Aretha had been taking care of her aging mother for just over a year when she suffered a stroke.
Before that, Aretha was successfully able to balance her mother’s needs with her own family, plus continue to work. However, now her mother’s daily care needs were quickly becoming overwhelming.
Homecare in Granite Bay CA: Avoid Caregiver Burnout
Aretha had dropped from full-time to part-time at her work and was not finding enough time or energy to deal with her two children, whose grades were slipping.
Furthermore, Aretha was not used to doing some of the more significant daily care needs of her mother, such as helping her shower, dress and use the toilet. Soon, Aretha felt herself going more irritable, tired and short-tempered with just about everyone in her life. She knew there had to be a better way.
Unfortunately, Aretha’s story is quite common among family caregivers that have chosen to take on the daily care duties of an elderly relative. There are few relationships more demanding than that of a family caregiver, simply because the needs of a dependent elderly person are so great and so constant.
Many family caregivers are in danger of giving up the other responsibilities they have in favor of devoting all their time to their aging loved one. The good news is that there are elderly care services that arrange for home care assistants to come in and help both the aging adult and the caregiver.
What is Home Care?
There are many reputable elderly care agencies that provide trained professional home care assistants to work with seniors in their home with the tasks of daily living. A good agency does a careful background screening of their employees and provides training on how to work best with seniors. While a family caregiver’s first reaction to hiring home care assistance is often “no way,” after some discussion and a glimpse of how much an aide can help, their attitude often shifts to “let’s try.”
How Home Care Aides Can Help
Home care assistants can do any number of things for an elderly adult and their family caregiver. Among the most common duties are helping with bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming and monitoring their overall health. Other things that home care aides can help with include grocery shopping, transportation, meal preparation, lite housekeeping, companionship, and safeguarding.
The agencies will work with the family caregiver to figure out what areas need assistance, as well as how often their services are needed. Family caregivers can set up regular shifts that correspond with their loved one’s needs as well as their own. For example, if the elderly adult needs help with bathing, dressing, and grooming for the day, but does well enough after that, the elderly care aide could come every morning to help. In other cases, the elderly person can’t be left alone and therefore must have someone with them all day or night. As the elderly person’s health and ability changes, so can the schedule.
Family caregivers owe it to themselves and to their aging loved ones to investigate elderly care agencies to help everyone involved lead a better and more fulfilling life.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Homecare in Granite Bay, CA, or the surrounding areas please contact the caring staff at ApexCare®. Proudly Serving Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Solano, San Joaquin & Stanislaus counties. Call Today 877-916-9111
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