It is difficult to think about, but everyone’s parents will get older. They will likely get to an age where they cannot look after themselves adequately. If you have the space and the time, then you may choose to look after them in your own home.
This is fine as long as everyone involved, including yourself, is safe and no one suffers because of the living situation. It is not easy and will take a lot of work. If you do choose to do this, then there are some arrangements that you will need to make. Here are just a few considerations that you can take before bringing your elderly relatives into your home.
Medical Alerts
One thing you should do is to install medical alerts around your home that will allow your elderly relatives to alert you or the emergency services if there is something that goes wrong. This can be a fall or an illness.
The best medical alert will send out an immediate signal when contacted to the care services so that you can act quickly and help your relatives get out of their predicament. You should take time to research what is on the market and what will work for you and your home.
Understand how much care you need to give
This may sound like an obvious thing to think about, but it can be easy to get lost in the amount of care that is required when you are doing it. You can quickly find that you are overwhelmed by the long list of to-do tasks that you take your eye off of the overall picture.
You should try and create a list of daily, weekly and monthly tasks of care that will help you understand how much you need to do when you are caring for your relatives. When you have done this for a month, you will be able to see how much effort you need to give into caring for an elderly relative and if you can sustainably fit it into your life.
Think about yourself
Once you have decided to look after your relatives then you need to be able to see if you can fit it into your life. If you have made a list of to-do tasks, then you may be able to see how it all fits into your lifestyle.
You need to think about if you can continue to work and that it won’t harm your own life. If you take on too much, then you will likely burn out or develop bad health conditions. This will leave you unable to care for yourself let alone anybody else.
Get help with the caregiving
Even when you want to make a difference and help you may find it difficult to give yourself and your relative the assistance that they require. You should seek out help to make sure that you can look after yourself and your family.
It may cost a little bit of money but may be worth it in the long run. However, finding the right people to help you can be tricky and time-consuming. When you get it right, you can decrease your workload, take regular breaks and reduce stress.
Find a routine
When you and your relative get into a routine, it can make your life and theirs so much easier. You will be able to get a lot more done and more quickly. You can start by doing things simply like setting a start time and end of the daytime. This will help establish sleeping patterns and dinner times. As well as this, you can organize when you administer medication or when you are able to take a break for yourself.
However, it is important that when you set your routine, you do so in the collaboration with your elderly relatives. It needs to be an honest and open conversation. This will make your loved ones feel like they have a little more control over their lives. It can help you take the opportunity to voice concerns and suggestions. Being open with each other can help remove any potential friction or problems down the line.
Moving your elderly relatives into your home can be a huge decision for both you and your family. It is stressful for both of you, and it is important that you take the time to prepare for this decision. You should make sure that your home is suitable and that you have the time to look after your relatives.