Caring for an elderly loved one can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life, but if you are unprepared and unsupported, the responsibility can be detrimental to your work-life balance.
Caring for an elderly loved one can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life, but if you are unprepared and unsupported, the responsibility can be detrimental to your work-life balance.
You have your job, the one with a pay cheque. Additionally, you have your caregiving responsibilities, helping someone who means the world to you. Work can be rewarding in more ways than one, so can caregiving., but together, it’s a demanding combination. You may feel like you’ve got more on your plate than you can handle on some days. Like the aging process itself, caring for an elder is complex. Factors that influence the caregiver experience include the physical and emotional needs of the care recipient; his or her lifestyle preferences and financial resources; the availability of friends and family to help; the availability of community resources, such as senior centres, at-home care services and more. You may be managing your loved one’s bills, doctor’s appointments, meals, and services, and possibly also providing hands-on care with daily tasks like getting dressed, eating, and bathing, all in addition to your job. A lot of people know exactly what that’s like. Experts estimate that six in 10 family caregivers of adults aged 50 and over also work a full-time or part-time job and about half of the workforce expects to be providing care for an elder in the next 5 years.
You need a strategy.
Sharing some resources to provide you guidance along the way:
Getting organized:One likely has a lot on their to-do list and it’s difficult to keep track of everything in the head and accordingly coordinate. Create a family calendar so that everyone is aware on what’s happening, medication schedule, doctor’s appointments and more.
Connect with your manager:Your company may have policies on caregivers, flexible work options, and family leave that apply to you. You may also have access to an employee assistance program, which can be a helpful resource. However, aligning your immediate superior and keeping them updated on the progress are also imperative to have the work support.
Clue in your co-workers:One of the aspects of eldercare that can be so challenging is that it’s unpredictable. You never know when you might get an emergency phone call and need to drop everything to assist your loved one. Therefore, you need to be prepared to have your co-workers cover for you when that call comes.
Keep work separate:As much as possible, try to take care of caregiving duties in your personal hours, rather than during work hours. Schedule calls and doctor’s appointments during your lunch hour and do your research on the patient’s condition after you’ve gone home for the day.
Have a backup plan: There may be a time when you must leave work in a hurry. Make sure you have a co-worker or two who can step into your role if needed.
Ditch the guilt: Perhaps one of the most effective strategies for balancing eldercare and career isn’t about what you do, but how you do it. As a caregiver, you need to set boundaries and become ‘a guilt-free zone’. You should acknowledge that being a care partner is an important part of life, nonetheless, you need to make sure that you are entitled to have a life of your own and relationships with other people as well in addition to the elderly being taken care of. Caregivers often feel guilty for being at work instead of being with the person they care for and then they feel guilty for missing work when they prioritize their caregiving responsibilities.
To help combat this guilt, as a caregiver give yourself the permission to be both a worker and a caring family member. Acknowledge that as a caregiver, you are carrying out an important role and cannot stay healthy and provide a good standard of care if you try to do everything single-handedly. In other words, a caregiver has every right to prioritize earning a living. It’s ok!
Visit your local agency on aging: They can often point you toward community resources that can help you now or may help you later. With Antara’s vision of being the most trusted brand for seniors and their families by helping them to improve and enrich their quality of life, Antara understands the issues that both an elderly and a caregiver goes through. With Antara’s Care at Home services, one does not simply choose a trusted health care partner, rather, welcomes a mix of personalised care and attention, all under the guidance and supervision of reputed clinicians. Antara understands that circumstances may not always allow one to be there to tend to their elder’s health-related needs. Choosing a trusted health care partner for a loved one is not an easy decision. Questions about quality, responsiveness and credibility are bound to arise.
This is where Antara’s Care at Home services step in. The services – ranging from nursing care and physiotherapy to quality diagnostics among many more – provide quality care at your doorstep.
Furthermore, Antara also offers Care Homes which are specialised residential facilities for short- and long-term care, pre & post-operative care, and memory care for seniors. These assisted living facilities provide primary health care and emergency response services, curated engagement calendars and nutritionally assisted meals in a homely environment for seniors who require assistance in their daily activities. To know more about the services, call at +91 9811441111
