Caregivers in Brownsburg, IN

When you decided to become family caregiver, you might not have thought much about the type of work you would be doing assisting your aging father. At the time, he might’ve been hospitalized as a result of a stroke or heart attack and even though the doctor said he should make a full recovery and should get plenty of exercise, he also mentioned the necessity for some type of care at home.

Living as close as you do to your father, it seemed to make sense that you would step up and be there for him but you didn’t anticipate how much stress you were going to experience as a caregiver for him.

After all, you didn’t think he was going to require a great deal of assistance, but the more you seemed to help him out with various things around the house, including doing the laundry, helping him prepare meals, driving him to doctor’s appointments, and more, the more assistance he seemed to require. It got the point when he was calling you at all hours of the day, even when you were at work and weren’t really able to talk. He was asking for help moving a box from one closet to another. He needed something from the basement and didn’t feel comfortable walking down the stairs without you there. The list of things he needed help with continued to grow and that ramped up the stress you felt in your own life.

Dealing with stress as a caregiver is commonplace. Many of the estimated 44 million family caregivers working in the United States will experience a significant level of stress as a result of this job. It’s important to realize taking care of an elderly individual, whether it’s a family member or not, is a job and needs to be treated as such.

If you already have a full-time job, you may be ill-prepared to take on another essentially full-time job.

There comes a time in life when people need to learn to step back and say no, that they can’t do something somebody else wants them to do.

Caring for an aging parent or other loved one is certainly a noble act, but when you begin to feel an incredible amount of stress overcoming your life, it’s time to step back and realize where your limitations lie. If you accept your limitations as a family caregiver, you will be in a better position to suggest a professional home care aide to help out, at least a couple of days a week.

The professionals at Great Care are available to talk with you and your family about all of your home care needs. Great Care is a non medical in-home care agency providing quality and affordable caregivers in Brownsburg, IN and the surrounding areas. Call (317) 595-9933 for more information.