Many of those with elderly loved ones are worried about how their older relatives will cope during the current crisis.
The ongoing UK cost-of-living crisis means that many people are finding their budgets are stretched. If you’re concerned about your elderly relative and their ability to cope with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, it can be hard to know what to do. Here are some suggestions for supporting an elderly relative during this time:
Communicate
It’s important for your loved one to feel supported at this time, whether or not they are willing to discuss finances with you. If they do not want to talk about their financial situation, it’s okay if you don’t push them. Sometimes people feel ashamed or embarrassed by their situation and fear that others will judge them.
If your loved one is willing to open up about their finances, try these tips:
- Listen without judgement and communicate clearly that you are there for support.
- Offer kind words and encouragement—they may need help finding the right words to say what’s on their mind!
- Ask questions about what they think about the situation and how they feel about it. This will help you understand where they stand on the issue at hand and what their concerns are.
Offer Practical Support
Providing practical support to your elderly loved one during the cost-of-living crisis could take a wide variety of forms. As well as helping with budgeting and managing bills as mentioned earlier, you could talk to your loved one about whether they would like some help with things such as:
- Helping around the house with tasks such as gardening instead of them paying for the service
- Accompanying, or doing the food shop for them to ensure they get the best value for money from their food budget
- Checking their boiler or heating settings to make sure things are working optimally so they’re not spending unnecessarily
- It would also be worth looking for ideas to help reduce energy bills at home.
Check in regularly with local social services, community support workers and government agencies for assistance
- Government agencies may be able to help you with advice on means-tested benefits, social care, council tax and housing benefit.
- Local authorities can also provide support for elderly relatives who may not be eligible for these programs but still need extra help.
You should also talk openly about money matters without being embarrassed or ashamed of the situation you are facing. If your elderly relative has dementia or other mental health issues that prevent them from understanding the cost-of-living crisis, then it might be necessary to talk openly about these issues so they can understand what is happening around them and why changes need to be made in order for everyone involved to survive financially through this period of uncertainty.
There is no doubt that the current cost-of-living crisis will be difficult for many people to navigate, with older and vulnerable people often being disproportionately affected by rising prices. Whether it’s assisting an elderly person with finances or simply being present when they need to talk, we hope that this blog has given you some ideas on how you can support your vulnerable loved one during this difficult time.
