If your senior’s brain is starting to function differently than it used to, she may find that it’s much more difficult to deal with challenges. One of those is incontinence. Having a plan for dealing with both incontinence and cognitive difficulties can make life easier for both of you.
Find Ways Around Resistance to Incontinence Products
Many people with cognitive difficulties are sensitive to words used when describing incontinence products. Calling incontinence underwear a diaper can have some extremely negative connotations that your senior may want to avoid. Referring to those items as if they were regular underwear can help. It’s also important to make sure that these products are your senior’s only underwear, especially if she’s determined to avoid wearing them.
Make Sure the Products She’s Using Are Right for Her
One reason for resistance when it comes to using incontinence products is that they’re actually not working well at all. If you suspect that’s the case, it’s important to do some testing. Find the right size and type of product for your elderly family member’s needs. This can almost immediately reduce any of the resistance that she’s still feeling.
Schedule Bathroom Trips and Make the Bathroom Easy to Find
Another problem with cognitive difficulties and incontinence is often that bathroom visits are not something your senior might think about. She may also be missing the cues that tell her that she needs to go to the bathroom, which can cause an accident. If she forgets things more easily when stressed, she may even forget where the bathroom is when she needs it the most. So, it’s important that the bathroom is always easy to find and that your senior is taking regular trips to the bathroom, even if she thinks she doesn’t need to go.
Develop Coping Strategies When an Accident Does Happen
It’s vital that you have a plan ready to go for accidents, because one is going to happen at some point. Staying calm about it is going to help your elderly family member to stay calm, too. Make sure that you’ve got products on hand to help your senior to get cleaned up and keep a spare set of clothing handy if you’re leaving the house. Don’t make a big deal out of it and your senior is less likely to make a big deal out of it.
If you’re not able to be there with your elderly family member, then home care providers can be a huge help. They’ve got experience assisting aging adults and their family members with issues related to both cognitive issues and incontinence.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering home care in Englewood, CO, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare today. Call us at (303) 756-9322.
