What Are the Best Ways to Manage Bad Behavior from Your Aging Adult?

If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a tantrum from your elderly family member, you probably want to avoid one again if at all possible. There are a lot of reasons your senior might engage in this sort of behavior and a few ways you might be able to manage it.

 

Elder Care in Culpeper County VA: Managing Bad Senior Behavior

Elder Care in Culpeper County VA: Managing Bad Senior Behavior

 

Steer Clear of Direct Confrontations

Feeding into the confrontation and the feelings that your senior is experiencing compounds everything. The more that you’re able to steer away from overt confrontation with your aging adult, the better you’ll be able to defuse the situation. Agreeing with your elderly family member might feel difficult to do at first, but it can help keep the conversation from imploding right in front of your eyes.

 

Find Ways Around Common Disagreements

Over time, you’ll start to see patterns in your senior’s disruptive behaviors and outbursts. You’ll learn which issues are more likely to create opportunities for meltdowns, which is good news. That means you can start to learn how to avoid them. You may not always be able to avoid the potential confrontations, but the times that you do will pay off.

 

Talk to Your Aging Adult

When things calm down, talk to your elderly family member about how you feel when she has these types of outbursts. Let her know that you love her, but that you don’t love some of the things that she says or does when she’s feeling triggered. Hopefully, when things are calmer you can come to an agreement about how to handle these situations before they blow-up.

 

Remove Yourself from the Equation When You Can

Sometimes these types of situations can occur because you and your aging adult are spending too much time together. This is another reason that respite time is essential for both you and your aging adult. Take some time away and leave your senior in the care of home care providers for an afternoon or two a week. This allows you to take care of yourself while knowing that your aging adult is in good hands.

It’s important to remember that quite often your aging adult’s worst reactions are not necessarily anything to do with you. If you can stop taking the behavior personally, it becomes easier to manage it.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering elder care in Culpeper County, VA, please contact the caring staff at LivinRite Home Care.
Call Us Today at (703) 634-9991.
Serving Northern Virginia, The Valley, and Surrounding Communities.

Julie McCormick, Co-Owner