Carol McGowan RN and Cindy Streekstra RN asked:


The person providing the hands-on or direct care is often viewed as the only caregiver. However, there are many other tasks that need to be addressed as families take over responsibilities that their aging loved ones can no longer take care of.

The Challenge - Families view the person providing the direct (hands-on) care as the only caregiver.

It is common that the “entire family unit” does not see themselves as “caregivers” with multiple tasks. Usually, the attention is drawn to the family member who is willing to provide the physical care. Whether you are providing the “hands-on” care or are coordinating with other family members for the provision of care, you are still a caregiver.

The Solution - Identify how your family will divide the responsibility for providing care.

1. Consider the different types of responsibilities involved in the entire process of caregiving.

• Anticipating and thinking ahead to what may be needed:

o Health care decisions

o Housekeeping, cooking, shopping

o Financial and legal responsibilities

• Overseeing what is needed to ensure the care needs are being met

• Arranging for care

• Providing the hands on physical care

2. Ask your aging loved ones who they are comfortable with to handle the different tasks. Often, they have already decided who they want to be responsible for certain tasks, example, medical decisions and legal affairs.

3. Explore what responsibility each family member is comfortable with and what task/tasks they are willing to commit to. Many factors can enter in, distance from the older adult, other personal and family responsibilities, relationship with the older adult.

4. Set up a system of communication between all family members.

• Is there a “team leader” who coordinates the communication

• Who needs to know what

• How often does each person need to be in touch

• How are differences in opinion going to be handled between the family members

5. As individual and family circumstances change, the roles and responsibilities may need to change. At some point outside resources may need to be used to support the changing care needs.

Whenever possible, keep your loved ones in the center of the decision making process. Ask for their input and recommendations. Give them as much control over the decisions as possible.

These are often difficult discussions to have because family members may not want to commit to specific caregiving tasks. Planning for the future is challenging because the future is an unknown.

Engage your family members in the discussion about caregiving roles and tasks.

Have your older loved ones identify whom they may want to do specific tasks. Family members may need time to think about what roles and tasks they are willing to agree to. Identify the coordinator or the person who will communicate the status of things and what needs to be done. Put the plan on paper, knowing that it is a starting point, is flexible and can be changed.



Jeremy

Jim Brown asked:


Many families can find helpful information on elder care through various websites on the Internet. The elder care information might help them find a caregiver for a relative that can not tend to their own needs due to surgery or long-term illnesses. The information that is available to families will tell them which caregivers are available on a 24-hour basis and those that can be called to sit with the elderly while relatives are at work.

Many of the websites that provide helpful information on elder care update their information on a daily basis. Changes in Medicaid coverage or recently discovered methods of treating long-term illnesses are available to anyone who has the time to browse the sites and find the information that is most beneficial to them. Some may want to sign up for email lists that keep them appraised of all changes to care regulations that are enforced by the Federal Government.

Other helpful information on elder care might help family members locate lenders that provide health care loans, or the information that is provided might entice an elderly person to join an exercise group that meets twice at week at a local medical healthcare facility or at a mall, where the many hours of fun and friendship will bring the elderly person’s spirits up a notch or two.

Some of the helpful information on elder care will serve only as advice in helping the family pick out a nursing home for their loved one. There are many mistakes to be made when choosing a long-term care facility over a nursing home facility because one facility might center their care on people who suffer from dementia, and others are there to provide medical support after surgery only and the elder will be expected to move out when they are able to move around on their own.

Many of the websites on the internet that are centered around elderly care will provide more than helpful information on elder care. These sites are equipped with chat rooms that are perfectly suited for introducing elders to each other and will give them an area where they can share many experiences with each other. The chat rooms on these websites are easy to use and the friendships that are formed there will certainly enhance the quality of life to a person who enjoys meeting new people.

Many elders are not familiar with the differences in the elder care insurance policies that are offered today. They might not be able to differentiate between long-term care insurance and the medical insurance that they have through retirement plans and the Government benefits that are standard for all elderly persons. The helpful information on elder care insurance will guide them in the right direction and calm fears about getting older and being cared for properly in the later years of life.



Jada