Are you a family caregiver that is lacking privacy when it comes to your elderly loved one? Perhaps you resent the fact that they use your master bathroom all the time even when they have their own. Or perhaps they follow you around when you are on the phone unless the home care assistant is there. Maybe your elderly loved one won’t leave when you are trying to have a conversation with your spouse. How about some alone time to read a book, take a bath or do a hobby in peace and quiet? Lack of privacy can be a big drain on mental health and can lead to burnout.Why Privacy Matters
Too many family caregivers are getting frustrated about their lost privacy when they open their homes to aging loved ones that need their help. Physical privacy is important for people to feel as if they have a space where they can be removed from others and establish things their way without the expectation of intrusion.
A private space can be a bedroom, home office, patio or den—it doesn’t matter as long as their privacy is intact. Privacy is important so people can be their authentic selves, step away from daily tasks, communicate with others without being overheard and even just to rest and recharge. Privacy matters because it’s a key factor in good mental health, for both family caregivers and their aging loved ones.
Invasion of Privacy
Aging loved ones often encroach on their family caregiver’s privacy, sometimes intentionally and sometimes without knowing it. When seniors experience dementia, often their social inhibitions disappear and they don’t hesitate to invade someone’s privacy. Other times, the elderly loved ones are lonely, depressed, trying to help and simply just bored and therefore they insert themselves into their caregiver’s space.
On the other hand, many seniors feel as if they have lost their own privacy as they may not like it when their caregiver enters their space without asking because it is their own house after all. Caregivers can be unintentionally nosy about calls, visitors and more. Home care aides may also add to the feeling that the elderly person doesn’t have a place of their own. In return, some elderly loved ones feel the need to hide things, hoard food, and monitor their belongings because of the indifference a family caregiver shows to them about their privacy. Clearly respecting each other and setting up boundaries for different spaces is the key to harmonious coexistence.
Solutions for Privacy
The best way to carve out private time for both seniors and family caregivers is to start with real and honest conversation. Designating spaces as exclusively belonging to someone can make them feel more comfortable doing their own thing without observation or judgement. Establishing rules for common areas like kitchens and bathrooms will also reduce resentment on both sides. Mutual respect for privacy is the key to making a family caregiver situation work and when one side won’t abide by the agreed-upon rules, the relationship becomes challenged in more ways than one. Family caregivers should take the lead and start the conversation with their elderly loved one to work out privacy guidelines so that everyone is happier.
Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/for-an-aging-parent-an-in-law-suite-can-provide-a-home-within-a-home/2014/08/14/2b39c0c0-0cff-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html?utm_term=.aafa458e2c4e
IF YOU OR AN AGING LOVED-ONE ARE CONSIDERING HIRING IN-HOME CARE IN LINCOLN PARK, IL, PLEASE CONTACT THE CARING STAFF AT BRIGHTSTAR CARE CHICAGO. CALL TODAY: 312.382.8888.