A Comprehensive Guide to Communicating with Your Aging Parent

Your mother and father, if you are lucky enough to still have both physically present in your life, are pillars of respect and unwavering love.

Just as they nurtured and cared for you as you transitioned from a young child to a teenager and into adulthood, as your parents get older, it is now time for you to care for them, ensuring both their physical and mental health and wellbeing are both at an optimum.

With that being said, here for your information is a comprehensive guide to communicating with your aging parent.

Respect

Naturally, you would hope that you have always treated and will always treat your aging parent with the upmost respect that they both deserve and need.

As your parent gets older, it is more than possible that they will start to become more and more forgetful and less focused in conversation and direction and it is absolutely crucial that you never berate them, make them feel inferior, or confuse them more.

It would also be prudent to mention that, when conversing with your aging parent, if you begin to detect warning signs of more than just a normal memory loss or level of confusion, then it may be time for them to consider moving to a prestigious and renowned assisted living CT community.

Laughter

Believe it or not, laughter therapy is actually a scientifically recognized form of therapy for patients who are suffering from feelings of stress, anxiety, and general feelings of low mood.

There are numerous benefits to laughter, so it is important to encourage laughter and humorous stimulation in each and every conversation with your aging parent.

Benefits of laughter include, but are categorically in no way limited to:

• Laughter triggers the beneficial release of endorphins in the brain
• Laughter improves blood flow and function
• Laughter decreases hormones related to stress
• Laughter is a great reliever for stress and tension
• Laughter diffuses conflict and anger
• Laughter increases the number of antibodies that fight infections
• Laughter decreases the presence of stress hormones

Listen

Often, in any communication with a fellow human being, it can be natural and somewhat automatic in conversation to simply wait until the other person has finished speaking before you can speak and put your point across.

When conversing and communicating with your aging parent, it is absolutely vital to actively and actually listen to not only what they are saying, but the context and possible hidden meanings and subjects behind their statements and observations.

The importance of listening to an older loved one can never be overstated and will actively and directly improve their state of mind and sense of wellbeing. Not only will listening to your older parent improve how they feel but older people in general have a fantastic world perspective. You should treasure the moments you have with your parents, and learning about their childhood and their past will be mutually beneficial.