Strategies for Families to Distribute Caregiving Duties
Caregiving for your elderly parent can be incredibly demanding and emotionally taxing. Many times, the responsibility requires family members to come together in a coordinated effort.
6 Tips for Sharing Caregiving Responsibilities
Sharing caregiving tasks helps ensure that your parent receives the best care possible, while also preventing caregiver burnout. Here are six helpful tips for distributing the caregiving load amongst you and your siblings or family members.
Identify Their Care Needs
Work with your family members to figure out exactly how much care Mom or Dad requires. You should try to start the conversation early on, before your parent’s health declines dramatically or an emergency pops up.
Divide Tasks
Once you have a clear picture of your parent or parents’ needs, you can start creating a plan for their care that makes sense for everyone involved. When planning, consider each family member's strengths and skill sets, as well as how close they live to your parent. For instance, if one of your siblings is good with numbers, they can take over bill paying, bank statements, and budgeting, while someone who lives in close proximity can assist with day to day activities like cleaning.
Need ideas for splitting up tasks? The National Institute on Aging has a helpful worksheet for coordinating caregiving duties among family members.
Create a Schedule
Staying organized is essential for family caregivers. Use a tool such as a shared calendar to make sure everyone in the family is aware of daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.
Have Regular Check-Ins
Over time, factors such as your parent’s health and family members' availability are likely to change. Hold regular meetings with your siblings to assess the current caregiving arrangements and decide if the schedule needs to be changed or updated.
Be Prepared for Emergencies
Your senior parent may experience a medical or other emergency. In this situation, family caregivers will have to act quickly. Ensure everyone has a list of emergency contacts, medications, and your parent’s health team information on hand to avoid scrambling when a situation arises.
Get Outside Support
It’s normal for families to feel spread too thin from time to time. Don’t hesitate to seek external help if you begin to feel burnt out. It’s a good idea to connect with area support groups, where you can get advice and find emotional support from others in your position. Additionally, in-home respite care can be a helpful option when you need a break from caregiving.
Respite Care from Visiting Angels Can Help
As mentioned above, respite care with Visiting Angels Arlington Heights is an important lifeline for families in need of professional assistance caring for their loved one. It’s necessary for you to step away from caregiving duties on occasion to tend to your own obligations and enjoy a much-needed break. During this time, a friendly and experienced Visiting Angels caregiver will step in to provide dependable assistance, including errand running, meal preparation, help with hygiene, and other activities of daily living.
To learn more about respite care and our other in-home service options, please fill out our contact form or give us a call at 847-963-8944 today.