Some cultures place a higher emphasis on children and grandchildren providing senior care for an elderly family member than others. Take what occurs in Hawaii for an example. Throughout history, natives of these islands always ensured that older family members and helped them to stay in their own homes, living out their final years with dignity and peace. This is certainly an admirable path. It shows the compassion, love, and respect that we should all have for the people that helped raise us and shape us into the adults that we are today. After all of the years of guidance that we were given, this is a way for us to give back.
This mindset is one of the many reasons why there is pushback when it comes to the idea of universal health care. A group called Caring Across Generations recently began advocating for universal senior care in Hawaii, but found resistance to the idea. Not because they didn’t want their loved ones to receive high quality care, but because many residents believed that only family members could give the loving, compassionate care that senior citizens deserve.
I admire this concept. There’s a certain truth to the fact that only a loved one can treat an older family member with the tenderness and respect that they deserve. However, there’s also another side to this. In some instances, family members are not qualified to give another loved one the minimum care that they need. They might have the love and the desire to care for their mom or dad, but they don’t have the knowledge or the training. In other cases, there’s no guarantee that being related means that their motives are fueled by love and compassion. Unfortunately, the people that suffer as a result of either of these things are the people that should be receiving the best care possible.
You don’t need to be from Hawaii to want to care for your parent yourself. And you don’t need to be for or against universal senior care to recognize that these are individuals that need help and their care plans should be decided based upon what is best for them. Regardless of what your personal politics and beliefs might be, you would not want to see someone that you truly care about suffer near the end of their life because of inadequate care. This is why it’s so important that you know what options exist for your mom or dad when it comes to senior care. You may want to act as a family caregiver, but it’s also worth knowing that there will be times when you need a break, or that your parent’s needs become too great for you to handle on your own.
Having a respite caregiver in mind when acting as a family caregiver can help to provide a safety net for your family. When there is a professional caregiver that you know you can rely upon if needed, it takes much of the pressure off of you. If you do not have a respite care service yet, now is a good time to begin the search.
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