Some parts of the country are experiencing shortages of senior caregivers. This shortage had been predicted for quite some time–after all, the number of seniors in need of care in our country has been growing rapidly thanks to the Baby Boomer generation aging. Add to that the fact that the pandemic changed senior care on a massive level, and we are seeing near-crisis levels of need for caregivers in parts of the U.S. Many are unsure of how to approach this challenge.
If you are experiencing this, you might be feeling a sense of panic. How are you going to care for a loved one if the care that is needed isn’t immediately available? While this is certainly a very frustrating situation, there are some nuggets of hope that you can cling to.
The question is, what should you do about it? This is a question that will vary a bit depending on where you live, what’s available in your community, and what it is you’re looking for. But regardless of this, there are a few universal standards that can be pursued.
First, have an expert identify the needs that must be met. Everyone has something that they are looking to get out of care. For some, the needs are quite obvious. A loved one has dementia and cannot safely care for themselves throughout the day. Or, an elderly family member is confined to a wheelchair and requires assistance to move around their house and ensure that their needs are met.
Next, look at what’s available in your community. Ideally, the care offered should fully meet the needs that are present within your family. Sometimes this is easy to do–and sometimes it’s not. If your loved one’s care needs cannot be easily met, then branching out into other geographic areas might be needed. If this is the case, in-home care could be helpful. Instead of looking for care out of the home, it might be able to come to you. This is becoming more and more accessible as time goes by, even in rural communities.
Then, the next step is to make connections. Are the available community resources able to meet the needs of your loved one? If so, are there waiting lists? In some places, waiting lists can be six to twelve months long. If you’re in immediate need, this is obviously a pretty scary number to hear. However, the sooner you start planning, the less intimidating a waiting list can be. Beginning the care search as soon as senior care is on your radar will help to ensure that care is found before it becomes an emergency.
You can’t plan for every single contingency, but you can plan for many of them. Starting your search early on will help to avoid urgent situations in many cases, making the care search a lot less stressful if or when the situation worsens.
Are you able to meet your loved one’s care needs on your own? That’s awesome if you are! Family care can be incredibly effective, even if you don’t have all of the skills that a professional caregiver has.
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