Long distance caregiving for an elderly loved one is one of the hardest things that a child or grandchild can do. You want the best for your family, but dropping everything and going to the other side of the country for an unknown period of time just isn’t an option.
If you’re in this kind of situation, you’re not alone. Recent numbers indicate that more than seven million people are acting as long distance caregivers for an older loved one. People live longer now than ever before, and travel and communication is easier and faster today than it was even a few years ago. All this has led to families being more spread out. Now, add to this the fact that jobs are difficult to come by and that it’s a hard decision to make when it comes to choosing a career or your family. Luckily, you don’t need to make these sacrifices.
When it comes to finding the right caregiver for a loved one, you do have resources available, even if you’re thousands of miles away. Use the internet to your advantage. It’s not easy to get a feel for what an in-home caregiver can do for your family through a web site, but it will show you what’s available near where your mom or dad lives. We are located in the Bay Area, and a Google search for “Bay Area In-Home Care” will reveal dozens and dozens of caregiving services. It won’t pinpoint which one is the right fit, but it will give you a good idea of what you are working with near their home.
If you decide to use long distance caregiving, you are not shirking any of your responsibilities as a family member. You are still taking charge of their care and organizing the whole process. But besides this, you can do other things to help ease the workload of the primary caregiver. Providing a sort of respite care when you are visiting your family members, you can step in and do the portion of the hands on work that you are able to when you are in town. Other little things, like being the main contact for any of their physicians, you can ensure that medical care is being provided in the correct manner. Also, be sure to keep in constant contact with whoever you do decide to hire as a caregiver. This will help you keep up with any changes that might need to made to the caregiving process.
Being a long distance caregiver is hard. You are out of touch with what’s going on, and it’s even more stressful because it’s concerning someone that you love very much. And if their health is declining, it can be even more difficult to endure. However, this is something that many people go through, and most of the professional caregiver services out there now know this and take it into account. Just remember to use their web sites as a first resource. Make sure that you follow through with phone interviews on the services you are most interested in to get a better feel for what can be done for your family.
Leave a Reply