Balancing Your Parent’s Care—Why You May Need to Redefine Your Perceptions of “Needs”

As we all know, our lives feel more hurried and hectic than ever before. We constantly perceive that we simply do not have enough hours in the day, and between work and home life, we feel pulled in too many different directions. If you have a senior parent, you also feel the responsibility for supervising their care, even if they still live semi-independently. Sometimes what we leave behind is the social isolation in seniors that may take place.

Understandably, some days, this feels just like one more thing adding to a mountain of stress for you. You can barely keep up with your own life, yet now you’re tasked with overseeing a parent’s well-being. At BlueSea Care, we understand how easily caregiver burnout sneaks up on families. However, we also know that, social isolation in seniors becomes a burden and affects them equally.

You can’t be your parent’s everything, but you can take a step back consider which efforts on your part will make the biggest impact.

Understanding What Is Valued May Reduce Depression and Social Isolation in Seniors

For many seniors no longer able to drive independently, the likelihood of depression increases significantly. Unfortunately, many of their adult children do not have the time or ability to become that primary source of transportation. As a result, their children have a tendency to classify what is “important” for the senior, and focus on providing assistance with those errands only, such as grocery shopping and medical appointments.

However, they may be missing certain elements that are truly important to the senior parent, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. In other words, caregiver burnout may make us so hyper-focused on fulfilling “needs” that we ignore elements crucial to our seniors’ quality of life, without considering things such as social isolation in seniors. Here are just a few of the events that may be deeply significant to a senior yet overlooked or deprioritized by their caregivers:

• Worship services
• Voting in elections
• Family weddings
• Funerals
• Social or service groups of which they are members, like Shriners, lodges, veterans groups, knitting groups, etc.

These small events may seem unnecessary to us, but for the parents in your life who deals with growing senior isolation in seniors, they are lifelines for emotional and mental health.

BlueSea Care believes that meaningful engagement boosts overall quality of life. We also know that you cannot be the 100% provider of everything your senior parent needs. That’s why we offer comprehensive services to help support your family, and find solutions that fulfill the needs of your parent, while helping you live a more balanced life. To learn more, contact us today!