Advocating for someone else (and sometimes even yourself) may not be a natural thing. However, with effort and practice, you will be able to navigate and help get the benefits and services needed for your loved one.
Growing your role as the advocate for your loved one is part of the caregiving journey. Learn along the way, it may not be easy and can sometimes be time-consuming. Below are some of the fundamentals needed in being a good advocate.
Be an effective communicator
Getting the best care for your loved one requires getting help from family and friends, healthcare providers, lawyers, community services and more. This means being able to form relationships and communicate well with lots of other stakeholders is really important and a key skill in advocating for your loved one’s needs.
You also need to learn to listen, observe and communicate effectively with your loved one in order to understand their needs. Practice patience, respect and looking at them directly with care and kindness. Ultimately, you as the caregiver will be the key person to understand, assess and advocate for getting your loved one the best care and services.
During the early stages of dementia, your loved one will be better able to communicate their needs and wishes when prompted by you. As the cognitive decline progresses, it becomes more important to improve your observation skills and pick up on non-verbal cues to notice shifts in their health, abilities, moods, safety needs and desires.
Being a good advocate means honoring what your loved one wants but that’s not always easy or right in every situation and so you will need to judge where you need to adjust as new information becomes available.
Try and discuss with your loved one what their wishes are for any treatment, procedures or care decisions in advance. This helps make sure you know what your loved one wants and will make difficult decisions easier to make in the moment.
Learn to listen, observe and communicate with your loved one so that you can understand their needs. You will need to also consider the whole picture as your loved one may not be capable of understanding the full extent of the problem or their decision. If you are having trouble communicating with your loved one take a look at our course on Communicating with your loved one for some practical advice and if you’re still stuck then get in touch with us and we can help guide you or give your strategies for how to approach this kind of conversation.
When you have discussed your loved ones wishes you may want to document them in a formal Living Will. More on that in the Legal section.
Dig into the research
Figuring out the needs of your loved one and mapping out a plan necessitates spending time researching and gathering information. The more you know the better able you will be to make an assessment and outline possible solutions and options. Learn about your loved one’s diagnosis, common symptoms and what might change. Investigate different care options as well as products and services that can support dementia care. The Lizzy app is full of advice and guidance for dementia care. Should you need any other help or guidance please get in touch and we’d be happy to help.
Plan ahead
Caregiving takes good planning. Both in the short term by sorting out the daily and weekly routines, as well as in the long term understanding what is ahead and what adaptations you will need to make to best support your loved one.
Be persistent and proactive
Channeling your energies and voice to take action on behalf of your loved one is hard. Never give up, you have purpose and belief in your cause.
Look after yourself
Caregiving takes a toll. To be the best advocate for your loved one you also need to look after yourself. If you’re getting stressed or worked up, try and mitigate that by giving yourself a break. Don’t be afraid to reach out to others for help.
