One of the sad facts of Alzheimer’s disease is that it can cause conflicts within the families that are attempting to care for a loved one suffering from this disease. Alzheimer’s in itself is a very difficult disease to treat, but one of the things that is most overlooked is that it takes a tough emotional toll on all family members involved. This is to be expected, but it doesn’t need to be as difficult as it often is.
The first thing you should do is alleviate the burden of care for your family. This can be done by splitting up the time that each family member spends caring for your older family member, or it can be done by hiring a professional caregiver. There are benefits to both, but having a professional caregiver on your side is a great idea. A professional in-home caregiver can make sure that your family is getting a high level of assistance, that they are safe throughout their day, and that they are getting medical attention if needed by transporting them to any appointments. It’s also a good safety net to have if an emergency comes up.
Family conflict comes in when family member disagree about the direction of the care being applied, when some members feel like they are taking on an unfair amount of responsibility, or when individuals feel like they are not able to spend the quality time that they wish to with their ill relatives. In-home care is definitely not a perfect way to prevent family conflict, but it is a step toward preventing this.
A caregiver comes to your loved one’s home and helps them to get through the day. Little tasks are taken care of for them, like meal prep, getting around the house, cleaning up, and cleaning laundry. Most importantly, it ensures that your loved one has the supervision that they need to stay safe and sound. This eliminates a lot of the daily work that goes into having a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. When this happens, there is less demand put on family members, and there’s more time to make sure that the people that matter are able to spend more quality time with the person that they love, and not have to worry about every little thing being taken care.
This leaves a concern about the direction of the care that is being administered. There will never be a way to completely ensure that everyone is happy, but when a professional caregiver is involved, they will be better able to make an informed decision, especially if they have a lot of experience backing them up. This is why it’s so important to choose the right caregiver right off the bat. One easy way to ensure that this happens is to have the family get together when choosing a caregiver service. If this is done, there is less room for arguments later because the entire family was involved in the process and this shows that they trust the judgment of the caregiver.
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