Those of us caring for an aging loved one know about resistance all too well. Sometimes it is beyond reasoning and begging to get our loved one to perform the simplest of daily tasks. I’d like to offer a couple of tips I’ve learned over the years to entice your resistant loved one in a positive way.
The perfect time to introduce the event you will need cooperation with, is when someone is in a good mood. We need to use creative ways to entice as well as introduce the action we believe needs to be done.
If you want someone to brush their teeth and they resist you, tell them it is time – it might be the time to bring flowers or a new picture into the bathroom and tell your loved one you want their opinion on it. While there, you put the toothpaste on the brush and say “Since we’re in here, let’s brush our teeth now, so we don’t have to do it later.”
You could almost do the same with bath time – sometimes having a scented candle (of course safely placed and extinguished when you are done) or soothing music playing in the bathroom is another way to get the job done.
Professional Care Managers are a great resource of coming up with creative solutions to problems of resistance. Contact our office to get a creative solution to your specific challenge.