Being a long distance caregiver is not always easy. However, there are some ways in which this can be made a little easier by following the suggestions that we give below. It is important to remember that these may change depending on the circumstances, so it is important to keep the specific circumstances around your dynamic with your loved one in mind when doing this. You should also keep in mind that if your loved one is in an assisted living community, long distance caregiving becomes a little easier as you know that your loved one is in good hands. Here are some of the ways you can make long distance caregiving work.
Clear Communication
One of the most significant things to do is to ensure that you have clear lines of communication between you and the primary caregivers. In this context, this could be the assisted living community where your loved one is residing. The reason for clear communication lines are obvious. The first is that if you can constantly check up on your loved one while you are away, it helps to give you (and them) the peace of mind that your loved one is safe. The other reason is that you want a clear channel of information if your intervention is needed. Perhaps you need to authorize something or make a decision that pertains to your loved one. Whichever the case, a good line of communication is useful.
Form A Team
As mentioned earlier, some of these suggestions may work better in some circumstances than others. This is one of them. If you have family members, friends and others that you can rely on, it is a good idea to form a team that can constantly check up on your loved one. Sometimes we are unable to be there due to work emergencies and other life factors. For this reason, having a team that you can count on may make all the difference. You also need to consider the team at the retirement community as part of your posse as well. get to know them and ensure that you ask as many questions as possible about how your loved one will be taken care of.
Eliminate Gray Areas
One of the things that caregivers struggle with is understanding what exactly is entailed in living in a retirement community. Often, they may not read all the materials they are given or ask pertinent questions. Try not to make this mistake by ensuring that there are no gray areas. This means getting the financials sorted with the retirement community management, understanding what amenities your loved one can access and so on. This eliminates confusion and thus the need for you to have to rush constantly back to the retirement community to sort out paperwork. It also has the psychological effect of giving you complete peace of mind that everything is taken care of.
Talk To Your Loved One
This will of course vary depending on the state in which your loved one is in but as a general rule of thumb, communicate as often and as clearly as possible with your loved one. This is because they are the ones living in the retirement community and so they are better placed to know what could be done better better, or what additional services they would require. This not only helps to build the relationship with your loved one but it helps you to preempt emergencies by catching issues beforehand.
