When you are looking after an elderly person, it is rather difficult to decide what is best for them. If you are the primary caregiver, you are solely and entirely responsible for the well being and health of the individual you are caring for, which make it tough for you to take decisions regarding their welfare. If that senior person is a family member, this makes the situation harder to handle. You have known the person for a really long time and it is rather easy to remember how the person used to be, prior to their mental and physical disabilities. This may affect your judgment. There is one thing that you must have no difficulty in deciding - their independence. Regardless of whether the family member has physical or mental disabilities, you must always ensure that their independence is given high priority. When it comes to caring for elders, there are two main techniques related to their independence. Here, the former one being promotion, and the latter being maintenance. Make sure you do everything that you can to promote and maintain the level of independence of any senior citizen whom you are caring for. Promoting independence involves encouraging these elders to do as many things as possible for themselves, regardless of whether it is greeted with reluctance or a plain stubborn attitude. Maintaining independence is the act of ensuring that any enthusiasm to do their own things is encouraged and to check if they are in a suitable position to stick with that willingness. Maintenance and promotion of independence can provide a feeling of achievement to the senior citizen and may even stop them from losing hope in life. In their eyes, they are no longer dependent on someone as they are now capable of doing things by themselves, no matter how small the task may be. Even if they require supervision, it will not affect their enthusiasm. If a person has a caregiver to handle all their tasks it will result in loss of ability to do things by themselves, and in some cases, this can lead to a feeling of aggression towards the caregiver. A feeling of futility and helplessness can cause violent reactions due to their inner frustration, and this anger will be focused on their closest person - you! Check this A Place for Mom Website Have a nice day