Elderly Care in Las Vegas
One big reason that family caregivers tend to experience a lot of stress is that they tend to try to do everything themselves. This means that family caregivers are often on call for their loved ones 24 hours a day, seven days a week without a real break. Respite care means that while you’re elsewhere, someone that you trust to care for your loved one takes over for a little bit.
Make a List
The idea of respite care may be very new for both you and for your elderly loved one and you might never have worked with an elderly care provider before. If that’s the case for you, one way to help to ease your nerves is to make thorough lists for your loved one’s care providers. Make lists for emergency phone numbers as well as lists of information that your loved one might need. If there’s anything specific that the care provider can do for you or for your loved one, make sure you write out all the important information.
Let Someone Know
Let someone else, either a family member or a friend, know that you’re going to have respite care for an hour or an afternoon. Preferably this should be someone who is also on your list as an emergency contact person. Alerting this person lets them know to be aware that you or your loved one’s care provider might need extra help.
Start with Shorter Times Away
If you’re very new to having respite care services on hand for your loved one, start out with short trips. Maybe you need to get out for a hair appointment or you simply need to run to the grocery store. As you and your loved one become accustomed to the idea of respite care, it’ll be easier for you to be gone for longer periods of time.
Make the Most of Your Time
When you do have respite care services, do what you can to make the most of your time away. Try not to spend the time away worrying about your loved one or making constant phone calls to your loved one or to the elderly care provider to make sure that everything is alright. Enjoy the time that you have and prepare for the next time you’ll be away.
Once you become more comfortable with respite care, the easier it becomes.