In the past, it was common for parents and children to live in close proximity to one another. These days, with our increasingly mobile society, adult children tend to move farther away from their parents than ever before. This makes it difficult to tend to their parents’ daily needs, especially if illnesses or chronic diseases strike.
The solution is to build a long-distance elderly care team that provides for your loved one, giving them peace of mind while ensuring their best well-being.
How to build the best long-distance care?
Here are some tips that will help you assemble the best care team for long-distance care.
Ask Your Loved One for Input
You will be more prepared to build a care team if you can become familiar with your loved one’s exact needs. You can gather this information by asking your loved one how they go about their daily routines. What tasks are most difficult for them to accomplish? Most importantly, as if your loved one has difficulty remembering prescription times and if they have regular weekly or monthly appointments. These schedules could pertain to health care, hair care, or even trips to the pharmacy. A long-distance care team can help your loved one with all of these tasks and more.
Have a Chat with Your Loved One’s Doctor
Due to privacy laws, you cannot speak to your loved one’s doctor without the senior’s written permission. That is, unless you are the health care proxy for your aging loved one. Whichever way you go about it, do try to get your loved one’s doctor on the phone or make an in-person visit to the physician’s office. Many seniors will try to hide their health conditions for fear of losing their independence. For that reason, your loved one’s doctor will give you a clearer picture of their true health care status so that you can build the most helpful care team possible.
Talk to Close Friends & Family Members
When you have a better idea of what needs to be done to properly care for your loved one, start gathering your team. Start with close friends and family members, and even neighbors who may be willing to lend a hand.
With everyone working together, you can devise a care schedule where each person rotates to give the rest a break. You can coordinate with neighbors to take out the trash or walk your loved one’s dog. Siblings can take your loved one grocery shopping and check in on the patient regularly, especially during times of extreme hot or cold weather.
To make your team efficient, and to ensure constant communication, get everyone’s phone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information. Then pledge to keep in touch on a regular basis to ensure your loved one is getting supreme care.
Local Resources are Available
Keep in mind that your team is not the only source available for your loved one’s care. There are quite a few organizations that can provide senior support, such as Eldercare, National Institute on Aging, Family Care Navigator, and your local government.
Keep Detailed Records
You can keep your long-distance care team up to date by keeping a three-ring binder dedicated to your loved one’s care. Keep calendars, printed copies of emails, medical records, and detailed notes between the covers. This is an excellent way to ensure your team is on the same page as your loved one’s care becomes more complex.
Other information to keep in your binder includes the names and contact information for doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, specialists, case managers, physical therapists, and other professionals.
You should also keep medication information and their individual schedules to ensure your entire team has access.
Do You Need a Long-Distance Care Team?
If your loved one lives in and around Orange County, California and you live elsewhere, we can provide your loved one with the care he or she needs. Our home care team can handle complex issues like medical care, companionship, medication reminders, and trips to the store and doctor’s office.
Contact us today to see if we are the ideal fit for your loved one’s care. We can be the long-distance home care team you can rely on for peace of mind and your loved one’s very best care.