Care-giving for aging parents can take a
toll on a family. Before there is a move
into long-term care, there is often a long period where one person bears the
brunt of the responsibility of looking after the older family members. There may be other family or friends nearby
or in different cities but because of work, family or distance, they are unable
to be there on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. However, everyone needs a break or a helping
hand so although not everyone is able to be there in person, they may be able
to help in other ways.
Below is a small list of chores that family
members can share amongst themselves:
- Organizing paperwork (this can be anything from bill payments
to filing)
- Taking the senior to the bank, the accountants, helping them
with their income tax
- Taking the senior for their doctor’s appointments or dental
appointments
- Cooking a meal for the senior and their primary care-giver
- Taking the senior out on the weekend so the primary care-giver
can get some much needed rest
- Run errands like doing the grocery shopping, going to the post
office, picking up prescriptions, taking the pets for their annual vet
check ups, picking up the dry cleaning, returning books to the library or
movies to the video store
- Helping with the house or Spring cleaning
- Helping around the garden (opening the garden in the Spring and
closing it in the Fall) or even mowing the lawn and weeding once a week.
- Have the holiday meals at someone else’s home
- Daily telephone checks on the senior and the primary care-giver
- Take the senior or primary care-giver for hair appointments
If there is just one family member present
and the others are out-of-town, the other family members may be able to pay for
someone to help with these extra services.
Think about all the things that you have to
do on a regular basis to keep your household running smoothly now add looking
after someone else 24/7 into the mix. Suddenly,
things that are routine and mundane become more difficult to accomplish. If everyone pitches in and does perhaps
several small things, suddenly the load becomes manageable. Share in the care of your loved-one and help
prevent caregiver burnout.
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