Many seniors require constant care. They might not need around the clock supervision, but they need help so frequently that you must always have someone there to assist them, just in case. If you have a family member that fits this description, you have some tough choices to make. If you are currently providing care for them, you may be overwhelmed, but you might not want to have someone else take over the care for them. Even if that person’s a professional.
There are some things to consider about this situation, though. First, are you able to provide professional level care on your own? Probably not. No matter how much you love your mom or dad, you don’t have the same level of training and experience that a professional has. Wanting to take care of your family on your own is admirable, but if the quality of the care you are giving suffers as a result, is it really the best idea to continue in this manner? Some people don’t need professional care, others do. You will need to evaluate your family’s needs on your own.
The next thing to consider if the fact that even if you are supplying more than enough care on your own, you do need a break every once in awhile. This is where respite care comes into play. This is a form of senior care that is applied on just an as-needed basis. Basically, you, or whoever the primary caregiver is, stays the same, but a professional steps in now and then to give the primary caregiver a break. Some forms of long term care or other health insurances will even cover respite care. It’s kind of like an adult day care, but given in the comfort of your own home.
The point of this is not to take away your responsibilities, but rather to make you better at your job. As a family member, you have an unlimited amount of love for your parent. But as a caregiver, you can only do so much. You have so many hours in your day, and they need to be spent between working, helping your family, and spending time relaxing once in awhile. If you can’t find a good balance with these things, the quality of all of them will begin to suffer. You will also find that you are not able to give high levels of care to the people you love. When a respite caregiver steps in to give you a break, you can restore that balance, take some time to relax or get extra work done, and then go back to your routine a few days later with a new perspective. It’s not giving up control, it’s not failing your family. It’s taking some time to yourself so that you can do all of those things better. As long as you have a professional caregiver in place, you can be assured that your elderly loved one is in safe and loving hands, just like you want them to be.
Alicia Byrne says
You’ve made it sound like respite care is a great way for us to keep our promise to care for our elderly while balancing our time for other responsibilities in our life. I agree with you that with the help of respite care, we can achieve a balance between caring for our loved ones while keeping up with other aspects of life such as work and friends. My mother is 76 years old now and she’s living with us. I will definitely consider respite care when I need it.