What Can You Do if Your Senior Is Failing to Thrive?
Adult failure to thrive is a term that describes what happens when older adults begin to become frailer, emotionally withdrawn, and don’t seem to be doing well. Your elderly family member may have a specific health issue that might create these situations, or there may be nothing solid you can point to. Regardless, it’s important to take some action as soon as possible if you’re seeing these types of changes.
Document What’s Happening
It’s really difficult to know what’s working and what isn’t if you’re not keeping accurate track. Journaling about what’s going on helps you to document your senior’s food intake, her activity levels, and her moods. There may be other things you’re documenting, too, like whether she’s isolating herself or not. This information helps you to make sure that her doctor and other care providers are aware of what’s happening.
Talk to Your Senior about What She’s Experiencing
There’s more to what’s going on than just the facts you can quantify, though. Talk to your elderly family member about what she’s experiencing and about what she feels she needs. You might be surprised to hear from her what she wants and what she thinks could help her to thrive. Small changes may have more of an effect than you might believe.
Do What You Can to Keep Her Socially and Mentally Active
Social and mental activity has so much more to do with how someone thrives physically than most people realize. It’s important that your elderly family member is staying socially connected with the people that she loves. Help her to figure out the easiest ways to do that. Look also for ways to keep her brain going and engaged.
Consider Other Living Options
It’s also possible that your elderly family member needs a different living situation than the one she’s currently got. If she’s been determined to age in place, that may not actually be the best option. Assisted living options or living situations in which home care is easily accessible may be the better answer. Senior placement services can be incredibly helpful in discovering quickly which solution is the best one for your senior and which location is right for her.
Being a family caregiver is difficult when things are going the way that you expect them to. When your elderly family member is experiencing health issues that don’t have a cause that’s easy to see or to manage, that makes everything that much tougher.