Choosing to become a caregiver for a parent or other family member is a big commitment. Caregiving can be an almost full-time job, with a high amount of responsibilities. Your time with your own husband and children can be greatly impacted. You need to start planning so you do not forget your own family, and their needs.

It is very easy to get caught up in the job of caregiving. You have extra cleaning, cooking, bill paying, bathing, laundry, and driving duties. You can easily become so wrapped up in your duties as a caregiver you start forgetting one of the things which makes life worth living, your family. Your family understands your needs and responsibilities, and may keep their mouths closed, and not tell you about their complaints, concerns, and worries. You need to take the lead and sit down with them for regular updates.

When you choose to be a caregiver, choose to set aside one time each week to sit down with all of your family members. Discuss their concerns, and try to get a new perspective on whether their needs are being met. You may need to pry a little to get them to open up.

One thing these meetings should not do is add to your burden. You are not superhuman and able to take on more and more responsibilities. This is a time for planning, and thinking up new ideas. If your children feel neglected, ask them if they would like to come over, if you are doing caregiving at your family members home. If they are missing your interaction for school events, or other activities, it is time to move to the next step.

Being a caregiver should never be a solo job. You need to enroll the help of other family members to share the challenges, at least part of the time. You need a break, and so do your children and spouse. If family members are not available, check with church members, family friends, or even consider hiring a part-time caregiver for occasional assistance. It may cost you a few extra dollars, but it is an investment in caring for your family.

Sometimes when you take on the job of caregiver, you know it is for a short period of time. This may due to a disease which is moving quickly, and your loved one will not be with you long. It could be due to recovery after a medical procedure. In either case, make sure your children are well informed of what you expect. Even younger children deserve to understand the commitment you are making, and when they might expect their normal life back.

Their is one critical person in your family you must not neglect, or all of these efforts are guaranteed to fail. You must take care of yourself. Give yourself permission to take breaks and escape. You need to recharge your batteries, and keep your mind clear. When you take care of yourself, it is much easier to take care of all the other issues.

Congratulations on your choice to participate in caregiving. It will be very rewarding. Just make sure to take care of yourself and your family as the highest priority, and all the other challenges will fall into place.

Incoming search terms:

• dont forget your family
• you dont forget your own
• church enter yourname@yourkeywords
• cleaning supplies enter yourname@yourkeywords
• dont forget your friend dont forget your family
• family member as full time caregiver at home
• games for kids 2012 Enter YourName@YourKeywords
• your name@yourkeywords alzheimers

We’re reading Caregiving – Eldercare Made Clear & Simple by Cindy Laverty. Cindy will join us for a discussion of her book.

[Read more...]

With improvements in health care, nutrition, and prevention people are living to older ages every year. This exciting change is creating a huge demand for new services in eldercare. If you have never considered a career in providing services to the over 65 crowd you might find these fact interesting.

The 65 and older population of the United States is estimated to have a buying power approaching 1 TRILLION dollars. Read that again, $1,000,000,000,000.00. All of those zeros should start to open your eyes to the potential in this market.

Currently there are over 36 million Americans over 65 years old. This number is expected to keep growing due to the quality of healthcare. This is a large segment of the total population of the United States. A portion of the population who most commonly will desire more services, and have more needs.

Retirement communities, long-term care facilities, and assisted living centers are being built in record numbers, and are quickly filling up.

Taking these factors into consideration, you might want to consider some of your options for a career in eldercare. This is one of the fastest growing markets in the USA.

Here are some ideas you could explore:

• Become a full-time care giver. This career takes a serious commitment in time, and requires taking care of clients who can no longer take care of their own homes, and many times their own personal hygiene needs.
• Transportation – Many elderly clients choose not to drive any longer. You could provide transportation for elderly residents of retirement centers to their Doctor’s appointments, shopping trips, or any other trips they need.
• Medical Consulting – Work with senior citizens to help them find the best medical care, the best insurance options, and the lowest price medications. Many elderly citizens no longer understand all of the confusing paperwork, and regulations. They will gladly pay to have these burdens removed from their shoulders.
• Errand Services – Offering service to do all the shopping, laundry drop-offs and pick-ups, pet walking, and other errands has great potential.
• Home Services – Often the biggest challenges come at home. They may need help with laundry, house cleaning, minor home repairs, yard work, and other items.
• Day-Time Senior Care – This often takes two forms, in-home care when the rest of the family must be away is the first option. The second option is running a Senior Day Care facility. This allows the families to bring their elderly family member in for the day while they are away at work. You take care of food preparation, coordinating drives to Doctor’s appointments, and all of the necessary daytime events. The biggest difference, you will have a staff of employees, and many clients in the same facility.

These few ideas just scratch the surface of the opportunities in eldercare. Take some time to explore the many ideas, and you will soon discover this market has very high potential. It is one of the fastest growing markets, and in desperate need of talented new entrepreneurs.

Incoming search terms:

• transportation enter yourname@yourkeywords
• 2nd career elder care
• career enter yourname@yourkeywords
• careerEnter YourName@YourKeywords
• IT Consulting & “Enter YourName@”
• second career in elder care

We tell others that everything will be okay when they experience life-altering situations. The truth is that it is hard to understand their plight. It sounds nice to say something when someone is hurting, but saying the wrong thing can be just as bad as saying nothing at all. Instead of speaking words devoid of meaning, show that you know how that person feels. A loved one needs to know that someone is trying to see things from their perspective.

Here are a few tips to help you become that better caregiver your loved one needs right now.

1. Know the signs. When a person experiences an illness or accident that leaves them disabled physically or mentally, they go through a variety of emotions. The first is unbelief. Their accident was a bad dream and they want to wake up. A loved one dealing with physical challenge will have periods of denial, anger, depression, self-loathing, and indifference. Dealing with those phases won’t be easy but knowing what they are can help.

2. Talk to them. People are afraid to sit down and talk with a loved one about how they feel. Often, everyone is so afraid of offending them that they do all the wrong things. Learn how they are feelings about their new challenge and the future by taking the time to ask them. Your loved one may respond better if they are an active participant in their own care.

3. Don’t take it personally. It’s easy to get offended, frustrated, and put off from loved ones going through a rough time with their physical or mental challenge. They are lashing out as a way of coping and you just happen to be a convenient target. Focus on helping your loved one and do the best you can to ignore the outbursts.

4. Learn about their condition. We have a hard time dealing with an ill, loved one because we don’t understand the ins and outs of their condition. Read books, attend seminars, and ask the doctors about the diagnosis. Ask about treatments and physical therapy, if applicable, where you can participate in getting your loved one back on their feet.

5. Attend a support group. A good caregiver knows when it is time to step back from the situation to take care of themselves. In order to keep a perspective on your loved one, take a break from being a caregiver every now and then. Support groups allow caregivers to express their feelings and vent any frustrations they experience as full or part-time caregivers.

Being a caregiver is not easy. Taking on the responsibility of care for a parent, spouse, sibling, or child can consume a large majority of our time. To become a better caregiver, learn to take care of yourself as well as staying informed about your loved one’s challenge.