You spend hours at work all week. When you get home, you help your kids with homework and get dinner on the table. After doing the dishes, you get laundry going, walk the dog, and clean the house. By the time you’re done, you’re exhausted and go right to sleep.
Most people use the weekend to catch up on sleep and socialization. You don’t have that option. On weekends, you take your mom or dad shopping. You help them clean their house and prepare their meals for the week.
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, more than 34 million men and women were family caregivers in 2015. More than half of those caregivers spend more than 20 hours a week providing care to one or more person. Almost half of those providing care are caring for an aging parent.
The Risks of Being a Family Caregiver.
The average age of a family caregiver is just under 50 years. This puts the person providing care in a difficult situation. They’re often still working. They have a family of their own to raise. They suddenly have to balance their job with their parent’s needs and their own family life at home. It’s exhausting.
If you’re a family caregiver, you’re likely living in your own home and driving to your mom or dad’s home. Almost half of all family caregivers provide care in their mom or dad’s home. The Caregiving.org report also states that 8 out of 10 family caregivers live within 20 minutes of their parent’s home.
You’re already stretched to the max, but the commute to your parent’s house takes away more of your free time. It’s not surprising that you find yourself burning out. You snap at your mom and dad when they question something you’re doing. You snap at your spouse or children. Your emotional and physical health are both impacted by your stress.
How Respite Care Helps.
Respite care provides you with the chance to get away. A trained elderly care provider comes to your parent’s home and provides care in your place. Your mom or dad still has the help that’s needed to complete daily tasks. They have someone to eat meals with them and join them on walks.
You have time to go out with friends. You can use respite care to attend a child’s game or school performance. You can go out on a date night with your significant other. You can take a much-needed vacation. Those are all reasons respite care is so vital.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring elderly care in Linden, 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.
Sources
http://www.caregiving.org//www/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2015_CaregivingintheUS_Final-Report-June-4_WEB.pdf
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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