With the growing age, our parents deserve more care & attention. We all want to stay near them to care for them, but practically, it’s not feasible always. Instead, it can be challenging for many of us to care for elderly parents, many times.
Looking after our elderly parents is our responsibility, but this sometimes creates conflict between emotions. One might get confused to select which one should be their priority; their elderly parents or other unavoidable commitments. Let’s discuss the top challenges of caring for elderly parents. We are trying to make your caregiving journey, a stress-free journey.
Some Important Facts:
Caring for an elderly is almost like caring for a child. According to a survey report of 2015, over thirty-four million American people cared for adults for free. These adults were aged fifty and above. Interestingly in maximum cases, the care is provided either to the parents or parents-in-law.
Recently people are living longer. So, the number of elderly individuals is rising. But the issue is most of them have some acute medical problems. Maximum families have to take care of such elders. Sometimes elders also prefer to be surrounded by near and dear ones. Sometimes you might have to take care of your children.
Taking care of different age groups is not an easy task. This could affect your career, even your retirement.
Therefore, it will be better for you to remain aware of the top challenges of caring for elderly parents. It will help you to take a prior preparation. Simultaneously, you will be familiar with what kind of care it is to provide to your elderly parents.
One thing you should remember that caring for an Alzheimer's or dementia patient is very difficult. If you are handling such elders, you need to consult with some specialist on that ground.
Now let’s discuss the top challenges of caring for elderly parents:
Time Consuming:
Giving proper attention to our elder parents need time. You have to invest an average of twenty-four hours in a week for taking care of your elderly parents. Moreover, you need to help them with regular habits and actions. At the same time, you have to do other important tasks. It can be hectic manytimes. So, while taking care of elderly parents, time management is very crucial. Better, you can delegate or hire some caregivers or nursing attendants from home healthcare companies like Servelder.
Physically & Emotionally Stressful:
Providing care may affect your physical health as it is an uphill task. Every fifth caregiver to elderly parents faces this health deterioration. The more time one gives in care, the more chances of losing health increases.
At the same time, taking care of elderly parents is emotional stress for two of five caregivers. It would be best if you were always involved in every little thing of your parents. And this is challenging for those who handle immense pressure at the office.
Cost Management:
Sometimes female caregivers need to quit their job to take proper care of their parents or parents-in-law. But this may create some financial implications.
One among the five caring children faces economic challenges. The challenges may increase with time.
The elders' need that can't be avoided may exceed your budget. Sometimes your costs may increase due to that. So, an extra fund should be there while caring for elder parents. This is the cause of the economic tension.
Here also management and planning are the only way out.
Career Adjustments:
Sometimes you may need to make adjustments at your workplace for taking care of elderly parents. In fact, 60% of people who are taking care of their parents face this hurdle. In case of emergencies, they need to leave all their work before time. This leads them to answer questions even receive a warning from the authorities.
Inadequate Planning:
Generally, people taking care of their parents and the parents who receive it only focus on their immediate issues. There is no planning for the upcoming time. Only 46% of people looking after the elderly parents confirm that their parents have planned future caring. Nevertheless, the percentage of people thinking about their own future care is merely 40%.
Untrained Personnel & Insufficient Data:
In maximum case, people taking care of their elderly parents are not trained. So, the most challenging part of their caring is to collect appropriate data. In maximum cases, caring children don't consult a professional healthcare expert regarding the right way to take care.
Only 32% of people admit that they have consulted with professional healthcare givers about the practice of caring for elderly adults.
16% of caregivers inform that they have talked with expert providers regarding their elder parents' care.
But in maximum cases, caregivers are blind. They are taking care of their parents without any specific data or information.
This is a grave concern. If one has adequate information, the caregiving process will be less stressful for them.
Final Tips:
Here, we have informed you of the top challenges of caring for elderly parents. But that doesn't mean that you will leave your work in order to care for them or leave them alone for your work. It would be best if you balance your duties and caregiving, which needs efficient planning. Then you will see that caregiving to your elderly parents is no less than any reward. The best option can be hiring professional caregivers from a home healthcare company like Servelder.