How Assisted Living Services Can Make Life Easier

Even if it’s someone you care a lot about, like your parent or other aging loved one, becoming a caregiver for a senior in need is often a full-time job – but it’s a job done by many adult children around the world. Luckily, there’s a type of senior living care that can give your loved one the support they need, give you back the time you need to take care of yourself, and offer your whole family more peace of mind. Keep reading to learn how assisted living services can help you conquer caregiver burnout.

Addressing Caregiver Burnout

Whether you’re a live-in caregiver or someone who splits their time between caregiver duties and a nine-to-five, it’s likely that you’ve felt some kind of caregiver burnout. Although it’s common for adult child caregivers to feel guilty about being frustrated, tired or overwhelmed, it’s important to remember that these feelings are acceptable – and even people who work in senior care full time can experience them. With all of the other things that most adults have to handle on a daily basis (like raising kids, going to work and meeting their financial obligations), avoiding burnout is never easy.

If that sounds like something you’ve experienced, you’re not alone. Here’s a few things you can try that may make the work easier:

• Get a helping hand from your loved ones. When it comes to caring for your loved ones, the whole family can find a role to play. Whether you split caregiving duties on a daily basis or decide to give each family member a single task, dividing the work helps to even the effort.
• Find a short-term solution. Respite care – also commonly known as short-stay elder care or adult day care – gives you the latitude to do the things you want and need to do. Whether you’re going to jury duty or going on vacation, you can rely on respite care to provide the qualified, compassionate support that your loved one needs.
• Make the move to assisted living. Ultimately, when it comes to making sure your loved one has the best support available, there is no replacement for an assisted living community. In the next section, we’ll go into a little more detail about assisted living and what it can do for your loved one.

Assisted Living Can Help Your Whole Family

Think assisted living communities are like old-fashioned nursing homes? Think again. Instead of providing traditional nursing care, assisted living is about giving your loved one the support they need to live independently for as long as possible – in fact, studies show that moving to an assisted living facility can help delay or prevent nursing home placement. Whether they’re part of a larger community or a stand-alone building, assisted living caregivers offer a helping hand with the vital activities of daily living.

To get a clearer picture of how assisted living can help your loved one, consider the following:

• Freedom comes first. At an assisted living community, your loved one will find incredible care and daily support, including help with bathing, dressing and other necessities. Caregivers aren’t there to tell residents what they can or can’t do – instead, they work to find ways to make seniors’ lives easier, smoother and more enjoyable.
• There’s always something going on. Forget any ideas you might have had about an assisted living community being boring. In reality, many communities offer the opportunity to enjoy cultural events and field trips to nearby shopping centers and landmarks. Ultimately, what your loved one chooses to do is entirely up to them.
• Your loved one can live their way. An assisted living community isn’t a tightly controlled environment like a hospital or skilled nursing center – when it comes to where residents go, when they leave and what they do, they’re the boss. And their privacy won’t be interrupted, either – caregivers won’t enter an apartment without the resident’s permission.
• Community living makes it easy to meet friends. Like we said earlier, senior living communities aren’t nursing homes. The older adults who live in these communities are active, engaged and eager to meet new friends. No matter who your loved one is, they’ll find someone to spend time with.

Interested in Assisted Living? Contact Us.

Assisted living at Country Gardens is purpose-built to offer your loved one more comfort and control. Our talented and compassionate team of caregivers will work with your whole family to devise a plan that addresses your loved one’s biggest needs while ensuring that our support is never overbearing. That’s why so many seniors in Muskogee choose Country Gardens Assisted Living.

Our team members are always ready to hear from you. Whether you’re interested in a personal consultation or just want to learn a little more about assisted living, give us a call at 918-686-8100.