Caregiving Tips For New Caregivers To Seniors

You may or may not have expected one of the biggest challenges you may face in your life: That of caring for an aging parent. A little bit at a time, you may have been able to implement care strategies and plan ahead if a gradual decline was affecting your loved one. On the other hand, immediate care was likely needed as a result of a broken hip, a serious fall, a sudden stroke, and more.

It can be overwhelming to jump into the role of caregiver. To see that your loved one is properly cared for, what steps do you need to take? With your already full life, how are you going to fit this in? If you need help, to whom can you turn?

Here, we're going to offer a number of caregiving tips to lessen the stress and strain on you, as a caregiver.

Situation Assessment

Take a look at precisely what your parent needs before you jump in headfirst. If your parent’s cognitive functioning has not been impacted, you should definitely consult with them.

Consider the following questions:

• How does the budget of your loved one look? Will they be able to tap into certain funds? To help cover costs, can they rely on a family member?
• Do other housing options need to be explored, or changes made in their home? Will your loved one be able to age in place safely?
• Do they need a specific type of assistance? To help with daily living activities, do they need someone to assist them? Is food delivery something they require or could benefit from? To physical therapy, medical appointments, and to run other errands, do they need transportation?
• Is long-term or short-term assistance needed?

Planning

You'll be able to develop a plan of action once you've assessed the situation. What activities will be done, and how frequently? Will your loved one need short-term or long-term assistance? A plan should be developed and scheduled. Have the entire family sit down and work together.

To make caregiving run smoother, consider the following:

• Work together to decide how and when a move to an assisted/independent living community will be done, if applicable.
• If you need outside support, how much will you use and how long will you need it?
• Set up a schedule. What tasks need to be outsourced and which ones can be handled by family members?
• A decision needs to be made as to who will handle benefits and services research. A timeline needs to be established.
• For physical therapy appointments, medical appointments, and for various transportation needs, create a shared calendar.

Most Common Caregiving Tasks

The following tasks are most commonly required when a loved one needs assistance. Discuss who will be doing what and when:

• Personal care needed by your loved one (feeding, dressing, bathing).
• Transportation
• Maintaining and cleaning the home of your loved one.
• Accessing the funds of your parent to complete tasks such as shopping, bill paying, etc.; and, of course, the completion of those tasks.
• If caregivers need to be overseen and or hired, who will do that? Who pays for it? How often will outside help be used and what are the expectations of such a person/service? Who will decide this?
• Cooking

This is just to get you started. There are lots of other tasks that need to be considered.

The Best Caregivers for Your Loved One – The Caring Professionals at Conservatory At Plano

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