Where to start as a Carer?

Caring for an elderly member of your family can be difficult, particularly if you don’t where to start. We have put together some ideas and resources that can be useful during this difficult time.

We all have lives of our own and as time goes on it can become hard to manage your time efficiently especially when you’re caring from a distance. There are a lot of things that can be done to help you manage your time and take care of your elderly family member.

Advice and Tips for Carers

To make sure your parent/family member is eating well you can arrange a weekly or monthly online food delivery, you can either include them in the decisions by discussing what they need and like or depending on the circumstance, make the selections yourself.

A regular call at a specific time can be arranged with your family member if possible so they know when to expect the call. Keeping in contact with your parent/family member is one of the most important things as it will give them company and keep them in touch with what’s going on. Loneliness in the UK has increased over the years with 51% of pensioners living on their own after the ages of 75. Supporting your parent/family member by staying in touch can help combat loneliness. You can also send pictures and invite them over once in a while so they’re in touch with the family and feel involved.

Travelling at an older age can be a hassle, to make your parents or family members life easier you can arrange a taxi account or set up a speed dial on their phone so they can book it easily and travel safely.

Try to convince your parent/family member to get online, create a Skype or email account and provide them with a laptop or tablet. Tablets can prove more beneficial as they are more accessible and also have an attached camera making it easier to make video calls. Creating Skype will make it easier to talk face to face and see how they are doing especially if you are caring from a distance. Giving them access to the internet will also help combat loneliness and creates opportunities to learn and keeps the mind active.

If you are unaware of how to get your parents/family member online, My Ageing Parent have come up with a video explaining what steps you can take to make the transition easy.

Another suggestion would be to know who your parents/family members neighbours are in case of an emergency. You can feel more at ease knowing the neighbours are aware and could check once in a while to make sure everything is okay.

If you would like more advice or have any questions, you can visit Carers UK.