Caregivers in Juno Beach FL
May is National Family Month. This is the ideal opportunity for you to shift your focus from being just a caregiver for your elderly parent to a multigenerational caregiver. Multigenerational caregiving is all about embracing your position in the sandwich generation and making the most of it in your caregiving efforts. The sandwich generation is those adult children who are in the position of caring for both their children and their aging parents. If you are at this stage in your life it may feel as though you are constantly struggling to balance your time and effort between both sets of loved ones. You want to make sure that everyone gets the care, support, and assistance that they need, but you only have but so much time. Multigenerational care allows you to give your parent and your children the attention and love that you want to give them without feeling overwhelmed. This can be especially important now that the summer months are approaching and you are likely to have more time with your children at home. Use these tips to help you create a multigenerational care relationship with your parent and your children during National Family Month:• Create a schedule. Before you start planning activities sit down and evaluate the schedule for your parent and your children. Invest in a large calendar and go through each day of the month to write down the appointments, events, and activities that they must attend. This will help to show you the times that you may not be able to have all of them together, as well as the times that you will need to fill with other activities.
• Let them help. Do not think of your parent or your children just as people who need you to care for them. Think of them as potential helpers in your care for the other as well. Not only will allowing your parent and your children to help you care for the others give them a sense of importance and accomplishment that can support higher mental and emotional health, but it can also help to foster a closer relationship. Encourage activities that enable your loved ones to engage with each other such as reading books together, doing crafts, or folding laundry. You can then focus on other tasks.
• Keep care goals in mind. Multigenerational care is not just about encouraging your parent and children to have fun together, though this is important. You can also pursue your specific care goals for both generations. Going out to a park or on walks together is a fantastic way to get your parent and your children physical activity. Playing board games or video games stimulates their minds. You can even encourage your loved ones to work on growing a garden together so that they can enjoy the physical activity, sense of accomplishment, and emotional boost of growing their own food. Through this garden you can also encourage them to explore new foods and a healthier diet together.
If you or an aging loved one are considering caregivers in Juno Beach, FL, contact the caring staff at BrightStar Care of Jupiter. Call today (561) 741-1200.