The personality traits that make you such a great family caregiver may also lead to burnout. While it’s great to be independent and a self-starter, you must also recognize the need to lean on others for support. Asking for help with your senior loved one’s care can help you make it through some of the biggest challenges you’ll encounter as a caregiver.
1. You Need to Rest and Recover from Your Duties
Our society often views resting as unproductive. However, your body and mind both need rest for you to be at your best. Getting support means you can get enough sleep at night and recover from your daily duties. You may even need a day or two off to recover after a particularly strenuous time, such as helping your loved one recover after surgery.
Caring for a senior loved one can be rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming for family caregivers who have other responsibilities they need to focus on. For these families, the perfect solution is respite care. Waterloo families rely on our caregivers whenever they need time to rest, work, run errands, and even go on vacation.
2. Your Loved One May Prefer Privacy
You may be willing to do anything your loved one needs, but he or she may have different ideas. Many seniors don’t want their close family members to tend to personal needs such as toileting and bathing. Ask your loved one how he or she feels about you handling these things, and arrange for professional support that honors his or her wishes.
3. You Need Time to Just Enjoy Being with Your Loved One
You don’t want your role as a family caregiver to interfere with your relationship. Finding someone to provide assistance allows you to have time to simply enjoy doing something special with your loved one. Whether your loved one enjoys doing puzzles, gardening, or reading stories, these shared moments are important for building lasting happy memories.
4. You Need to Maintain a Normal Social Life
In addition to spending time with your loved one, you also need to step out and build a life for yourself. Family caregivers are known for becoming isolated. During your respite time, you can take a class and meet other people with similar interests or enjoy a lunch out with a friend.
Caring for an elderly loved one is a challenging task for anyone. The responsibilities can sometimes feel overwhelming, but help is available. When researching agencies that provide home care, families are usually looking for flexible care plans, compassionate and highly trained caregivers, and 24/7 availability. Whether you need respite care to take a break from your caregiving duties or your senior loved one needs around-the-clock assistance at home, you can rely on Home Care Assistance.
5. You Can’t Be Everywhere at Once
One of your biggest challenges may be trying to figure out how to juggle all of your responsibilities. For example, your loved one may need to go to a doctor’s appointment at the same time your child has a dance recital. With support, you can have someone take your loved one to the doctor or just sit with him or her for safety purposes while you tend to other duties.
6. Your Loved One Needs to See You Happy
Seniors often care deeply about their family caregivers. Your loved one may be your parent or another family elder who raised you since the day you were born. You can expect him or her to pick up on how you’re feeling from day to day. Having support lets your loved one know you’re okay, and seeing that you get to take breaks to pursue your interests may make your loved one feel better about your offer to help with his or her care.
Seniors can face a variety of age-related challenges. Though some families choose to take on the caregiving duties, there may come a time when they need a trusted Waterloo senior care provider. Families sometimes need respite from their duties so they can focus on their other responsibilities, and some seniors need around-the-clock assistance that their families are not able to provide. Home Care Assistance is here to help. Call one of our dedicated Care Managers today at (519) 954-2111 to learn about the high quality of our in-home care services.