Caregiving from afar can be really frustrating because you’re not right there. Sitting down and thinking about the situation logically helps.
Make a Plan
You’re not going to get very far on your caregiving journey if you don’t have a plan, so it’s vital to sit down and see what you’ve got to start out. If you don’t know what’s going on with your elderly family member’s health, get as much information as you can. Figure out whether you’ll need to visit your elderly family member more often and develop a plan for how you’ll handle emergency situations.
Get Your Documents in Order
As a caregiver, you’re going to find yourself collecting quite a bit of paperwork. You’ll need to be able to access all of these documents at one point or another, so you need to set up a system to organize them. Some people use a three-ring binder while others go for a file cabinet. You might find that being long-distance means that keeping digital copies as a backup is best, since you can access what you need from anywhere at all.
Make a List of Anyone Who Can Help
The more people and groups who can help you and your elderly family member, the better. Sit down and make a list. You might include other family members, agencies that work with elderly adults, and even home care providers who check on your senior for you. Neighbors and friends can also be incredibly helpful.
Work the Plan
Once you have a plan, you need to give it your all. The whole reason for coming up with the plan in the first place is to give yourself and your aging family member some guidelines for this situation that you’re in. Let your aging family member know what you expect on her end and then keep the plan going.
Revise the Plan
You might think that’s that, but you might run into some roadblocks. You may need to revise the plan and this is actually a good thing. That means that you’re looking at what’s working and what isn’t and you can make changes to adjust the whole shebang. Adjusting your plan is really healthy and gives you guideposts that you can use down the road.
No matter how far away you are while you’re being your elderly family member’s caregiver, you’re going to have some of the same issues. Do what you can to plan ahead as much as possible and remember that sometimes plans have to change in order to put something better into place.
If you or an aging loved one are considering caregivers in Ralston, NE, please contact the caring staff at Seniors Helping Seniors® Greater Omaha at (402) 215-0308 today.