What Can You Do When Other Family Members Are in Denial?

By Andy Niska | June 7, 2018 |

If you’ve ever had family members share with you just how far in denial they are about your elderly family member’s health, you already know how powerful denial can be. It might be a useful coping mechanism for them, but it doesn’t help you or your aging adult at all.

Elder Care in Spokane WA: What Can You Do When Other Family Members Are in Denial?

Denial Is Very Common.

You might not realize it, but denial is extremely common for family members of aging adults with health problems. It gives them a way to cope with what they’re feeling and thinking. In fact, denial can be so very comforting that some family members may not want to leave its warm embrace. You can try to help them leave denial behind, but that doesn’t mean that they will.

Try to Stay Calm, Even if You’re Frustrated.

The very first thing that you need to do is to remain as calm as you possibly can. If you allow your frustration and your irritation to lead the conversation, it’s not going to go as well as you’d like. If possible, try to remind yourself that this is a way to protect themselves from the situation as it really is. Put yourself in their shoes and try to talk to them how you’d want someone to talk to you.

Keep Information Handy about Your Senior’s Health.

Something else that you might want to consider is keeping information handy that can help other family members to understand your senior’s health conditions. Whether it’s a book about specific health issues or an article you’ve printed out, sometimes seeing information in black and white can help to break down that barrier of denial.

Find an Expert to Explain Things.

Some family members might see you as just another family member, even though you’re a caregiver who has educated yourself about the best ways to care for your elderly family member. It’s not necessarily fair, but some of those family members might respond better to information from your senior’s doctor or even from elder care providers about what is going on. The mental block here is usually that you’re not a health care professional and other experts have more experience.

Ultimately, you may not be able to do much about your family members staying in denial. They may be actively keeping their denial alive because they don’t want to cope with what’s going on. You may have to leave them to their own choices.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elder care in Spokane, WA, please contact the friendly staff at Love at Home Senior Care, today. Call (509) 204-4088

Author
Recent Posts

Andy Niska

Owner at Love In Home Senior Care

Andy has over 20+ years experience in the medical community and has a true compassion for seniors. With a degree in Health Care Administration, he developed a background in a variety of health care services that only comes from first hand experience. While working as a manager of a large clinic and as an account executive for medical suppliers. Andy has built valuable relationships with the medical community.

His role in Love In Home Senior Care is to educate people on what care choice is the best fit for the senior and their family while attempting to make this decision as stress-free as possible for everyone involved.

This decision making process should be smooth and stress free for everyone, including all family members and their loved ones. Having access to people with experience (like the team at Love In Home Senior Care) to assist you along the way can help this process. With an extensive background in health care, Andy has the experience needed to guide and direct your loved one to the choice that is the best fit.