Every day, people are faced with the task of caring for a sick, disabled or aging loved one. Statistics indicate 44 million adults in the U.S. provide care for someone over the age of 50. It’s a common misconception that caregiving can only happen when everyone resides within close proximity. Actually, a large percentage of family caregivers are also long-distance caregivers.
Long-distance caregiving is a unique and challenging situation where the caregiver lives long distance–typically an hour or more away–from the family member who needs their help and support. This occurs more than you might think, and takes a great deal of planning and organization. Research from AARP suggests that nearly 1/4 of people caring for elderly relatives do so from a distance.
Tips for Long-Distance Caregiving
Create a caregiving team. This includes individuals local to the relative; people who can check in on them when you’re not in town. Neighbors, friends, church members, and when necessary in-home health care, are all important components to a caregiving team. Don’t forget about yourself…Arrange for family and trusted friends to help you maintain things at home while you’re away.
Consider hiring an elderly care manager. This is an individual experienced in managing all aspects of senior in-home care, including arranging qualified help, supervising health care services, assessing financials and deciding on housing options. An elderly care manager helps evaluate your loved one’s situation and guides you through important decisions.
Take advantage of technology. Even if your older loved one isn’t comfortable using a smartphone or tablet, it doesn’t mean you can’t utilize apps for your own organization and planning purposes. Many apps are free, or cost a small one-time fee. They can log pertinent information, invite friends to help, create shareable lists, give medication refill reminders, etc.
Related: Introducing seniors to technology Don’t forget about yourself. It’s easy to become stressed especially when you are far away. Make time for what’s important to you whether it’s reading, volunteering, exercising, socializing or simply relaxing. Don’t neglect your own health and keep regularly scheduled doctor visits. Look into caregiver support groups. It’s also possible your place of employment offers caregiver benefits like flextime or job sharing to free some hours for caregiving duties.
Long-distance caregiving is a team effort—not one person can possibly do it all. For assistance in creating a caregiving team, contact AT Home Care today at (804) 359-3400.The five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste and touch—tell us all about what’s happening in our surroundings. However, as we age, it’s common to notice changes in sensory processing. In order to process sensations and gain information from them, we need full capacity of our senses. Take for example the aromatic smell of food in the kitchen, the sound of the telephone ringing or feeling a wet floor or sharp utensil. These are all experienced through a person’s sensory processing skills.
It’s natural for the strength of the senses to deteriorate with age—generally this starts happening around the time a person reaches 50. As time goes on, family members, friends and caregivers may notice a loved one starts wearing bifocals, increasing light bulb wattage, adding extra seasoning to food or turning up the volume on the TV or radio. Although many of these symptoms are entirely normal and no cause for worry, they oftentimes impede on a senior’s ability to carry out daily activities with enjoyment, confidence and independence.
Sight and sound are two of the most important senses to interpreting the world around us—unfortunately, these are the first affected by age.
Sight
Decline in eyesight can have a huge impact on quality of life, as well as jeopardize a person’s ability to live independently. Cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma are very common eye conditions that affect one’s ability to see things closely, to notice what’s in the distance and to pick up small details. Whether you’re diagnosed with an eye condition or simply notice changes, it’s important to acknowledge, accept and learn ways to cope.
Related: Tips for improving eye health
If you’re the caregiver or loved one to a person with poor vision, there are several things you can do…
During conversation, sit or stand where the person can see you and give them plenty of time to focus
Provide good lighting and control glare
Assess the home for safety risks, throw rugs, cords and other fall hazards
Use skid-resistant mats in the bathroom
Accompany the senior to doctor visits to learn more about their challenges and how to provide support
Sound
Hearing loss gradually occurs with age. Oftentimes, it’s not until someone reaches their 50’s or 60’s that they begin to notice changes in their ability to hear high frequency sounds. This makes it difficult to not only hear the pitch of sounds, but distinguish one similar sounding word from another. Central nerve loss, or hearing deafness, is a permanent type of hearing loss typically caused by excessive noise, chronic conditions or the natural process of aging.
If you’re the caregiver or loved one to a person with poor hearing, there are several things you can do…
During an interaction, get their attention before beginning to speak
Use a normal tone of voice, speak clearly and distinctly
Turn off any background noise
Sit still—many seniors with hearing loss depend on the movement of your lips to aide in comprehension
Attend doctor visits to better understand their condition; learn the benefits of auditory assistance devices
For more information on helping loved ones deal with declining sensory processing, particularly changes in eyesight and hearing, contact AT Home Care today at (804) 359-3400.
