Tips For Juggling House Work While Caring For An Elderly Parent At Your Home
Having an ill elderly relative in your home can make it more difficult to get through your everyday chores, while keeping up with the special medical needs of your elderly parent can be overwhelming. Getting the right kind of help for your situation, staying organized and keeping the help spread evenly throughout the week is important.
Get Supportive In-Home Care
Supportive in-home care givers complete small errands and chores around the house. These chores, like mowing the lawn, cooking, cleaning, doing dishes and finishing basic handy-man type tasks, are the kind of chores it can be very difficult to get to while caring for someone who is ill. Getting help from a supportive in-home care giver will ensure that many of your day to day tasks around the house will be completed even if you can't get to them yourself.
Spread Out the Work Among Family Members
If you have siblings or other relatives who you can rely upon for help at this time, spread out the work among your other relatives. When you enlist their help, put them into a rotation so each person contributes equally to the care of your senior parent, or to the house work that the supportive in-home care giver isn't able to do.
Get Organized
With so many people around your home doing work, you'll need to get organized to ensure that your help is being utilized it its fullest extent. Start making lists of chores that must be completed. Break down your chores according to which day of the week each task needs to be completed, then in your kitchen or another central location of your home, put up a chart detailing the chore breakdown. This way, each person who helps you will be able to see what needs to be completed and can jump into each task upon arriving at your house.
Get Help from Your Senior Parent
Some medical conditions will prevent your senior parent from helping out around your house, but many conditions will not. If your senior parent is bed bound but is still mentally sharp, he or she might be able to help your children with their homework, help your organize your house work schedule, or help with making grocery lists for the week. Staying useful from bed will help your senior parent to feel like he or she is making a valuable contribution to your home.
Take Time for Yourself
Caring for a sick loved one can be stressful and overwhelming. The more stress you feel, the more difficult it may be for you stay organized and effectively stay on top of your house work. To avoid this mental and physical bottleneck, take time for yourself to relax and enjoy yourself. You can do this while your supportive in-home care giver is helping out, or while your relatives are helping around the house. Take time to meditate, nap or read a book. Doing this will help you stay fresh and alert, so you can stay on top of the work that needs to be done at home. Contact a business, such as Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, for more information.
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