Tips on Dividing Senior Care Responsibilities Fairly

Dividing Adult Care Requires Patience, Empathy, & Collaboration

At Griswold Home Care of Miami-Dade, we understand that caring for an aging/ailing parent is never easy. Hopefully, you have a team of siblings, loved ones, and family willing to work collaboratively. Sharing senior care responsibilities can be a lifesaver.

At the same time, splitting up responsibilities between siblings and family members can be a challenging task. That’s why creating a detailed and transparent care plan is so important. Today, we’re here to offer some pro tips on distributing caretaking responsibilities to mitigate stress and optimize benefits for everyone involved.

The Importance of Sharing Tasks

First and foremost, we recommend creating a care plan detailing every task. Common caregiving responsibilities include:

• Driving to medical appointments
• Helping with household chores
• Prepping meals
• Running errands
• Managing medications
• Providing emotional support

Once this outline is complete, discuss which responsibilities work best for everyone. Sometimes, you will have overlapping preferences and priorities. In these scenarios, we recommend rotating your tasks to maximize fairness. Don’t hesitate to speak your mind, but remember to empathize with your family’s personal situations, capacities, stress tolerance, and point-of-view.

Taking care of aging/ailing parents can be stressful for everyone involved. The more you work together, the more successful you will be. Most aging parents will be healthier and happier when they witness their children collaboration fluidly with one another. No elder wants to feel like a burden. You can reduce this burden by divvying up responsibilities wisely.

Communicating Openly, Proactively, & Often Can Make a Profound Difference

Effective communication is one of the most critical components of successfully balancing caretaking responsibilities. It is critical to relay:

• Health updates and concerns
• Recent observations on mobility, memory, etc.
• Unfinished chores, errands, and household tasks
• Future doctor appointments and planned events

Co-caregiving requires synergy on multiple levels. Maintaining an open line of communication will help you avoid confusion, disagreements, and misunderstandings! It will also help you connect and build camaraderie. Staying in touch is crucial to mitigating conflict, grudges, and tension that will only exacerbate the already challenging task.

We also recommend devising a care plan, funeral arrangements, and power of attorney agreements for various health scenarios and crises. This advice is especially true if your parents choose to age-in-place despite dealing with chronic or underlying health conditions. The more you prepare ahead of time, the easier it will be to tackle difficult tasks when they eventually emerge.

Don’t Forget to Prioritize Your Parent’s Well-Being

Always remember to value and emphasize your parent’s overall quality of life. Sometimes, this central priority can get lost in the shuffle when juggling caretaking responsibilities. Never lose sight of how unsettling it can be to transition into old age. Elders must adapt to a series of limitations – physically and psychologically. The gradual decline of mobility and cognitive faculties can be scary and frustrating. Creating a united front will help boost their morale.

Showing TLC and providing attentive care can significantly improve your parent’s outlook and mood. If possible, allow your parent to make decisions for themselves. Retaining autonomy and independence can boost their mood, self-worth, and sense of dignity. Don’t be shy to seek support or assistance from doctors and outside sources if you believe your parent might be resistant toward helpful health advice. Many seniors are more cooperative when they know a professional has been consulted with their best interests in mind.

Support One Another Emotionally & Practically

Co-caretaking also entails helping family members and siblings with daily tasks. There are many circumstances where helping a sibling is the most effective support you can provide. Sometimes, you may be able to assist indirectly by taking care of a sibling’s errands and chores while they take care of your parents. Don’t hesitate to drop a meal off at your sibling’s home or to pick up your niece/nephew from school.

Flexibility is essential when it comes to co-caregiving. Unanticipated situations and setbacks are bound to occur when many moving parts and family members are involved. Try to be understanding and accommodating when unexpected obstacles arise. Brainstorm ways to adjust your schedule instead of pointing fingers or blaming one another. Remaining mindful and attentive to everyone’s needs will help you alleviate stress and panic when things go awry.

Be Kind to Yourself & Others by Asking for Help

Sharing caretaking responsibilities is one of the biggest challenges of adulthood. It can be stressful for everyone in varied ways. The best you can do is lead with compassion, patience, and honesty. Taking care of an elder requires teamwork, sacrifice, and selflessness. It is equally important to value your mental health and well-being. Staying on the same page and sharing the workload as equally as possible are integral to managing the situation effectively. However, keeping count of who’s done what can have detrimental effects. Try to designate tasks fairly while also forgiving family members when they cannot help.

Of course, we also realize that many caregiving situations involve lone caregivers. In such circumstances, receiving professional support can be even more integral to juggling workloads. It is critical for lone caregivers to find enough self-care time to avoid burnout, sickness, and fatigue. Whatever your situation, Griswold Home Care of Miami-Dade is here to help! We refer professional caregivers who can provide much-needed respite and recovery, fill-in for vacations, and cover for special events.

Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for external assistance if you’re in need of help! If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to care for an elder as well. Fortunately, our franchise specializes in pairing caregivers who provide in-home care services. The caregivers we refer can assist with personal care, companion care, respite care, 24-hour home care, Alzheimer's/dementia care, Parkinson's care, and much more!

Want more information on our professional caregiving services? Contact us today at (305) 400-0766 to learn more about our elder care options!