CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816
Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com
Golden, Colorado – March 10, 2020
Video Reveals Tips for Long-Distance Caregiving
Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson shares tips for adult children uncertain about how to talk to elderly parents about planning for and providing care. Wilson's caregiving video series Caregiver Resources: Family Caregiving Support Videos on YouTube offers videos on a wide range of caregiving subjects.
A recent video shares tips for having difficult conversations about the financial costs of paying for care. Having difficult discussions includes the consideration of elderly parents living at a distance and moving to be closer to adult children caregivers.
Adult children, many in the Sandwich Generation, are raising children, pursuing a career, going to school, and caring for elderly parents. Caregivers of elderly parents experience feelings of responsibility and guilt. Elderly parents may need care and live locally or at a distance.
The time commitment and worry about having to spend money on the care of elderly parents becomes a significant worry for working caregivers. Some elderly parents assume children will provide care. Other elderly parents who provided care for their aging parents have a greater understanding of the burdens placed on adult children.
Caregiving conversations in families usually don't happen until after an emergency that results in adult children becoming an unexpected caregiver. Even then, families don't talk about the realities of growing caregiving responsibilities that affect time, money, family relationships, and emotional and physical health declines.
Elderly parents want to stay at home but don't realize the steps to make staying home a reality. Caregivers are uneducated about the stages of caregiving As a result, caregiving stress results in many caregivers becoming sicker than the person for whom they care.
Caregiving is viewed as a family issue by society. Adult children helping elderly parents don't realize they are a caregiver until they begin attending doctor appointments and managing medical care. By this time, the stress level and time involvement are significant, often 20 or more hours a week.
The way to prevent unexpected caregiving situations is to have early conversations with elderly parents before care is needed. These uncomfortable conversations must include topics of money to pay for care and what happens when the money runs out. Who will be the primary caregivers? What is the role of a paid caregiver or a care manager? Is assisted living or a care community an option? Has legal planning for medical and financial power of attorney been completed?
While initiating these conversations may be uncomfortable for adult children, having these conversations earlier reduces long term stress and uncertainty about being a caregiver. Elderly parents may be open or hesitant to discuss care needs.
Being hesitant or refusing to discuss care needs usually results in a typical emergency, like a hip fracture or car accident, where decisions are made in crises. As in all aspects of life, caregivers can proactively plan to be in a situation where more choices exist or react to situations where choices are limited.
Limited choices in caregiving situations usually involve placing elderly parents in care communities or nursing homes because parents can no longer care for themselves at home, even with the assistance of adult children or paid in-home caregivers. The Caring Generation® podcast called Surviving the Emotional Rollercoaster offers tips for caregivers who have to make life-changing decisions for elderly parents.
Make plans to join Pamela D. Wilson, caregiving expert and the host of The Caring Generation® radio at 6 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Mountain, 8 p.m. Central, and 9 p.m. Eastern every Wednesday night. Replays of the weekly programs are available in podcast format with transcripts on Pamela's website and all major podcast sites.
Corporations interested in digital support programs for working caregivers can contact Pamela for more information about workplace caregiver programs. More information is available on Pamela's website.
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Check Out Podcast Replays of The Caring Generation® Radio Program for Caregivers and Aging Adults HERE
The podcast replays are great to share with family, friends, social groups, and the workplace. Listening to the Caring Generation podcasts are a great alternative for weekly book clubs. The Podcast replays are also an educational activity used at senior
Pamela D. Wilson, MS, BS/BA, CG, CSA is a national caregiving expert, advocate and speaker. More than 20 years of experience as a direct service provider in the roles of a court-appointed guardian, power of attorney, and care manager led to programs supporting family caregivers and aging adults who want to be proactive about health, well-being, and caregiving. Wilson provides education and support for consumers and corporations interested in supporting employees who are working caregivers. To carry out her mission, Wilson partners with companies passionate about connecting with the caregiving marketing through digital and content marketing. Her mission to reach caregivers worldwide is accomplished through social media channels of Facebook, YouTube, Linked In, Instagram, Caregiving TV on Roku, and The Caring Generation® radio on Internet radio. She may be reached at 303-810-1816 or through her website.