Are You In a Caregiver Sandwich?

Home Care: People are living longer than ever. According to the World Health Organization, there are now 125 million people over the age of 79. And this figure will increase over the next decade.

Senior Care in Montauk NY: Caregiver Sandwich Generation

Simultaneously, young people leave the nest later. One survey shows that fifty-two percent of young adults, ages 18-29 still live with their parents.

Neither of these items is bad news. But if you are doing home care for teenage or adult children and elderly parents, you are in a sandwich. If you are caring for your parents and your grandchildren, so that your children can pursue careers, that’s another kind of sandwich, called a “double sandwich.”

And you are not alone. That’s why so many people in their forties, fifties, and sixties have become something that’s called the “sandwich generation,” with home care for seniors.

You love your kids, you love your folks, but it can be stressful.

A Family Home Care Provider – Typical Day In the Life of a Sandwich

Does this look like your day? You get up, likely before the sun. You drive one family member to work and another to school or daycare. You get to work yourself, possibly late. Before you know it, it’s lunchtime. Now you have to place several phone calls to coordinate grocery purchases, bill payments, and financial aid paperwork for your children. You may need to run errands to the bank and the pharmacy to get medications for your parents.

You get back to work late, perhaps having eaten nothing. After work, there’s more transportation to provide, cooking, cleaning, and laundry for your immediate family and your parents. If you’re really lucky, you get to crash in front of the television for an hour of me-time before crawling into bed.

There’s No Doubt That You Need Help With Home Care

This is definitely more Work and Home Care than one person can do on a sustainable basis. What should you do? Here are a few places to look for help and resources:

-Your county’s services. Some counties offer free daycare and supervised entertainment opportunities for seniors.

-Your church. You can always ask around at church to see if someone wants to volunteer to spend time with your elderly parents, take them on errands, to doctor’s appointments, etc.

-Professional home care. Hiring professional home care to help your parents with the tasks of daily living is possibly the most efficient thing you can do. Whether your parents live independently or with you, home care aides help caregivers with a wide range of tasks, from cleaning and cooking to bathing and administering medications.

If called upon to do so, home care aides will socialize with your parents, and encourage stimulating activities, like playing scrabble and other words games. Stimulating the elderly intellectually is vital to their mental and physical health.

In conclusion, being in the middle of a sandwich is no doubt rewarding, but it can also be stressful. Find help. Paying for home care may be one of the best investments you can make in the middle of your life.

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

Sources

https://www.bbc.com/

https://www.who.int/

https://theconversation.com/