As Father\u2019s Day approaches, families up and down the country will once again gather to catch up, sometimes after many months apart. Whilst for the most part this is an enjoyable occasion, the combination of different generations of family gathering together and having a rare opportunity to chat also has a tendency to lead to some of the most difficult subjects being broached.<\/p>\n
Delicately bringing up sensitive personal issues with family members is always tricky. Whether it is asking your son if he has a girlfriend, querying the amount of alcohol a relative drinks, or encouraging granddad to move into a care home, family gatherings are ripe for embarking on the \u2018awkward conversation\u2019.<\/p>\n
One such awkward conversation stems from children and grandchildren being shocked by an older relation\u2019s state of health, having not seen them for some time. They may agree to resolve the situation \u2013 but how to do so sensitively is difficult, especially when those concerned will not acknowledge that they need help. Common problems such as restricted mobility, leading to poor personal care or risk of injury, need swift resolution \u2013 but the hows and whys prompt more awkward discussions.<\/p>\n
Many people understandably prefer to defer thinking about\u00a0 until they become a serious impediment to their daily routine. Pride is prioritised over acknowledging a problem \u2013 and then problems can be exacerbated and resolving them becomes more difficult. The irony is that in avoiding addressing an issue at an early stage, the ill or infirm reach a point when a solution is forced and options are more limited. Less disruptive choices such as \u2018future proofing\u2019 a home with adaptations or in-home care no longer seem viable.<\/p>\n
So, for all the temporary friction caused by raising health and mobility concerns with elderly relatives, the earlier the issue is addressed the more likely it is that a simple resolution can be found. So on Father\u2019s Day don\u2019t be afraid to embark on those awkward conversations that no-one else has raised, during a quiet moment after lunch. You can rest assured that others sitting around the table are thinking the same \u2013 and a problem shared is always a problem halved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Father\u2019s Day approaches, families up and down the country will once again gather to catch up, sometimes after many months apart. Whilst for the most part this is an enjoyable occasion, the combination of different generations of family gathering together and having a rare opportunity to chat also has a tendency to lead to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,36,37,1,31,6,32],"tags":[113,102,104,110,112,109,111,100,103,107,106,108,105],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-home","category-independent-living","category-latest","category-lifestyle","category-mobility","category-personal","tag-awkward-conversations","tag-care","tag-fathers-day","tag-future-proofing","tag-health-and-mobility-concerns","tag-health-issues","tag-in-home-care","tag-mobility-2","tag-parent","tag-poor-personal-care","tag-restricted-mobility","tag-risk-of-injury","tag-sensitive-personal-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1037,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions\/1037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvermarque.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}