Collaborative Post
I’ve mentioned before that I often help care for my elderly father, grandmother and grandfather at different times throughout the year. Whilst they are all still quite independent in their own ways, they sometimes need a little bit of help with day to day activities such as meals, errands and those sort of things. I mainly care when other family members are away – my Nan sometimes goes to my uncles for some rest and I take over looking after my Grandad who cannot do much for himself at all in comparison to my Nan and Dad. As family, we are more than happy to help each other but it can certainly get a little stressful. I’m heavily pregnant and have a young child to look after already, my Mum has my elderly father to look after – sometimes a break is needed which is why we take it in turns to share the workload and give my Nan that little bit of time to herself.
When my great grandmother was alive, we also did the same. It did, however, get too much and we had to hire carers as we just couldn’t cope. A topic that arose on multiple occasions was the topic of respite care and I would be lying if I said it wasn’t something we had considered at times. Barchester have recently released their respite care guide in PDF form to help educate people on what respite care is and whether it is for them – it won’t necessarily be for everyone.
Ever since my Nan started caring for my Grandad, she’s caught bug after bug after bug. Luckily she hasn’t been more seriously ill but it really is taking its toll on her – she’s only two years younger than him and doesn’t really have time to think about her own well being which is why we try to ensure that she gets a break and we will take over as and when we can. With baby girl on the way, I’m going to be out of the picture for the foreseeable future and my Dad isn’t as well as he could be which puts my Mum out of the picture too – with other family living quite far away, there may have to be some compromising on both my grandparents part – my Nan would consider respite care but I don’t think my Grandad would be too happy about it. However if my Nan needs a break, she’ll need to do something and it certainly seems like a more viable option to me than her overworking herself and making herself seriously ill.
Caring for elderly family members can be really tough and very exhausting but it is so handy to know there are so many options out there for help. Respite care may not be for everyone but its certainly something our family have considered in the past and will probably opt for in the future.