Who Makes up Your Support Network?

Every good CEO has a support staff. As the caregiver for your senior, you’re the CEO and you need to ensure you’ve got your own support network that you can lean on when things are difficult. So who makes up your support team?

Elderly Care in North Fork NY: Caregiver Support Network

Start with a List of What You Need

What is it that you really need support with the most? Start writing down a list of tasks and issues that you handle all the time. Some of them might leap out as issues only you can deal with and that’s fine. But there are a lot of other items on that list that other people could be doing for you. Delegating these tasks isn’t always easy to do, but that’s what your support network is for.

Friends and Family Might Help More than You Realize

Friends and family members often wait for caregivers to ask for help. The prevailing thought tends to be that if you needed help, you’d ask. Of course, from your side of the situation, it feels awful to ask for that help. So the next thing you need to do is to look at what everybody in your life loves to do. Have a nephew who loves to mow lawns? He might say yes to taking care of your senior’s grass. Success comes from matching up people and tasks in the right way.

Believe that Your Support Network Wants to Help

You have to believe that your support network wants to be there for you and for some caregivers this is really difficult. That isn’t because you think they don’t care or that they don’t want the best for you. It’s usually more about you knowing that caregiving is difficult and that while you accepted this job for your senior, they haven’t. To get past this, you need to start talking to the people in your life. Let them know you need help, ask about specific tasks, and then let them say yes.

Hiring Help for Your Support Network Is Also Possible

Friends and family don’t always live close enough to help as much as you need, though. That’s when hiring elder care providers can be the best answer. Their help is reliable and they’ve got the experience in caregiving that you need from your support network. Even if you have plenty of friends and family nearby, the most predictable help you get might be from elder care services.

Your support network might grow and change over time. You may find that sometimes you need more or less help, depending on what’s going on with your senior’s health and in your own life.

If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring Elderly Care in North Fork, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.