Getting the Support You Need as a Family Caregiver

Caregivers in Norwood MA

When many people think about family caregivers they imagine adult children who go to their parent’s home every day or at least several times each week to help them with their basic needs. They go grocery shopping for them, help them with their personal care tasks, provide transportation to doctor’s appointments, keep their home clean, and give them the support and companionship that they need to maintain their mental and emotional health. For approximately 11 percent of the family caregivers throughout the United States, however, this is not the true nature of their caregiver journey. For these caregivers, care is at a distance, presenting greater challenges and requiring additional planning and organization to handle it effectively.

Being a distance caregiver means being in the role of a family caregiver but living far enough away from your aging parent that you are not able to be in the home with them on a regular basis. This can mean living a couple of hours from your senior, or being across the state or country from them. Being at a distance from your aging parent can be stressful for your aging parent, but it can also be extremely difficult for you. One of the most important things that you can do to ensure that you are able to be the highest quality caregiver possible for your senior is to get the support you need from the very beginning of the journey.

Support is important for any caregiver, but if you are caring from a distance you are likely to experience greater feelings of stress, anxiety, and guilt. This means that you are going to need to get all of the support you can from the very beginning of your journey so that you feel emotionally prepared and equipped to take on the challenges before you.

The first place to seek the support you are going to need in this journey is your family. Allow your partner, your children, your siblings, and others to encourage you, offer their advice when you ask for it, and just act as a safe place for you so that you can express your emotions, vent your frustrations, and voice your concerns. Even if your family is extremely supportive, you should also seek out a caregiver support group. These groups are designed for caregivers to find support, encouragement, and advice from those who have already experienced many of the same things. This means that you can not only have a neutral place to express yourself but also feel strength in numbers and benefit from the guidance of people who know what you are experiencing and can help you make difficult decisions and beneficial arrangements to improve your care efforts.

If you are a family caregiver and have been struggling with being able to fulfill your care efforts effectively, now may be the ideal time for you to consider home care for your aging parent. A non-medical caregiver acts as a continuation of the care that you give to your parent, ensuring that all of their needs are met effective, efficiently, and respectfully. This ensures that you can know your parent is getting everything that they need to stay safe, healthy, and comfortable as they age in place, and that you can have peace of mind as you continue to care for your senior from a distance.

http://www.aarp.org/home-family/caregiving/care-guides/long-distance-caregiving/