During my very first session with a coaching client, she said: “I’m not lying to my husband. Everyone tells me it’s okay to fib. But that doesn’t feel right for me.”
Because I know my client values honesty, I always double-check that strategies we create to manage her husband’s challenging behavior due to his Alzheimer’s diagnosis feel right to her. I’ll ask her: “Given how important honesty is to you, how does this strategy sound?”
Every family caregiver is different, which is why it’s so important we understand what will work for each family caregiver.
In an article published over the weekend in The Wall Street Journal, a reporter describes the lengths a family caregiver went to in order to remove her parents from an unsafe situation. With help from friends, she led her parents to believe they could no longer live in their home because of a broken water main. The daughter then moved her parents into assisted living.
After moving in, her parents never asked to return home. Her daughter lived with them for the first month, ensuring they adjusted and settled in.
In the article, I shared with the reporter that the daughter’s commitment to living in assisted living with her parents for a month demonstrates her desire to keep them well.
I also shared my own experience of telling my mom she couldn’t return home after a rehab stay. I broke her heart. That conversation happened more than 10 years ago but I remember the look on my mom’s face like it was yesterday.
Our carees want independence. We want them safe.
Sometimes, ingenuity accomplishes both.
What do you think?
(Image by Sunny Sunflower from Pixabay)
Resources
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Want to know what it costs your community when family caregivers don’t get the help and support they need — and stop spending within their communities?Calculate the impact here: careyearsacademy.com/caregiving-resources/tools/costs/