Those of us who get into Eldercare know that there are some days which are easy-peasy and light, there are some days which make you feel like a very bad dream, and there are some days which fall right in between.
It is no simple task taking care of an elderly person.
Seriously.
What looks like a routine of basic tasks becomes double the effort and triple the time when it comes to the elderly.
No fault of theirs, of course- it is just one of those things- and how well the day goes depends very much on the decision of the individual.
If the elderly determines to be easy-going, fuss-free, jovial and warm-hearted, the task becomes easier, allowing both elderly and carer to chuckle their way through.
But more frequent it is that we find ourselves interacting with elderly who have worked hard all their lives and hence decide they *shall* be crusty, grumpy and insistent upon their (set) ways because heck, they deserve it.
That, then becomes quite a thankless chore, especially if the elderly person is going through a Mood of a day.
The safest thing for the carer to do is to avoid.
But since we all know that is impossible, it becomes necessary then to exercise as much cutesy humor as possible, balance it with a bit of gruffy seriousness when required, and be firm, straight to the point, and creative all at the same time.
I might be exaggerating, of course, but really, creativity, a bit of drama, and humor can go a long way when it comes to coping with eldercare. It works for them, it works for the caregiver too.
We had an errand to run this afternoon. The errand was no issue- it went smooth- not much waiting at the neighborhood bank- thankfully- but halfway through the elderly (Miss Brown's hubs) suddenly realized there was a need for pain plasters.
You know, the kind of plasters that you stick on achy parts of your body and let the infused herbs soothe the muscle aches away.
Not just from any brand, mind you, other brands weren't as effective as the brand he'd always been using, so best thing it would be if we could get the plasters from said specialized brand.
That in itself would not have been an issue, except for the fact that the brand didn't distribute their plasters in any other medical shops, and there were no stores in the neighborhood we were in.
So I did the next best thing.
Stepped into one of the neighborhood medical shops, got permission from the counter lady, snapped zoomed-in pictures of all the pain plasters that were on display, whatsapped them to the carer who was with the elderly, and got the elderly to choose.
The technique worked.
There was a bit of grumbling, of course, on his side (ya lah, I know lah, that brand is the best, but the nearest store very far away from here, you know, and I don't own the stores, so what can I do) but after some deliberation, the elderly selected several packs of the pain plasters that are in the last picture.
I think they're working quite effectively.
There've been no complaints. :D
Not just from any brand, mind you, other brands weren't as effective as the brand he'd always been using, so best thing it would be if we could get the plasters from said specialized brand.
That in itself would not have been an issue, except for the fact that the brand didn't distribute their plasters in any other medical shops, and there were no stores in the neighborhood we were in.
So I did the next best thing.
Stepped into one of the neighborhood medical shops, got permission from the counter lady, snapped zoomed-in pictures of all the pain plasters that were on display, whatsapped them to the carer who was with the elderly, and got the elderly to choose.
The technique worked.
There was a bit of grumbling, of course, on his side (ya lah, I know lah, that brand is the best, but the nearest store very far away from here, you know, and I don't own the stores, so what can I do) but after some deliberation, the elderly selected several packs of the pain plasters that are in the last picture.
I think they're working quite effectively.
There've been no complaints. :D