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How Caregivers Can Prioritize Privacy

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A woman who knows how caregivers can prioritize privacy smiles as she reads a book and holds a cup of coffee in a sunny room.

It’s vitally important to know how caregivers can prioritize privacy to achieve a healthy life balance.

Reflect back to your teenage years. Remember how important it was to find a safe place to be on your own, to shut out the world, turn the music up, and write your most secret thoughts in your diary?

The desire for privacy that began then can become overshadowed when providing care for someone else. Yet it is still extremely important to know how caregivers can prioritize privacy, both physically and mentally, to take time for self-care.

How Can a Caregiver Prioritize Privacy?

Frankly, it isn’t always easy. You might feel as though you need to always have at least one ear and eye open to the needs of the person in your care. There are several steps you can take to help, however. Try:

  • Designating a spot of privacy for both yourself and the older adult. After all, they need privacy as much as you do. Agree that whenever either of you needs some alone time, you can retreat to your chosen spot and only interrupt one another in case of an urgent situation.
  • Determining house rules. In shared living spaces, put together some basic rules of etiquette that are fair for everyone. For example, take turns choosing TV shows to watch, so one person isn’t monopolizing the remote. Compromises similar to this can make together time less stressful for everyone.
  • Considering emotional privacy. Make sure to take frequent breaks from care that allow you time to disconnect completely from your care role. Go on trips, attend events and activities with other friends and family members, take a book to the park for a stress-free afternoon. Responsive Home Care’s care experts are always on hand to fill your caregiving shoes when you take some time for self-care.

Special Considerations for Dementia

If the person in your care is struggling with the challenges of dementia, finding privacy becomes more challenging – and much more vital to obtain. The person may need 24/7 oversight to ensure safety, but this doesn’t mean that you should (or can) provide that level of care yourself.

We frequently hear from primary family caregivers that there is not anyone in their circle of close friends and family who knows the senior or the requirements of dementia care well enough to assist. This is when our specially trained and experienced dementia caregivers are an invaluable part of your care team. We can partner with you to ensure the seamless, reliable, skilled care a senior with dementia needs, while you take the regular breaks from care you need.

Contact us at (954) 486-6440 for further tips on how caregivers can prioritize privacy and find help in acquiring a healthier life balance. Our personalized home care services are offered in Coconut Creek, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, and the surrounding areas.

Top Tips for Caring for Aging Parents—Even When They Expect A Lot

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A senior woman with gray and white hair crosses her arms and looks disparagingly at the camera.

Partner with Responsive Home Care for superior help with caring for aging parents.

In a perfect world, we could compartmentalize our caregiving duties, staying with a routine that met the needs of a senior loved one, while allowing enough time to manage our myriad of other responsibilities. But needless to say, life does not adhere to our desired script, and conflicting needs are frequent when caring for an aging parent. Many older adults balk at the need for help, while others can come to rely too greatly on an adult child, leading to unfulfilled expectations and ultimately irritation for both parties.

Responsive Home Care’s senior care professionals offer the following tips to help explain expectations and communicate effectively when caring for aging parents:

  • Emphasize empathy. As opposed to pulling away from a senior loved one whose demands seem unrealistic, stop and empathize. Think through the problems your parent is facing, and exactly how it might feel to be in his / her shoes. Then voice your honest concern and desire to help.
  • Enable each other to be heard. Initiate a discussion with your senior loved one, encouraging her or him to convey how it feels to be in need of care, and what kind of care is necessary. Determine what the older adult’s goals are, and then share your personal expectations and limitations in having the capability to completely meet his or her needs.
  • Compromise to come to a solution. Achieving a resolution that works well for both of you might be less difficult than you believe. For instance, in the event that the older adult expects help with transportation in accordance with a particular schedule several times a week, perhaps you can provide that assistance one day, while recruiting the help of others to cover additional days. This allows for increased socialization for the senior as well as the healthy life balance you need.

Responsive Home Care is prepared to partner family caregivers with highly skilled, carefully matched caregivers in Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding areas who are passionate about making life the very best it can be for older adults. Working together with Responsive Home Care enables adult children to make certain their aging parents are well cared for at all times, whether by filling in with respite care where needed, through around-the-clock live-in care, or any number of solutions in between. Just some of the many ways we can help include:

  • Running errands
  • Planning and preparing nourishing meals
  • Keeping the home clean and neat
  • Offering friendly companionship to brighten each day
  • Creative and highly specialized care for those with dementia
  • And much more

Give us a call at 954-486-6440 to discuss the challenges you’re facing, and also to learn how our caregivers in Fort Lauderdale, FL and surrounding areas can help. To learn more about all of the areas we serve in Florida, please visit our Service Area page.