their caregivers.
There might be valid reasons for this, but until you dig deeper into the issue, you may not know what is causing the problem.
Open up an Honest Discussion
Having an honest talk with your elderly family member about what you’re feeling and what’s going on is essential. Take a deep breath and simply dive in. Let her know that you’re concerned because you don’t seem to be making her very happy of late and ask what is going on from her point of view. Hopefully, she’ll be able to let you know how she’s feeling and why.
Ask Her to Journal about What’s Going On
If your aging family member isn’t sure why she’s acting the way that she is toward you, journaling might help. Writing out what’s happening and how she’s feeling can help her to get to the bottom of those feelings. It’s possible that she’s not upset with you at all. General unhappiness about her situation could be translating to unhappiness with you because you’re the one helping her.
Hire Elder Care Providers
It’s entirely possible that you might not be able to fix this for your elderly family member. Whether you both have issues left over from long ago or there are other issues at hand, you might need to step back. Hiring elder care providers helps to ensure that your senior is getting the care that she needs and that you’re not in the line of fire any longer.
Seek Counseling to Deal with the Issue
If the problem seems to be getting worse rather than better, ask your senior if she’s willing to go to counseling with you. With a therapist there to mediate you might be able to get to the root of the issue. You do need to be prepared for the eventuality that your senior might not want to go into counseling, however. You might want to go on your own, but it’s not a given that she’ll go with you. You can still work through how the situation is affecting you.
If your elderly family member still doesn’t seem to ever be happy about anything you’re doing for her, the problem might not be with you. You might need to simply step back even further from the situation and see what happens. As long as your elderly family member is safe and being cared for, you’re doing all that you can.