Choosing the right care for your elderly loved ones is a critical decision that impacts quality of life. A common decision is choosing between a family caregiver and professional caregiver. As with most things, both have pros and cons. While a deeper connection may occur with a family caregiver, there is typically a lack of medical understanding, Professional care may provide medical expertise and regiment but comes at a cost. Knowing more about the options will help you make the decision that is best for you and your loved one.
What is a family caregiver?
Basically, family caregiving is when a family member takes on the role of providing care for a disabled or aging loved one. Because there is an established relationship, family caregivers often intuitively understand needs and wants and even emotions. This deep relationship leads to compassionate and individualized care that is hard to replace.
Family caregivers often experience challenges that include guilt, frustration, overwhelmed, even sadness as they endure the stress and work of caring for a loved one.
What is a professional caregiver?
Professional home care supports in-home living by providing skilled nursing care and non-medical home care. Skilled nursing care may include managing chronic conditions, surgery recovery, wound care, injections, IVs, and work under the guidance of healthcare professionals. Non-medical caregivers can help with non-medical needs, such as hygiene, meals, companionship, and transportation for appointments.
Skilled nursing care providers must have a nursing license and extensive training. Non-medical caregivers have state regulations to adhere to and may be inspected in order to maintain professionalism and accountability.
The best of both family caregiving and professional caregiving
You may find that the best option for your loved one is to have a combined effort between family members caring for your loved one and a professional caring for your loved one. When doing so there are three key areas to consider:
- Assignment of tasks. Begin by creating a comprehensive list of all tasks that need to be accomplished for your loved one and the space in which your loved one resides. Take into consideration those tasks that will require skilled care that you do not possess to care for your loved one. Finally, assign which tasks will be fulfilled by family members and which tasks will be fulfilled by a professional caregiver.
- Create a Schedule. From the list of tasks that were assigned, create a schedule where tasks will be fulfilled when needed while also providing constant care for your loved one. Remember to schedule in time when family members and professional caregivers are there at the same time so that there is a smooth transition of care.
- Open Communication. One of the reasons for the shared time during the scheduling is for communication. That shared time is not the only time for communication between the two parties. You may want to take advantage of digital platforms where notes and schedules can be kept and filled in, medication logged, outside appointments scheduled, or simply notes from time spent with the loved one.
At BrightStar Care, we proudly provide warm-hearted in-home care for newborns through teenagers. Contact us to learn more about ways we can support you on your parenting journey.