EP120: Aging Parents During Holiday Visits: 4 Things to Check

<p>For adult children who do not live close to their aging parents, the holidays can be a good time to visit to make sure things are good as they seem. In addition to staying connected throughout the year by phone or Zoom calls, a personal visit may give you more information that things are ok – or  confirm any suspicions you may have had that there is truly a problem.</p> <p>Many of these suspicions may be around whether or not your parent – or parents – are becoming more forgetful or if they are becoming more frail and unable to keep up with everything independently. </p> <p>Some parents will ask for help if they recognize they are starting to struggle, but many aging parents will not want anyone to know because it means a potential threat to their independence and/or autonomy. The holidays create a time to get together, and it’s an excellent opportunity for adult children to check in and see how their aging parents are really doing.</p> <p>In this episode of This Is Getting Old: Moving Towards An Age-Friendly World, I’ll share with you four things to look for during your holiday visits this year that may be warning signs that you need to dig deeper to find out what’s going on. </p> <p>I will list them in order of least invasive to most invasive…and keep in mind that you do want to respect the dignity, privacy, and autonomy of your loved one – and these need to be investigated from a place of concern – not to undermine your parents. It’s a thin line, so listen to your intuition if you suspect a problem and engage your loved one in the process as much as possible. </p> <p>Open communication is always the best approach, and you are looking for differences from the last time you saw them.</p> <p>Key points covered in this episode:</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>✔️ Tip #1: Give Them a Hug</strong></span></p> <p>Clues that things are changing aren’t always visible from a distance, so a hug may tell you more without setting off any alarms that you’re concerned about.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt