Helping your Elderly Parent Break the Smoking Habit

Just the name of this article may send shivers down a caregiver’s spine. Break my elderly parent’s smoking habit? You mean the one they’ve had for 50 years? Ah. Sure. And that response is more than understandable. After all, how many times and in how many ways has it been said that you can’t change other people, only yourself.

Elderly Care Lexington NC – Helping your Elderly Parent Break the Smoking Habit

As Mark Twain so succinctly put it: “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.” But this is also known: businesses are overflowing with ideas and techniques that are designed to incentivize their employees. So, think of it this way, you are practicing the art of incentivizing your parent to want to quit smoking.

Long-term Effects

Everyone knows that smoking can lead to chronic bronchitis and emphysema, diseases now defined under the umbrella term COPD. They also understand that it is the main contributing factor for lung cancer. The world has watched on as pictures scroll across the internet of people carting oxygen tanks behind them stop to light a cigarette. Just last March, an 83-year-old man died in his home in Chicago due to a fire that ignited while he was smoking and using an oxygen tank. That is the strength of this addictive habit.

Smoking, however, doesn’t just damage the lungs; it damages other parts of the body as well. Atherosclerosis, or narrowing and hardening of the arteries, results and ultimately leads to heart disease, strokes, kidney disease and even dementia.

How to Help

Your elderly parent probably already knows the negative effects of smoking. Because of this, they’ve probably tried to quit several times, all to no avail. So how can you, as a family caregiver help? Think of the jobs you’ve had—what techniques did they use to help you want to be a better employee? What incentives did they offer?

It’s safe to say that positive reinforcement accompanied by encouragement and praise were much greater tools for incentivizing than criticizing or condemning. Keep this in mind as you develop incentives for your elderly parent.

Now think of the activities they truly love to do. Going to lunch at their favorite neighborhood café? Browsing through a multitude of antique stores? Spending an afternoon at the local museum or botanical gardens? Whatever fills your parent with joy are the motivating factors you can use to help. Quit for a week? Lunch. Another week? Gardens. Another week? A spa weekend. While change takes place one day at a time, having something to look forward to can create the necessary impulse to reach for the celery stick instead of the cigarette.

Smokefree 60+

This government sponsored website will help you help your elderly parent. It is loaded with tips, tools and techniques as well as expert advice such as what to do when withdrawal symptoms hit. It provides an online “build your quit plan” as well as online support.

Resources:  http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/03/04/man-smoking-with-oxygen-tank-sparked-fatal-fire-on-nw-side/
https://60plus.smokefree.gov/

If you or an aging loved one are considering Elderly Care Services in Lexington NC, please contact the caring staff at Tender Hearted Home Care today. (704) 612-4132.