Sunday, July 20, 2014

Helpful Tips For Those Caring For A Parent Or Spouse

By Rue Nichols


If you are caring for an elderly parent or perhaps a spouse, you are not alone. There are more than 90 million senior citizens in the United States and while most are fully independent, millions do need some level of care or extra help. Often this help is performed by the adult children of the senior or perhaps the spouse. If you are a caregiver, here is some information that might prove helpful.

Sometimes, a senior needs only minimal help with a few household chores or perhaps having someone drive them to a doctor's appointment or to a social event. However, some seniors need help with a variety of tasks during the day, including grooming, bathing, dressing and even going to the bathroom. Sometimes a caregiver must be there throughout the day and night to make sure the elderly person is safe and secure.

Taking care of the needs of other persons can be very challenging and this is a fact, although caregivers surely want to help. These people have their family to take care and also their work, and caregivers surely have many other responsibilities. Asking the help of others can be of great help, to lighten the load that is carried. Various tasks can also be shared sometimes by other members of the family. For instance, perhaps one family member offers to run errand, while another goes over and does some laundry and cleans up a bit. Making life easier can also be achieved when a part-time home caregiver is hired to help.

Taking care of an elder with dementia can be very challenging for a caregiver. While it can be stressful simply watching a loved one lose their memories, there are often personality changes present as well. The person can be violent or even abusive, and this can happen sometimes with a person having dementia. Caregivers can even be overwhelmed with the various tasks that have piled up because the seniors they are handling are difficult and the caregiver might be worried constantly about their loved one's safety. Discussing with other people about these problems can be big help like joining a support group helping these people. With a support group, one can find a great deal of good advice as well as friendship and true empathy. Some of these support groups are even available online, which can be very helpful.

Sometimes, the burden of care giving is simply too much for a family or spouse to handle. This is especially true when your loved one has great physical needs or limitations or perhaps has Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia. In these cases, there are many options for eldercare that you might want to consider. There are skilled nursing facilities or nursing homes that can handle residents who need around-the-clock medical supervision. For those with fewer medical needs, board and care homes and assisted living facilities might be a good option, and many of these specialize in helping those with memory issues.

Looking for these eldercare facilities is not that easy to do, but there can be help. There is a placement service, like Care Placement that can help in looking for these eldercare facilities that perfectly fits the needs of your elders and also your budget. If you are looking for a San Diego assisted living community or an assisted living facility in Carlsbad, assisted living in Del Mar or wherever in San Diego County or Orange County, making contact with Care Placement can be the best thing to do.




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