How to Care for Your Aging Parents.

Family caregiving is a responsibility people all around the world have embraced and practiced for a long time.

We assume the role of taking care of our parents at home who have become seriously ill, have had a tragic accident or retired. We offer our unconditional love, support, energy, time and resources.

Caregiving is rewarding. It offers us the opportunity to spend more quality time with aging our parents, make amends, settle our differences, and return their gestures of providing for us when we were little.

However, caring for your aging parents can be just as stressful as or even more stressful than raising children. Most people find it difficult to balance personal life or work and caregiving responsibilities.

If you’re one of them, then my practical guidelines will help you manage your caregiving responsibilities.

• It’s OK to seek and ask for help. Don’t feel guilty to ask other family members for a hand. If things get tougher, consider getting extra help. Be specific and spell out the kind of help you need. Instead of saying, ” Becker, stop by this weekend if you have time” rather, say, ” Becker I need you to buy some fruits for mama this weekend“.
• Always make time for yourself. Stick with your hobbies and interests. And, while you attend to the needs of your parents make time for your children and partner.
• Protect your health. The stress of caregiving can hurt you and increase your odds of developing health problems such as depression. Eat well, exercise often and have quality sleep.
• Get caregiver training. Enroll in a short caregiving program and acquire some basic skills and knowledge about how to go with things.
• Hire a professional caregiver if you feel you can’t take care of your parents. This decision comes along with costs since it’s not covered by insurance plans. And, contact a reliable caregiving agency which run the best services.
• Create a safe environment at home. They will spend chunk of their day indoors so remove all distractions and create a soothing atmosphere at home. If you can, get them their favourite pet to keep them company.
• Minimize stress. Anger, frustration, low energy are warning signs of stress. You’ll perform poorly if you carry out your caregiving role under stress. Take time to relax and recharge.
• Encourage them to participate in social and recreation activities. Offer to take them to places they have fond memories. It could be the movie theater, park or church.
• Give them the opportunity to spend quality time with their grandchildren.
• Help them make appointments with their doctor or pharmacist for regular check-ups.
• If your parent is ill, learn about the disease. Read books and articles to get more information about their condition.This will help you seek the best treatment for them.
• Learn how to communicate with health professionals. Collaborate with them and open up information that may help with your parent’s recovery, if they are ill.

Thanks for reading 😃