Long Distance Caregiving
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If you are caring for a parent or other older adult who lives in another city or state, you face special challenges. Long-distance care providers have complicated situations that often pit their career choices directly against their family obligations. Emotional issues are difficult for many of these caregivers as they experience a sense of guilt because they are far from their loved ones.
According to a survey by the National Association of Caregivers and AARP, nearly eighty percent of long distance caregivers work either full-or-part time. Four in ten persons must rearrange their work schedules in order to manage their caregiving responsibilities.
Three quarters of respondents spend an average of twenty-two hours per month helping with or arranging for basic activities of daily living.
The following comments are typical of long distance caregivers:
- "The most difficult part of caring for someone at a distance is taking time away from my own home and things that need to be done. I’m exhausted after returning home from giving assistance."
- "It is very hard to have a loved one at a distance who needs care. You worry because they may not eat, or have anyone to look out for them in an emergency."
- "It’s not the expense of the trips and the time it takes, it's the uncertainty about when he’s really in danger and knowing I can’t get to him right away if I need to."
Helpful suggestions for long distance caregivers
Consider professional assistance. Navigating the
maze of long-term care services when you do not reside in the
same community as your parent, relative or friend, adds frustration
to an already stressful situation. A professional geriatric
care manager can regularly evaluate your parent’s changing needs
and arrange for the best local services to meet those needs,
while showing a sensitivity to personality, cultural preferences,
and one’s spiritual beliefs and practices. You can locate a
geriatric care manager for a parent or loved one in another
city or state by going to the web site of the National
Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers.
For additional information about our services, please call or e-mail us at:
Denver Office: 303- 922-3433, ext. 5835
caremanagement@lfsco.org.
