Are you beginning to feel overwhelmed with the duties of caring for your elderly loved one? Perhaps they’ve started to increase and are now making it more difficult for you to manage other parts of your life. Or maybe your elderly loved one has come to rely on you for just about everything and it’s simply too much to manage well. While you might feel guilty about saying “No” to some of the needs your elderly loved one has, setting healthy boundaries will allow you to assist her better in the areas that you can and allow you to be able to do it for longer. You could find someone who provides personal care at home services to handle her care that you are unable to help with.
The First Steps of Setting Healthy Boundaries
It can make you nervous to think about having a conversation with your loved one about healthy boundaries. Before you even begin that conversation, there are steps you can take to help the conversation be a positive experience with results that will make everyone feel better going forward.
Make a list of all of your current responsibilities that are a part of you being a caregiver for your elderly loved one. Whether it’s small or large, it goes on the list so that you can look at all of them in one place.
Once you’ve got them all down, consider which ones give you the most stress. It can be providing rides while you’re still trying to also transport your kids to all of their events. It might be making meals or cleaning their house. It can be personal tasks that you’re not comfortable with. Be honest with yourself.
Next review other responsibilities in your life. There might be time-consuming projects, committees, or people that you are okay with setting aside so that you can focus more time on your elderly loved one. If there are non-caregiving chores that overwhelm you, make plans to get them off of your plate.
Research organizations that can step in and help. You might find places that can deliver groceries and/or prescriptions to reduce the number of errands you have to do. A personal care at home provider can help with bathing needs or nail care. If there are outdoor chores that need to be done, look into younger family members who might like to earn a little cash by mowing, raking, or shoveling.
Having A Healthy Boundary Conversation
Find a neutral, calm environment to sit with your loved one and bring up a conversation about setting healthy boundaries. Without placing any blame, let her know how overwhelmed you are so you will be seeking assistance in some areas of her care. Kindly make it clear that some help will be required so that she can continue to live independently and maintain her quality of life.
Be firm but be flexible. She might want to negotiate certain areas and it’s now that you need to determine what’s negotiable and what isn’t. Perhaps she’d rather have a professional provide personal care at home instead of another family member or maybe she’s willing to have her groceries delivered to her but still needs help ordering online.
Finally, remember that oftentimes, your healthy boundaries will need to be reinforced to maintain them. It’ll be new for both of you so reminders may be necessary.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Personal Care at Home Services in Knox County TN, please get in touch with the caring staff at Senior Solutions Home Care. (865) 539-5224
Senior Solutions Home Care is a Trusted Home Care Agency serving Knoxville, Old City, Fort Sanders, Old Sevier, Edgewood, North Knoxville, Forest Heights, Sequoyah Hills, Knox County, and surrounding areas.
Over the years, we have expanded, providing service in all 95 counties throughout Tennessee, and we now have a growing presence in Georgia.
Senior Solutions is recognized as a top 5% independent agency and a three-time Inc. 5000 honoree in 2018, 2019, and 2020. These types of awards matter to us because they show growth in our goal of eventually touching a million lives. We’re excited to continue that growth and to touch even more families with our commitment to quality care!
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