Let’s be truthful: providing care for a senior is often tiring, overwhelming, and isolating. As care requirements progress, particularly when a long-term condition like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease is at play, family caregivers could feel that they’re in over their heads, and getting through the standard tasks of the daytime – using the shower, preparing of food, doing errands – can seem a hurdle too big to leap.
As indicated by Carey Wexler Sherman, a gerontologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, “Caregiving is done with a lot of love and affection, but there’s a lot of loss involved. People talk about friends disappearing, about even family members not wanting to be involved. It’s a lonely business.”
Thus, quite a few family care providers have the tendency to sequester themselves. It is hard to schedule social outings without knowing what sort of day Mom or Dad might be confronting. It’s equally difficult to invite friends over and face the potential need to cancel plans at the last minute. Sometimes it just seems easier to attempt to handle everything alone. Senior geriatric social worker at Massachusetts General Hospital, Barbara Moscowitz, shares remarks she hears from family members caring for a senior loved one with dementia: “They say, ‘I’m exhausted trying to explain to people why she’s doing what she’s doing, why they shouldn’t be angry or afraid. It’s just easier to stay home.”
Nevertheless, we know that social isolation and loneliness are associated with significant health risks: heart disease, stroke, depression, and also a greater prevalence of developing dementia or dying early. Caregiver self care is a must, both for the individual being taken care of and also the family members providing that care.
Independence-4-Seniors Home Care in Hinsdale is readily available to assist in many different ways, through hands-on assistance with all facets concerning senior caregiving, preparing meals, keeping the home neat, running errands, and so much more. This assistance permits family much-needed time to themselves to spend with good friends and in pleasant, relaxing activities – ensuring the wellbeing of all family members.
Call us at (630) 323-4665 any time for the professional in-home care help you can trust, giving you the chance to establish a healthy life balance while knowing your senior loved one is in the very best hands.