It can be taxing to be a caregiver from far away, but it’s something that can be remarkably effective. If your elderly family member is still doing a lot on her own, you may want to set up a communication plan that helps you to stay in touch with her and to keep informed about what she has going on.
Iron out a Plan for Communicating Regularly
You and your senior need to make an actual plan for communication. This might sound a bit restrictive, but it will give you both structure that you can lean on when you need to. Your plan can be as simple as agreeing on the ways you’ll communicate as well as days and times of day that work for both of you. This doesn’t have to be just about checking up on your senior, either. You can use this communication plan to ensure you’re both available, especially if you both have busy schedules.
One Compromise Might Involve Extra Hands-on Help
You might be expecting certain things in terms of knowing what’s going on with your senior and her life, while she may have expectations on her side of the equation, too. One way you can compromise is to agree that senior care providers can give your senior hands-on help. This helps to ensure that your elderly family member has the help when she needs it and that you have confirmation that she’s actually doing well.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
Technology can do a lot these days, including help you to stay on top of how your senior is really doing. With video chatting, you’re able to see for yourself when she’s looking healthy, when she seems to be in a good mood, and when things just don’t look right. There are other tools you might consider using, too, like personal alarm systems or fitness trackers that help you both to stay on target with your senior’s goals.
Stay Calm if Things Aren’t Completely Going to Plan
If things aren’t going completely according to the plan you and your senior have set up, there may not be a bad reason for that. Getting worked up right then isn’t going to serve you or your senior well. When you do get in touch with her, it’s going to be far better if you’re in a calm frame of mind because that could easily send the conversation in a negative direction and you don’t want that.
Balancing your need for information and your senior’s need for independence is really important. The easiest way to do that is to make sure you both know what the other expects, especially in terms of communicating.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Homecare in Cranford, NJ, call the caring staff at Helping Hands Home Care today at 908-418-4299. Providing Home Care Services in all of Northern and Central NJ, including Clark, Westfield, Cranford, Scotch Plains, Rahway, Linden, Summit, Edison, Elizabeth, Mountainside and the surrounding areas.
After graduating from Seton Hall University with a BS in finance Helping Hands Homecare’s Owner / President, Robert D’Arienzo, went to work on Wall St. for six years. However, after Robert’s grandmother became ill with stomach cancer Robert and his family needed to find assistance in the home for her. After many trials and tribulations Robert could see that there was a great need for quality home care services here in NJ and loved the idea of being able to assist other families who were going through what his family went through with his beloved grandmother.
Thus, Robert had found his passion. After almost a year of preparation Robert opened Helping Hands Homecare in 2003. Robert wanted Helping Hands Homecare to focus on providing the highest quality of caregivers, exceptional customer service, and providing a service that familys could depend on in their time of need. Since then Helping Hands has assisted hundreds of individuals with the simplest of needs to more complex cases while preserving those standards set out many years ago.
Robert is a Google Verified Author
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