Is living far away from the person you care for causing you guilt?
It’s normal to have feelings of guilt when you don’t live close to the person you’re caring for. If you live more than one hour away from your loved one, you’re considered a long-distance caregiver.
There are things you can do to make sure you’re providing the best possible care from a distance – research, planning and in-community resources are key.
Get informed and stay up to date – Learn as much as you can about your loved one’s health and daily routine. It’s important to maintain an accurate and current picture of their health and abilities.
Next, make a plan – Determine what your role—and the role of others—can and should be.
Hire professional help – Now that you’ve got your plan and research in place, you’re well prepared should you need to hire in-home help. An important side benefit of working with in-home professionals is that they can serve as your long-distance “eyes and ears”—especially if an emergency happens.
Decide how technology can help – Your loved one may already be comfortable with smartphones or video chats, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic-related quarantines. If not, see if they’re open to learning. There are many other options available to help you track their well-being.
Assure your loved one that they are the decision-maker – In whatever decisions you make about caring for your loved one from a distance, always remember they still have self-agency. Decisions about how and where they live are theirs to make, unless, of course, they are incapacitated.
Resources from Right at Home in Home Care & Assistance – Right at Home offers a FREE RightConversations GuideSM that helps families have meaningful conversations about caring for an aging loved one.
The guide offers tips on developing a plan that ensures the care recipient has a voice and the entire family has a positive experience. The guide also contains worksheets to help families record the information needed to ensure continuation of care over time. Download it from the Resources section of their website today!
Right at Home can also provide respite care services to alleviate some of the stress family caregivers experience and provide a much-needed break. Their trained and screened professional caregivers can provide services ranging from nutritious meal preparation and light housekeeping to help with hygiene and dressing.
Visit their Contact Us page or call 425- 290-1714 to ask about a FREE in-home consultation.
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