adult daughters kissing senior mother

Many hands make light work, according to the old saying, and that’s certainly true when it comes to providing care for aging parents. If you and your siblings interact with each other well to fulfill the needs of your senior members of the family, congratulations! In many cases, however, a single person handles most of the responsibilities. This can quickly lead to misunderstandings, conflict, and hurt feelings.

The following easy steps will allow you to more fairly distribute caregiving responsibilities with your siblings.

  • Set up a meeting with your siblings. It’s essential to ensure that you and your siblings are on the same page. Genuine, open communication is crucial to expressing your point of view and hearing theirs. Clearly explain that you’re feeling overwhelmed with taking on the majority of the caregiving jobs, and that you’d appreciate more assistance.
  • Develop an inventory. Be specific about all of the responsibilities that go into your family caregiver role. Figure out who is best equipped to assist in each area according to time or distance limitations. Even if one of your siblings resides out of the area, there are plenty of ways to assist remotely, such as exploring services and resources, setting aside regular time for FaceTiming, paying bills online, etc. In-person tasks may include:
    • Preparing meals
    • Housekeeping and laundry
    • Yard work
    • Trips to pick up groceries and other errands
    • Pet care
    • Transportation to doctors’ appointments, the barber, weekly religious services, etc.
  • Document details. As soon as you have decided upon a good division of responsibilities, write down your decisions and provide a copy to each person. Note all other important topics that came up in your conversation in order to revisit what was talked about. Make sure to think through future planning needs as well. If one of your parents is in the initial phases of dementia, for instance, you will want to be equipped for increasing care needs as the disease advances.

Despite having assistance from your sisters and brothers, care for aging parents is not easy, particularly when juggling your own personal family, household, career, etc. One smart way to ensure a healthy life balance for you as well as your siblings is by partnering with Abby Senior Care’s trusted home caregivers in Denver and the surrounding communities.

Our care providers are fully trained and experienced in all of the care tasks listed above and a whole lot more. We’re here to work with your family to fill in the gaps in care – whether only for a few hours every week or up to and including 24/7 care. This enables you and your siblings to determine the care tasks you want to manage yourselves, and leave the remainder to us.

Provide your parents with the best possible care, while guaranteeing you and your siblings have enough time for self-care. Get in touch with Abby Senior Care’s expert home caregivers in Denver and nearby areas at 303-699-8840 for a free assessment and to learn more about the ways we can help.