Many family caregivers live some distance away from aging parents. When trying to care from a distance, it is crucial to build up a team and have good communication at all times. One of the significant challenges of caring from a distance is to stay informed and be assured that your aging loved ones are in good hands.
Create a team
When you’re caring from a distance, you need others to be your hands, eyes and ears. You may feel guilty about involving others but you can’t do it on your own, especially if a loved one has serious health issues.
Tandem Careplanning delivers exceptional in-home care and helps to remove any uncertainties about the process of finding and managing a customized team of caregivers from a network of thoroughly-vetted professionals.
Other than professional caregivers, family members, friends and community groups can provide a network of people willing to do certain tasks, such as cutting the lawn, doing laundry or providing some meals.
Make sure you have access to important information
Caregivers have to make certain legal and financial decisions and you will need to request access to certain documentation to do so. Ask your loved ones to sign forms and make the calls necessary to give insurers, doctors and hospitals permission to share information with you or other trusted family members.
You need permission for access to bank accounts if you are going to pay the bills. A loved one should grant power of attorney to you or another family member to take financial and health decisions before being unable to do so due to cognitive or physical decline.
It is also important to make sure someone else can get into the home in an emergency situation. Keep a friendly neighbor’s phone number handy and give the neighbor your number and an extra set of house keys. Make sure you know the burglar alarm code.
Stay in the loop
It’s important to have ways to communicate effectively on a regular basis with the local team and your loved ones. Social tools like Skype and FaceTime can be invaluable. Group emails are a written form of communication that can provide a record of what has been discussed.
You can also use technology like wearable activity trackers and video monitors to give you more peace of mind. Remote door locks can help to prevent wandering in cases of dementia and electronic pill dispensers can notify you when a loved one takes prescribed medications. An online calendar can help everyone keep track of who is doing what and when.
Make the most of visits
Nothing takes the place of paying a visit. You can look into your workplace leave policies and find out if you’re eligible for unpaid time off from work for caregiving. Otherwise, find out if your company will allow you to work remotely for a few days without any income loss.
Before you make an in-person visit, make a list of everything you want to find out about or discuss. Co-ordinate with the primary caregivers about the timing of your visit and ask how you can help them or give them a break. You will also want to meet with professionals involved in the care of your loved ones to talk about their concerns.
If you notice that loved ones are having difficulty doing certain tasks, such as washing laundry or mowing the lawn, you can arrange someone local to assist. Above all, make sure that you spend quality time with your loved ones while you’re visiting. They will appreciate the time you spend with them more than anything else you can do for them.