If the COVID-19 pandemic has made anything clear, it is that life as we once knew it needed to be rethinked. For a lot of people, the old way of living and going about our days worked fine. But for many others, it didn’t. It took a worldwide disaster for many to realize just how much improvement was needed to help make life better for some of the more vulnerable populations around us.
One of these groups of people is seniors. As we realize that past models of care didn’t always work as well as we had expected them to, the future for many looks a little bit differently than we once would have expected. More seniors are moving in with younger family members instead of nursing homes. More seniors are staying in their homes than ever before with the hopes that family can help care for them. Family caregivers have always been a thing. In fact, this is how senior care was long ago, before nursing homes and assisted living soared in popularity.
One of the most important first steps that you can take into consideration if you’re a family caregiver is to ensure that your loved one has insurance. This can be Medicare for starters. If your loved one is lower income, you might want to consider Medicaid. But there are other insurance policies out there designed to help offset the cost of care. This can help remove some of the financial burden it comes to medical and senior care costs.
Being a caregiver for a loved one is hard. I think that sometimes we forget just how intense being a family caregiver can be. But over time it takes a toll on people, both physically and emotionally. A lot of people feel trapped in this position. They feel run down and unable to provide the loving care that their family deserves. Caregiver burnout is real, and people can sometimes suffer as a result. This is just another reason why it’s important to remember that care doesn’t need to be provided on your own.
The family caregiver does a lot, but they don’t need to do everything. Each family situation is a bit different and some family members need to do more than others out of necessity. But even with this taken into account, no one is ever truly alone.
Reach out to local organizations. Even if they aren’t the right fit for you and your family, they can usually help to get you pointed in the right direction. This is especially true in smaller communities where service providers are familiar with one another. This can also be a really easy way to network and know what’s out there as your loved one’s needs inevitably change over time.
If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, please reach out to us. One of our caregivers would love to talk with you more about the services that we provide here at Paradise In-Home Care and help get you connected to what will work best for your unique set of needs.
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