Aging brings with it a completely new way of having to live for an aging parent, especially if they’re in relatively good health. If there are major health issues such as illness or frailty life becomes even more restricted.
If your parent has had to hand over the keys to the car, even more independence is lost, leaving your parent with a life that gets smaller every day.
The risk of anxiety and depression setting in is very high when your parent is feeling isolated and cut off from the world outside, and cut off from what used to be enjoyable activities outside of the home.
While it’s true that healing and quality of life is greatly improved for aging or elderly frail parents living at home rather than in a nursing home, loneliness begins to take its toll, especially if your parent feels that they are no longer of any use to anyone.
Most families today consist of two breadwinners, which means that your parent will be left alone for long periods of time, with no mental stimulation or human connection of any kind, until you come home tired at the end of the day.
While technology has been able to connect people from one continent to another, it can never replace the need for human interaction. In effect, social media platforms have completely closed the door on face-to-face communication.
Today we do it all in cyberspace, communicating on platforms that don’t convey a real expression of compassion, empathy or understanding. The tone of a voice or look in the eyes of someone you’re speaking to will never be conveyed in a text message or email.
This leaves your elderly frail or ill parent completely alone in a world that has changed completely for them as they’ve aged and lost their ability to carry out some of the simplest of daily tasks without assistance.
By the time you’ve been out in the world taking care of business to put bread on the table, managing a household and keeping up with all the demands of being a parent, you’ll definitely want to get home put your feet up and relax.
Though it is not meant to shut your parent out, it could feel that way for him or her. They’ve been alone all day long and look forward to spending time with the family, but it’s simply not that easy for you to do it all and get the balancing act together perfectly.
No matter how much you love your parent, you will need time to put your feet up and just relax, which will be hard to do in the face of the demands placed on you by caring for an elderly frail parent.
If your parent has dementia, the challenges are multiplied tenfold! You cannot leave your parent alone at all. He or she might wander off and get lost or forget to switch the stove off, or any one of a dozen things that could lead to dire consequences.
Trying to remain effective at work is also going to be a major challenge. You’ll be spending a large chunk of time worrying about what’s going on at home, which is going to create stress and could even lead to depression on your part.
Carrying all the strain on your own isn’t necessary, especially since you have quality home nursing services right on your doorstop in South Africa, in the form of CareChamp.
As a result of remaining up to date with the latest technology, the management at CareChamp has simplified everything to streamline all aspects of caregiving, from the choice of caregiver to the admin they are happy to handle for you.
Next time you need a helping hand let CareChamp know, and start the ball on offering comfort for your parent and peace of mind for you and your family.