Five Steps to Help Your Aging Parents . How to care for your aging parents from a distance Health. Knowing that help is one button push away can relieve some of the stress of caring for aging parents from a distance and can provide life-saving assistance when needed. If your parents have a computer, set up Skype so you can make video calls. The good news is that with so many of us involved in care from a distance, there’s lots of information to help. Oct 9, 2014 5:21 PM EST Concern about mom or dad’s health and well-being is top of mind for many baby boomers today. Find out what you can do to help a family member from afar and make the most of visits. “Become familiar with the neighbours or a house cleaner or something like that,” suggests Whitmarsh. Don’t be afraid to talk to your parent about realistic expectations for how you can help. How to Help Elderly Parents from a Distance. Find Caregivers. Especially when you have other family demands and work obligations too. Be sure to with some regularly get down on your knees, or sit comfortably in a quiet place; close your eyes; breathe deeply and slowly; and wait to come over you the peace that surpasses understanding. Thankfully, dad is in excellent health, but he lives alone now. Caring for elderly parents and dealing with the care system when you live in the UK can often be tricky. Are you struggling with how to care for aging parents while being a full time mom, dad, or employee? Whether you’ve been able to drop groceries, medications, spring plants, or mail cards, letters, or Facetime, or send photos or if all you were able to do was to call by phone to check in – it has to be enough. En español | Eleven percent of family caregivers live an hour or more away from their aging or ailing loved one, according to the "Caregiving in the U.S. 2020" study by AARP and the National Alliance of Caregiving. Few things are more stressful than worrying about aging parents who are far away. You can do the same for their medications from their local or online pharmacy and make sure they come sorted by day in convenient pill packs. Life doesn't offer a lot more emotionally salient or complex than caring for an aging parent. While distance care-giving comes with many challenges, a few helpful tips can make it easier to provide support and care to an aging parent. Long-distance caregiving can mean spending an average of nearly $12,000 each year in care-related expenses. Many people find themselves under financial stress, too. It's not going to be easy to care for a parent from a distance," Rotondo says. Today, where everyone is struggling to sustain themselves and their families, it is becoming difficult to stay with your family members 24x7. Our changing lifestyles and work demands mean that many of us simply don’t live around the corner from our parents. “The frequency of contact is dependent on the type and level of care needed,” says Iris Waichler, MSW, LCSW, and author of “Role Reversal, How to Take Care of Yourself and Your Aging Parents.” “It should be a collaborative decision, if possible, rather than a unilateral mandate from the caregiver. July 28, 2020 Assisting Hands. Many long distance caregivers also enlist the aid of geriatric case managers to oversee and help deal with the ongoing medical and financial concerns of their loved ones. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a meaningful difference in their lives. Whatever you may have been able to do to care for your aging parents from a distance has to be enough. I live 300 miles away from dad and I try to visit as often as possible. Many long-distance caregivers act as information coordinators, helping aging parents understand the confusing maze of home health aides, insurance benefits, and durable medical equipment. Here we’ll explore some of the best technology available to help monitoring elderly remotely allowing them some independence. Organizing paperwork is one way that a long-distance caregiver can be a big help. Long-distance caregivers have the same concerns and pressures as local caregivers — and then some. Your guilt fixes nothing. Technology can provide some help when coordinating long-distance care. If you live an hour or more away from a parent — or another relative or friend — who needs care, you might wonder what you can do to help. How to help your elderly parents from a distance Get help from a trusted source. As much as you want to, you can’t afford to give up your job and uproot your family to care for your senior parents. How to Care for Your Aging Parents From a Distance. Caregiving for your elderly parents poses an extra challenge if your loved ones are living far away. It’s not uncommon to live some distance from your parents and elderly relatives. How to help elderly parents from a distance? I lived through this experience as a daughter who lived 8 hours away from her parents. Invest in a medical alert system and make sure your parents understand how it works. These professional consultants act as medical, legal and financial advocates for your parents when you can’t be there. Instead, get to know the people who interact with your aging parents day to day. The help from home care services allows you to maintain your relationship while providing the best care possible. Acceptance It is the foremost import thing to do before taking any step towards caring for parents. I have a few tips on how to care for aging parents, even from a distance. New technology, has enabled children to monitor they’re elderly parents remotely, these devices alert caregivers to potential safety or health problems. There’s no doubt — trying to take care of aging parents from a distance is hard. But addressing these feelings of guilt can help in deciding their experience and impact as a caregiver. How to Care for Aging Parents from a Distance. How to care for elderly parents from a distance It can be tricky when it’s impossible to pop in every day, but there are still lots of things that you can do to ensure they are safe and supported. But if you’re thousands of miles away the worry of dealing with things remotely can sometimes be overwhelming. In areas without these delivery options, or if your parents like to shop but need help, you can use a home care service to take your parents’ shopping, help them with meal planning and list-making, and even prepare meals for the week if they need a hand in the kitchen. 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