5 Tips to Make Long Distance Caregiving Easier

Living far away from Mom or Dad or Grandma and Grandpa was great in your younger years. It was fun to go spend time with them and go do all sorts of things in their home town. But now that they are getting older, you worry about being so far away.

What if something happens and they need help? Not just emergencies scare you; what if there isn’t an emergency and they need help? Just taking care of the house and getting the grass cut can be a challenge, but it still needs to be done.

Here at Keeping In Touch Solutions we hear both sides – from elderly parents and from their adult children. We know that a daily call can be a highlight of the day for Mom who doesn’t get out much anymore. We also know how much peace of mind her daughter gets by knowing someone is checking on Mom every day while she is working and can’t call.

But we also know that there are other things that have to be addressed in long-distance caregiving. Here are 5 Tips to Make Long Distance Caregiving Easier:

1. Be sure Mom and Dad have provided their doctors with a release of health care information naming you so you can discuss their care with their doctors, especially long distance.
2. Ask them to share mortgage and bank account information and authorize you to help in cases when they get confused or need someone to intervene on their behalf.
3. Research senior services, centers and options available in their location or town. Knowing what is available in the way of food services, activities and transportation will help you to support their physical, social and emotion well-being. Keeping In Touch Solutions Care Callers can make a daily call to seniors anywhere in the United States. (Take a look at what others say about it.)
4. Next time you visit, compile a list of friends and others that you can contact to check if mom can’t be reached. It would be a good idea to actually meet them when you are in town, too. A friend who is bed ridden or significantly older might not be a good emergency contact.
5. Talk about expectations and values so you have a meeting of the minds now before a situation arises

Take steps to be prepared and proactive about the challenges of aging parents. Let Keeping In Touch Solutions help you alleviate some of the worry and burden. In fact, we have prepared a free special report called 7 Danger Signs Your Aging Loved One May Need Help NOW! to help adult children determine if it is time to step in and offer some help to Mom or Dad.

This report is a really great tool for adult children who don’t live close and are planning a visit. The special report tells you what to look for so you can make an informed decision and start a conversation before it becomes an emergency.

A daily check-in call could be the lifeline, the joy you give someone that makes the biggest difference in their perception of what old age is like.

Contact me at 317-480-1038 today. Let’s make a difference together.

I’m Diana Beam, Founder of Keeping in Touch Solutions. It is my heartfelt desire for every person to live a happy and healthy life in the place they call home, no matter what their age. You can’t put a price on peace of mind for your parents and yourself. It’s priceless . . . and significant.

For that reason, the goal of every Keeping In Touch Solutions program is to provide a caring connection and service that both the elderly and their caregivers can rely on to make living that good life easier.