Aging is hard for most people, and it’s difficult to see people you love get older too. As your parents age, it can mean a lot of change for you and them. Your relationship can change, especially as you might start needing to care for them in similar ways to how they once cared for you. Providing your parents with support is most likely something that you want and need to do, but it can be tricky. Your parents might not always be very accepting of your support, even when it comes from a good place. You need to know what sort of support you can provide and how you can help them to accept what you’re willing to offer. Take a look at these steps to be as supportive as possible.

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Help with Medical Needs

It’s natural for people to have more medical needs as they get older. Older people have an increased risk of developing a range of health problems, although many of them are treatable and manageable. You can help your parents with their health needs in various ways. You might make sure that you encourage them to keep up with appointments and health checks. You can also help out with transport or other practical things like collecting their medication. Watching out for signs that your parents might need medical attention is important too. You could spot something that they’re not aware of or are reluctant to address.

Understand the Difficulty of Change

We can all find change difficult sometimes, but it can be harder to deal with the older you get. When something has been the same for most of your life, facing something new can be tough to deal with. By understanding that change can be hard for your parents, you can help them adjust to new things. This could include helping them overcome hearing aid stigmas so they can see the full benefit of addressing hearing loss. It might mean helping to persuade your parents that they need a little extra help. It could even be time to speak to them about their living situation and whether it’s time for a change.

Provide Support with Finances

Money can become a big concern for older people. They may no longer have a permanent income after they stop working, or might even feel they need to keep working if they can’t afford to retire. Many people choose to support their parents financially in different ways. You might directly support your parents by giving them money or paying for things they need, but that’s not the only option. You can also offer support in managing their money. If you’re savvy with personal finances yourself, you could offer advice, or you could help by arranging a financial advisor for them.

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Stay in Contact

Loneliness is a big problem for many older people, and plenty of them find that their children don’t stay in touch as much as they would like. Staying in close contact with your parents brings a lot of benefits for both you and them. It allows you to keep your relationship strong, and it’s great if you have children of your own who want to be close to their grandparents. It also gives you a chance to keep an eye on your parents and their health and happiness. For your parents, it helps prevent loneliness and can be an important part of staying social.

Help Out at Home

Helping your parents out at home is a good way to offer practical support, and there are lots of different things you could do. For example, you might help them maintain their home by looking for anything that needs fixing. You could help out by getting a cleaner to come once a week so they can find it easier to keep their home clean. Other services can be useful to maintain their home, such as a gardener. Ordering groceries or delivering meals might be a good idea too.

Encourage Healthy Living

Healthy living is always important but can become more so when you get older. Trying to encourage your parents to live a healthy lifestyle can be a little frustrating. They might have the attitude that they’ve earned the right to do what they want, no matter how unhealthy it might be. But if you can encourage them to live healthily, it can allow them to improve their quality of life and maybe even be around for longer.

Giving support to your parents is a great way to show your care and appreciation as they get older and might need more help.

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