Intro:
As your parents age, you may realize that the time is fast approaching where they’re going to need a little bit of help and assistance.
Hey—your parents were there for you when you were a helpless baby.
It only makes sense that you would want to extend a hand to help them as they age and move further into retirement years.
This is their time to reap the benefits of their hard life’s work, and to enjoy all of the great things (and family) that they’ve helped to build over the course of their lifetime.
With that being said, some of this progress can come with some stubborn pride.
And all too often, parents are reluctant to accept help from their children, even if such help is needed.
So in this post, we’re going to explore 5 tips to help your parents accept help, especially if it’s help that’s needed, as they age and get older.
Nobody ever wants to think about their parents getting older and requiring assistance.
But this is a fact of life.
And if you are a child to an aging parent, then it’s really important to understand how to navigate this delicate process to give you your best odds for success.
1. Talk To Them
As always, every major transition in life will need to be facilitated with healthy, positive, productive communication.
Start early with the process of talking with your parents about the plans they would like to make for getting older.
Nobody wants to think about this stuff.
But if you don’t think about it and start talking about it now, it’s only going to get more difficult later on.
It’s always better to keep an open dialogue and to work through the details of a plan so that it can be ready to put in place when the time comes to make the change.
2. Explain How Much You Care About Them
It’s important to let your parents know that these changes (and the help they’re going to require into their older age) aren’t inconvenient for you or a burden on the family.
Explain how much they mean to you, and how much it means to you that they have a safe, happy, and productive life.
After all, they’ve earned it.
This is just a process of you trying to help them figure out what’s best for them— and making it happen.
3. Help Them To Understand The Plan
One mistake that children sometimes make when trying to help their parents is the act of rushing through plans at such a fast rate that their parents can’t really keep up or follow the details.
So take a moment to slow down and really explain the plans on an in depth basis.
This will help your parents to actually understand what’s going on—which will make them more likely to accept the help when it’s needed.
4. Help Them To See Hope In The Future
Sometimes, parents resist change and assistance because they don’t feel hopeful about the future.
And they feel like this process is just the beginning of the end of a stage of life (this can be especially true when taking about retirement care, or even things like Hospice).
This can be a scary thing for anybody—and your parents are no exception.
So it’s always in your best interest to angle this in such a way as to help them see hope for the future, and to understand that all of the changes are a positive thing that will lead to better life for them—both now and in the future.
5. Make It A ‘Family’ Endeavor
Another important thing to keep in mind about trying to get your parents to accept help in their older years is to make it a full family endeavor.
If you involve everyone in it and you make it a family project, your parents are much more likely to be game to cooperate and not to resist the help.
They’ll see it as almost a ‘fun activity’ when everyone’s involved in it—as opposed to some kind of troublesome burden for those trying to help on their own or alone.
This makes a big difference.
Conclusion
There you have it.
5 tips to help your parents accept help.
This is one of those difficult topics that can be a challenge to navigate.
Just make sure to always stay kind, patient, and resilient in the conversation.
Also be willing to listen to their wishes.
Again, nobody really likes to think about this stuff.
But it’s an important thing to think about—not only your future, but also for your parents’ future.
