If your siblings won’t help with caring for parents and you’re finding yourself trying to manage everything alone, you’re in good company. In fact, 50% of all family caregivers are caring for an aging loved one alone, according to a recently available report from AARP.
Understanding why this situation is so prevalent – and discovering what you can do to protect your own personal health, which can easily be affected by providing care for a senior loved one on your own – is crucial. Our aging care experts have the answers.
Why Aren’t My Siblings Helping With Caring for Our Parents?
They are afraid or uncomfortable. For someone who has never cared for a senior loved one, it may be truly overwhelming.
What you can do: Invite them to “shadow” you for a day to help increase confidence with the specific duties that they are uncomfortable with. A little hands-on instruction can make a big difference.
They do not know what to do to assist. Although it might seem instinctive to simply jump in and meet the person’s needs, that is not the case for everyone.
What you can do: Put together a list of particular duties that you could use assistance with, along with the times and days that help and support are necessary, and ask for volunteers.
They don’t realize there is a need for support. It may be that from the outside looking in, you have everything covered and running smoothly, and you are not in need of their help.
What you can do: Have an honest, open conversation, describing the stress you are under. Ask your sisters and brothers as well as other members of the family to visit during a period of higher intensity care needs, like when you are planning and preparing dinner and then helping the person get ready for bed, and enlist their help to allow them to see for themselves how much work is involved.
How Can Home Care Help?
At CareFor, our care experts in Austin, San Marcos, San Antonio, and the surrounding locations are always here to work with you to meet the care needs of someone you love, with professionalism, compassion, and reliability. Reach out to us at (512) 338-4533 to learn more about our in-home care services.