When you find yourself unexpectedly needing to provide elder care for a loved one, it can be overwhelming. Since no one knows exactly when a medical emergency or a debilitating accident might occur, it is challenging to really be prepared for elderly home care and all that it entails. In too many cases, family members providing home care for an elderly loved one often avoid asking for help for a variety of reasons. Without getting help, home care providers can put themselves into stressful situations.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
Fortunately, there are many ways to ask for help and to organize that help. There are websites and computer apps that make organizing home care for elderly loved ones quite easy. Whether family members need help with providing daily meals or with housekeeping tasks, there are apps through social media that can help make life easy. Some of the useful websites and computer apps include some like Take Them a Meal and Lotsa Helping Hands. By simply filling out a few standard pieces of information, the apps allow family and friends to choose the ways that they can help which makes it easier on the primary home care provider.
Give Up Control and Let Others Help
Family members who are providing elder care for their loved ones should always be prepared to accept any type of help. All too often, caregivers turn down legitimate offers of help. It is much better to swallow the pride of being the primary caregiver and let someone else step in for a little while. Those people may not do everything exactly the way that you do, but it does not matter. As long as your elderly loved one is being cared for, that is all that really matter.
Be Organized to Delegate Tasks
Some people want to help, but they do not always know what is needed. As a primary caregiver, it is a good idea to keep a list of what needs to be done that you are not always able to do. If you think about the things that are the most important to you, like going to doctor’s appointment or being there for bath time, then you can easily designate other tasks to people who want to help. Keep a regular grocery list and let someone else buy the things on the list. Let someone else come in a vacuum the floors and clean the toilets. Or, find someone to help install the air conditioning unit when the warm months arrive. If you allow other people to help with tasks that take you away from your loved one, then you will be able to spend more time with your loved one.
Pick a Day to Get Away
One of the best ways to guarantee you will ask for help is to pick one day per week (or more) that you will take care of your own business. If you know that you will need care every Wednesday, then you will be better prepared to ask for it. When you need care on a regular schedule, it is easier to find people to help because they can arrange their schedule around that day, too.
If you have a loved one who could benefit from the help of elder care services in Danville, CA contact the caregivers at Hillendale Home Care. We help seniors and their families with many levels of home care service. Call (925) 948-8280 for more information.
