Caring for an elderly relative is a challenge for even the best family members.
The responsibility is often a source of negative feelings that can lead to guilt within the family caregiver. Here are some common guilt triggers for family caregivers and some suggestions on how to reduce or eliminate the negative feelings that can lead to guilt.
Losing Patience
From stubborn streaks to the early effects of dementia, elderly adults can create a lot of frustrations for family caregivers to deal with. It’s easy to lose patience and argue. Then, family caregivers feel guilty for getting angry or making their loved one upset. They feel if they were a better person, they wouldn’t lose their patience.
To reduce or eliminate this guilt trigger, family caregivers need to recognize that when they are exhausted and stressed, they are more likely to lose patience. Asking another family member or hiring a home care provider to come help a few days a week can give the family caregiver a chance to take some breaks and get some rest.
Spending Time Away
Elderly relatives can make their family members feel very guilty about wanting to spend a lot of time together. Often, seniors are lonely or frightened at being alone. Whenever a family caregiver must leave them for any reason, they feel guilty that they may be abandoning them.
Again, home care providers can help family caregivers reduce the negative feelings connected with spending time away. Knowing that an elderly relative is in good hands and well-cared for can give the family caregiver enough comfort to take regular breaks. This means they get more regular time off to take care of themselves and others in their life, bringing a little more balance into the week.
Disliking Family Caregiving
Many family members don’t have realistic expectations of caregiving or the amount of time and effort it requires. It can be hard to adjust to new roles within a family, such as the adult child and the elderly parent. The physical tasks of bathing, dressing, and hygiene may be difficult for family members that are uncomfortable with it. Many family caregivers simply don’t like how caring for aging relatives force change into their own life. Then, of course, they feel guilty.
Many negative feelings can be eliminated when family caregivers review the tasks that they can do and want to commit to and those tasks that they struggle with. Hiring a home care provider makes it easy to share that responsibility. For example, the home care provider can come every morning and help with bathing, dressing, and grooming, while the family member covers other tasks like meals, transportation, and housekeeping. They don’t feel as overwhelmed with tasks they dislike, so they don’t have the guilt from before.
It’s easy to see how hiring a home care provider can help alleviate a lot of negative situations common in caregiving that generate guilt.
Are you or a family member considering Home Care Services in Davis, CA? Talk to the friendly staff at Golden Years In-Home Senior Care. Call Us Today 916-333-0383. We are here when you need us!
