You may find yourself helping your aging loved one(s) with small tasks around the house. As time goes by, your loved one needs more help, more often. While you are happy to help, you find your aging parents or loved one’s attention to daily living beginning to lessen and you are spending more and more time away from your own family. Maybe you’ve been noticing that they’re wearing the same stained clothes over and over or need to bathe. It’s hard to acknowledge and take in, but they are aging and so are you.
Signs of slipping acuity in your aging parent(s) or loved one:
Personal care. When bathing, washing their hair or dressing is getting harder to do, a friendly and dependable in home caregiver could be the answer.
Household chores. Maybe your parent needs help with chores like light housekeeping, grocery shopping or laundry.
Meals. Worried that your aging parent might not be eating nutritious meals or is tired of eating alone? Have a caregiver visit our parents on a schedule and prepare meals for them.
Health care. Do your elderly parents forget to take their medicine? Or get the dosing wrong? If your loved one can’t remember what the doctor told them to do, have a SYNERGY caregiver go to your doctor visits with them. With a caregiver, they can write down the doctor’s instructions and share it with you.
Recognizing differences in an aging parents behavior when you live far away
Sometimes it’s hard to recognize differences in behavior when you don’t live close to your parents. Because you are not there, you have no idea whether they are withdrawing from activities, forgetting to take medication, or have stopped taking care of themselves or their home.
What about driving? Have they had any mishaps with the car lately? Are you concerned about them driving? When is the last time you accompanied them on a car ride?
What can you do if this is happening and you’re far away? If you were comfortable with it, you could check in occasionally with people who see your loved one(s) regularly—neighbors, friends, church members, doctors or local relatives—and ask them to call you with any concerns. You can even get a medical alert system that calls 911 should they fall or get in any type of an urgent situation.
There will be a day when you’ll need more than a few extra eyes looking out for their well-being. And being far away, you might need the peace of mind knowing that they have some extra help and care through an in home care agency like SYNERGY HomeCare of North Dallas. Many out of town adult children have caregivers visit their parent(s) every day or every other day to ensure their home is tidy, meals are prepared, they are bathing and dressing in clean clothing and medication is being taken properly. Once a rhythm and a trust have been established, the loved one looks forward to the company.
None of you have to travel this path in life alone.
