Family Caregivers in Charlotte
At its most basic, a caregiving or care team is a group of people on whom you and your loved one can rely for extra assistance. They might simply be there for emotional support or they might be able to do much more as needed.
Get Clear about What Help You Need
The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you understand exactly what you need help with for your loved one. You may not need much help other than a few family members checking up on your loved one. In other cases, your loved one may need constant care from you or from senior care providers. Until you’re fully clear about what exactly you need, you can’t really get the help that you need.
Hold Family Meetings to Keep Everyone Informed
You don’t have to hold formal meetings several times a week, but you do need to keep everyone informed about what is going on with your loved one. The more informed everyone else is, the more likely they’ll be to pitch in and help when you need it the most.
Let Your Team and Your Family Know When You Need Help
Once you’re clear about what help you need and you’re keeping everyone informed, it’s time to speak up when you need extra help. Waiting for other people to pitch in will frustrate you and make them less likely to help at all. It’s all about communicating openly with your care team. When you do need help, open up the lines of communication and be specific about what you need. Your team will be more likely to respond because they know exactly how to help you.
Use Technology to Keep Everyone Informed
If your family and care team are spread out, you’ll need to be creative about how you keep everyone informed. Several sites have free blogs or calendars that you can use to update loved ones in different time zones. Using an online calendar is even handy for members of your care team who are close by, though, because they can spot appointments they might be able to help out with or other situations where they can jump in.
Getting a care team together doesn’t have to be difficult but it does take some time to manage everyone and the information you need to share.
